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Determine What Information You Need: What is Your Research Question?
Think of all the questions you might ask to understand your subject. Consider questions that require you to think critically about the topic, or about a specific element or certain angle on your topic. Try filling in this prompt:
I'm studying __________ to investigate __________ in order to understand __________.
Create a list of keywords associated with your topic.
What else could it be called (synonyms)? What describes it specifically (hyponyms)? What is it related to broadly (hypernyms)?
Topics can be narrowed or broadened depending on the use of search terms.
General: monkeys
Narrower: howler monkeys
Broader: primates
There are 3 Magic Words, called Boolean terms (sometimes called Boolean operators, or command terms), you can use to connect or disconnect keywords.
Select any word to find out more about them.
Using the 3 Magic Words singly or in combination creates a more precise and powerful search, with a higher percentage of relevant results.
Truncation lets you search for a term and variant spellings of that term.
Use an asterisk [ * ] or a question mark [ ? ] at the end of a root word to get results from any form of the root word. This is called "truncation" or "stemming."
These same symbols used in the middle of a word are called “wild cards.” Using [ ? ] will substitute only one letter. Using [ * ] will substitute an unlimited number of letters.
Teen*: will find teen, teens, teenage, teenager, teenagers, etc.
Kar?n: will find Karen, Karin, Karyn, Karon, Karum, Karan, etc.
Kar*n: will find Karen, Karin, Karyn, Karmen, Karsavin, Kardashian, etc.
Add Quotation Marks to search for an exact phrase or words in a specific or EXACT order. An exact phrase will return more accurate results.
For an example, search: separation anxiety vs. “separation anxiety”.
Place certain terms in parentheses to “nest” them or combine them when searching. This allows for a high level of specificity in your search.
It works just like basic math when (1 + 4) - 3 = 5 - 3 = 2. The words inside the parenthesis are searched first and are then followed by the rest of your search terms.
(health care OR medical care) AND culture
(premature OR preterm) infant
Request an individual reference / research consultation with an NWACC librarian to get help with a research assignment. We can help you with refining your topic into a research questions, selecting the best places to search for sources, evaluating sources, creating citations, and more. Appointments are held during the library's open hours, as staffing is available. Consultations generally last 30 minutes.
