Learn how to choose a topic, develop your focus, find background information, and select your search keywords.
Why think about your topic?
Thinking critically about your topic before and as you begin researching can:
When picking a topic, consider:
Often, the initial topic or prompt you have will be too big in scope for the length of your paper or presentation. You will need to develop your topic further by finding a specific focus.
If you don't know a lot about your topic, doing some preliminary searching about it can help you find specific aspects and ideas to focus on throughout the rest of your research.
This is where Google and Wikipedia may help you gather ideas (but not information to include in your writing).
Books, reference information, news articles, magazines, and credible websites might also help you at this point. Often the background information you find in these sources may be used in your writing.
These searches may also help you find other keywords to use for more detailed information later on.
Expect to learn new things and make changes to your topic as a result of what you find. Your focus may change from what you thought it would be when you first chose your topic.
Choosing Search Keywords
Before you start to search for information, you should take some time to think about what search words (keywords) will get you to information about your topic.
Most search tools default to a keyword search (even Google). This type of search looks for your search words exactly as you typed them. If those words appear anywhere in an item or website's title, summary, publication information, and sometimes even the text, that item or website will show in your results.
Because of this, you'll want to be direct, precise, and specific with your search keywords. Do not search using entire sentences or questions. Focus on important words that have the most meaning in regards to your topic. Sources may use different language to discuss the information you are trying to find. Brainstorm a list of possibilities, including synonyms and related terms.
Learn from the information you are finding to pick up new or different search keywords as you go.
Combining Search Keywords
You can combine search keywords in a few ways to help make your search more precise.
Connecting search keywords using AND, OR, and NOT (known as Boolean operators) allows you to work with multiple keywords in one search.
Most search tools automatically add "and" in between your search words, though you may not always see it in your search. If you have a phrase that you want to search for in its entirety, group the words in the phrase together using quotation marks so that the search tool will search for them as one idea instead of separately. Example: "climate change"
It's also important to mix and match your keywords. Different combinations of keywords will lead you to different results.
Make Adjustments
If you aren't finding enough information, your search terms might be too specific. In some resources, you may need to take a step back and search a bigger idea. Sometimes sources about a broader idea will include information that can be applied to your more specific topic.
Our friends at Credo Reference have more suggestions for how to adjust your search to find relevant sources. Watch their video here.
To develop your topic and find your focus, do some brainstorming to break the topic into a smaller piece, by asking these questions:
Example: The American Dream > Home Ownership and the Economy > Economic Conditions Preventing Home Ownership for Millennials in America
It might also help to think about:
You might need to do some preliminary searching during this brainstorming to help you develop your focus.