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OnRamps Rhetoric Research Guide

Keywords

Why is it so difficult to find things?

Developing an efficient keyword strategy is difficult.

It isn't less difficult in Google, but the databases where our subscriptions live play by different rules.

In general, they ask you to be very specific and deliberate in your search.

You are not yet familiar with your topic. You do not know who cares about your topic and why.

You are not familiar with the ways in which experts talk about your topic and the solutions they are proposing.

The only way to fix this problem is to spend time becoming familiar with your topic (see Choose and Develop your Topic at left).

Here is one method for developing a strong keyword strategy. It helps you diagnose what you might need to know in order to launch a successful search.

Example

Sample topic: discipline in schools

How can I make this more specific?

Main idea Why are students disciplined? Who is affected, specifically? What are the effects?
school discipline dress codes students of color academic performance
school punishment zero tolerance policies for drugs and weapons victims of child abuse and neglect graduation rates
  academic dishonesty low income students school to prison pipeline
  student conduct students with disabilities discrimination
    high school students  

I can use these ideas and keywords I brainstormed to choose a narrower topic. See Advanced Searches at left

Keyword Tool

Try this keyword brainstorming tool to help you generate search terms.

You can send the results to yourself or to your teacher. You can also launch a search in a database directly from the tool.

Keep track of your searches

Use this worksheet to keep track of your keywords. Staying organized in the research process helps to prevent duplication of effort.

What is a database?

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