Scholarly encyclopedias will provide background information and references as well to other useful resources.
BEWARE: Can provide useful background information, but don't believe everything you read! Evaluate and verify.
Whether you are searching for books in the Five College Library Catalog, or searching for scholarly articles in a library database, it pays to be organized as you start your search. Break down searching into a three step process.
STEP 1
Write down as much information about your topic as possible. (You can use Encyclopedias and other reference books to help gather background information). Answer the following questions:
Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.
EXAMPLE: I would like to learn more about the water quality of drinking water in urban areas with specific focus on the Flint Michigan water crisis (and lead).
STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.
EXAMPLE: water, water pollution, lead, Flint (Michigan), cities, urban areas
STEP 3
Now create a list of synonyms of your key concepts. Think broadly, think narrowly! This step is helping you expand your search by expressing your query in a variety of ways. If you get too many results, then you can work on focussing your search.
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"water pollution" toxin*
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cities urban Flint, Michigan
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treatment remediation policy regulations
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You will use the word lists you developed in Step 3 to create search strategies. Use "OR" between synonyms and "AND" between concepts. For instance:
(water pollution OR lead) AND (city OR urban OR flint michigan) AND (treatment)
Watch video (3 minutes): Crafting a Savvy Search Strategy (UCLA Library)
Note:
Charlotte Knight is no longer with Smith College Libraries.
Please use Ask Us to contact other research librarians.
