Sentences or sentence fragments should not be used when database searching. Instead, researchers should use keyword or phrase searching.
Think of words that best describe the topic you are searching. Quotation marks are used to identify phrase searching (for example, "living dead").
Concepts can be identified using various words so it is helpful to identify synonyms or related terms as well.
| Topic: | Why is our culture currently fascinated by zombies? |
| Keyword(s)/phrase: | culture, fascinated, zombies |
| Synonyms: | "popular culture", obsession, “living dead” |
| Related terms: | "horror movies," "Walking Dead" |
Thinking of wh- words that ask who, what, where and when can help focus a search.
| Topic: | Should the racial make-up of a police department be the same as the community they serve? |
| Keyword(s)/phrases: | race, police, community |
| Who? | Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor |
| What? | "personalized policing," demographics |
| Where? | Ferguson, Minneapolis, Louisville, United States |
| When? | grand jury decisions, Black Lives Matter events |
| Topic | What is HPV and the vaccine given for its prevention? |
| Search terms |
What is your paper topic?
List 5 terms related to the topic that can be searched on for information.
Subject headings or controlled vocabulary are terms assigned in the database to identify particular topics. Database thesauri can be used to identify subject terms.
Subject terms search the subject heading field of the bibliographic record. This specificity limits the search and creates more relevant results.
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