Searching By Keywords:
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:
Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.
EXAMPLE: I would like to learn about work being done on the regeneration of the spinal cord in zebrafish. I am particularly interested in how glia cells are affected.
STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.
EXAMPLE: spinal cord, regeneration, zebrafish, glia cells
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.
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spinal cord
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regenerate regenerat* OR restoration
*=wildcard; will find variations in a word. In this case, those after the letter "t." |
Add other term(s) to further narrow search zebrafish + glia cells
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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:
(spinal cord) AND (regenerat* OR restoration) AND (zebrafish) AND (glia cell*)
Find Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Wikipedia: Provides useful back-ground information, but be a critical user of this information. Evaluate and verify.
