Sometimes, you find exactly what you need with your first search. But it often doesn't work out that way! Try this step-by-step brainstorm before you search the library catalog or databases.
1. Save time, prepare to research!
- Break your research question into key concepts (you'll connect these in your paper to make an original argument)
- For each of these concepts, brainstorm multiple keywords
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Sample Topic:
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Depictions of women experiencing pain in literature
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Key Concepts
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women
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pain
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literature
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Related Keywords
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wom*
female*
femenin*
gender*
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ill*
disease
sick
medic*
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fiction
poetry
essay OR memoir
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- Try this keyword tool to brainstorm online and send the results to yourself.
2. Combine keywords using AND and OR:
- Too many results? Try using quotation marks around an exact phrase. Ex: "women's health"
- Still too many results? Narrow using AND. Ex: wom*n AND illness
- Too few results? Broaden using OR. Ex: (wom*n OR female*) AND (pain OR ill* OR disease)
- Put parentheses around synonyms.
- The asterisk finds multiple endings from a root word. Ex: wom* will bring back women, woman's, wombat, etc.
3. Brush up on the search tools available:
