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ART 106H - Robertson - Spring 2024: Search Tips

Identify keywords and concepts

Keywords and concepts describe the main idea(s) of your topic and enable you to focus your research.

  • Based on your assigned texts, jot down the terms that you identify as the keywords and main concepts.
  • Use background information from reference sources such as the Gale Virtual Reference Library to find additional keywords and synonyms.
  • Group the keywords by concept.
  • Identify synonyms of your keywords (e.g., synonyms for "teenagers" are adolescents, youths, and children).

Search Tip - Phrase Searching

Use quotation marks (") around phrases to search for exact phrases or titles. 

This is also handy in Google searching.

Examples: 

"health care reform"

"texting while driving"

"As You Like It"

Search Tip - Truncation

Use truncation (*) to find word variants. Examples:

Adolescen*
retrieves the following:
adolescent

adolescents
adolescence

Advertis* retrieves the following:
advertise

advertising
advertisement

Teen* retrieves the following:
Teen
Teens
Teenager
Teenagers
Teenaged

Boolean Searching Video

Related Terms and Synonyms

Use related terms/synonyms to refine your search:

Example 1:

  • Global Warming
  • Climate Change

Example 2:

  • Capital Punishment
  • Death Penalty
  • Lethal Injection