Finding Information Sources: Creating a search strategy

When you first start searching for resources, it is important you know what you are looking for.

Creating a search strategy can help you:

✦ identify what you are really looking for,

✦ narrow the scope of your research,

✦ find new arguments/topics to discuss,

✦ and cut down time spent searching.

	✦ Key words are the terms and phrases you use to describe the main concepts of your topic.
	✦ When you enter keywords into a search tool, it looks for those words in the titles, abstracts, subject hearings, and full texts of documents.
	✦ Using the right keywords can help you find the most relevant resources for your research

Try this keyword activity:

1. Describe your topic in five to eight words (do not use filler words: ‘the’ ‘a’ ‘and’)
2. Write the ‘key words’ in a row in a table/spreadsheet.
3. For each of the keywords, list related terms, synonyms, and more specific terms
4. Add these beneath your main key terms. E.g. “sustainable energy” = “solar power” = “photovoltaic cell” OR “PV cell”. (See the document templates in the right-hand column for some examples).

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   Frequently Asked Questions

Exact terms = " "

✦ Returns an exact result

✦ Used for terms with 2+ words

Common cold could return: cold weather is common, cold war common tactics, etc

“Common cold” = common cold

Truncation = *

✦ Changes 0+ characters

✦ Changes the ending of a word

Math returns: math

Math* could return: math, maths, mathematics, mathematician

Wildcards = ?

✦ Finds 1 character

✦ Used for spelling differences

Polari?ation = polarisation or polarizatio