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| "Fall Color at Sparks Lake Meadow, Oregon." Bonnie Moreland (free images) is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. |
Whether you are using the Internet or a library-based research tool, developing a list of keywords and phrases describing your topic is a good way to organize your thinking and increase the relevancy of your searches. Try using the following tips to adjust keywords and refine your research.
- Keep searches simple. Describe your topic using two or three basic keywords. If you don't get good results, remove a keyword or try using a broader term. For example, instead of searching for a phrase such as, "environmental justice for people living in Detroit," try "'environment* justice' AND Michigan." If you still end up with too many results, you can always add another simple keyword or two. Here are a few search terms that might also be helpful:
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Anthropocentrism |
Green city |
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Consider synonyms. Many words in the English language are used to refer to the same idea. Authors and/or librarians might use a different term or phrase to describe a concept than you. For example, the keywords "nature," "environment," and "wilderness" might all be used to get at a somewhat similar idea.
- Use "official" subject headings and descriptors. When you are searching in a library database, take note of the ways in which librarians and indexers have described the books and articles that are most relevant to your topic. Once you figure out what these "official" terms and phrases are, immediately narrow your searches by using these linkages to limit your results to ONLY things that include your subject heading.