Some questions to consider before you begin searching:
Other Possible Topic Sources:
Look for the unique points in your research question; words like “depression,” “cats,” or “mental health” will be more effective than words like “effect.”
2-4 keywords is best for searching library databases.
Write down keyword combinations that yield relevant results.
Brainstorm some synonyms for your keywords; different authors will use different words to refer to the same idea.
Many articles in databases will include subject terms, or words that explain the article’s topic. These can make for great keywords if you are getting stuck.
Citation chasing is the process of discovering who an author cited in their article, retracing their “steps” of research. It can also be the process of discovering who has cited a particular author, looking forward to see where research is going. Citation chasing helps you see how different researchers are talking to each other, and who is being impacted by certain research.
Google Searching
Results from Google searches will be different than results from library database searches. Google will be better at finding authoritative web pages, background information, and social media sources. Google will also be better at finding local and current information.
Google also relies on algorithms in its search. Algorithms are a set of instructions that decide which results Google will show you. Algorithms can be helpful research tools, but they can also skew your results to only showing a single perspective on a topic. It is important to pay attention to which voices are being included in your search results, and which voices may be missing from the conversation.
Source evaluation
Not all resources will have the same level of accuracy and credibility. This is true both for sources you find on Google, and sources you find in library databases. It is important to analyze any source to see if it will be credible and useful for your argument.
Use an asterisk(*) to ensure that all variations of a word are appearing. Ex) A search for "librar*" will produce search results for librarians, library, libraries, etc.
Used to group words or phrases. This tool can help with issues with homophones such as “black bears” and “bear arms.”
AND: Using “AND” combines your terms and only shows you results that contain both words. "AND" is used to narrow results.
OR: Using “OR” gives you results that contain both terms individually as well as together. "OR" is used to broaden results.
NOT: Using “NOT” will get rid of a term you do not want to not show it in the results. "NOT" is used to narrow results.