FYS178: Energy, Environment, and Climate Change: Search Tips

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. Answer the following questions:

• What is your topic?
• What questions do you have?
• What do you know? What don't you know?

Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.

EXAMPLE: I would like to find statistics and articles about the kinds and amounts of energy use in France.

STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.

EXAMPLE: energy, France

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 focusing your search.

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:

(fossil fuel OR oil OR gas) AND France 

Download this worksheet (with bonus search tips!) to help you organize your search strategy.

Note:
Rocco Piccinino is no longer with Smith College Libraries.
Please use Ask Us to contact other research librarians.

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