Developing Keywords for Searching

Once you've created your inquiry question, there is another important step in the research process to complete before starting your search: developing keywords. This requires you to find the main concepts within your inquiry question to use as your search terms. Typically, an effective inquiry question can be broken down into two or three search concepts.

Search systems are not designed to give us the results we want, they are designed to give us the results that we ask for, and choosing the right keywords is the best way to ensure you are communicating effectively with a database. Whereas search engines like Google are designed for you to type in a complete question, library databases require you to be very specific with the keywords you use to perform a search. Adding too many words, especially extraneous words (e.g. "the," "it," "a," etc.), will result in irrelevant items appearing in your search results. And choosing the best terminology to represent your search concept is also essential, as you risk missing out on valuable results by using the wrong terms in your searching.

Below is a guide for turning an inquiry question into an effective keyword search, as well as the best way to narrow down a search concept if you find that your search is too broad.

 

STEP ONE: Determining your search concepts & keywords

You can turn your inquiry question into keywords by following the steps below:

DevelopingKeywords1.png

Note: In this example, you'll notice the use of quotation marks and the word "OR." You'll learn why in the "Searching for resources: How?" section of this module.

 

STEP TWO: Narrowing down broad concepts

It's important to know that your original draft of search terms and keywords, like your inquiry question, are flexible and may need to be changed as you begin your searching. And, as with your inquiry question, you may find that your concepts are too broad as you begin sorting through search results. So, what can you do about it?

Inquiry Module_ Creating Keywords (2).png

Your turn!

Let's say the following was your inquiry question:

How might decolonization impact the teaching of English Language Arts in Canada?

Using the link below, please do two things:

  1. Identify the main search concepts.
  2. For one of the concepts, identify synonyms that you could use in your searching.

Submit your responses here.