On this page, you will find videos and practical tools to help you generate search terms/keywords from the questions you formulated. You need a keyword or a search term if you want to find relevant literature in our library catalog or in one of the databases. First of all, it is necessary to define your search term or keyword otherwise your search on the Internet, or in any database for that matter will become a disappointing enterprise. With a more targeted search, you will get better and more rewarding results.
Formulating search terms - what to look out for!
Coming up with the right search terms (the words you will use to search for information) is an important part of your search strategy. Look at your question and search for matching terms. Think about:
- synonyms (house/housing)
- broader terms (university / higher education)
- narrower terms (children/toddlers)
- related terms (training/workshop)
- antonyms (terms with opposite meanings, parent/child or sick/healthy)
- search terms that say something about space and time (century, place name, country, etc.)
With your search terms, also consider the different word forms:
- singular/plural
- noun/adjective
- spelling variant (color/colour)
- translation of subject into another language
- abbreviations
Tip: use words from previously found sources, Wikipedia, textbooks, or dictionaries. Thesauri in databases are useful to get an overview of selected words and their interrelationship within a particular field of interest or subject.
Colorado State University Morgan Library. (2020, June 2). Selecting and using keywords [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved on September 20, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be6ChfQkr2Y
Watch these two videos to learn what Boolean operators are how this can help you in your search for information to answer your questions. Boolean operators can be used most effectively once you have a clear idea about your search terms/keywords.
Perhaps you want to combine search terms or make sure that the information you seek is relevant to your research. The videos will explain to you how you can add words and build search strings to find articles that are relevant to your research.
OSLIS Secondary Videos. (2017, October 3). Building search strings, part 1: Boolean operators [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved om September 30, 2022, from https://youtu.be/rL3JmEgmcSE
OSLIS Secondary Videos. (2017, October 3). Building search strings, part 2: Nesting, phrase searching, truncation & wildcards [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved om September 30, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSajulSMY34