When searching the library catalogue or in one of our databases, use keywords rather than full sentences.
| ❌ full sentences |
Follow the steps below to identify keywords on your research topic.
Research questions are often provided by your instructor but in some cases you might be required to develop your own research question.
If you need assistance selecting a research topic, consult your instructor.
Library staff can offer helpful strategies for conducting research on the topic you choose.
"What role does nature play in Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake?”
Major concepts pulled from the research question:
You will need to build upon these major concepts with related words and synonyms.
Using a thesaurus to build up on the concept of nature, we added the following keywords to our list:
Nature:
Sometimes some background research is needed to identify a few more keywords on your topic.
For example, by looking through the novel, Oryx and Crake, we found a few more keywords related to our major concept:
As you conduct more research on your topic: