Sample Research Questions:
Communicating through Social Media: What Do We Gain? What Do We Lose?
Brainstorming for keywords
What keywords would you use to search for information on this topic?
What keywords best describe the different facets of this topic?
Which synonyms or related terms can you think of that also reflect the different facets of this topic?
Keyword
|
Synonym/Related | Synonym/Related | Synonym/Related | |||
social media | OR | "virtual space" | OR | OR | ||
AND | ||||||
communicating | OR | interaction | OR | conversation | OR | connecting |
AND | ||||||
gain AND lose | OR | consequences | OR | cost-benefit | OR | implications |
Examples:
Research Question
representation of women in the film industry
Brainstorming Keywords:
Keyword |
Synonym |
Synonym |
Synonym |
|
|
|
|
movie |
film |
cinema |
|
women |
female |
gender | |
representation |
image |
portrayal |
Research Question:
birth, death, and legacy of post-punk music
Brainstorming Keywords:
Keyword |
Synonym |
Synonym |
Synonym |
|
|
|
|
post-punk |
new wave |
no wave |
|
music |
pop music |
Boolean Logic: And, Or, Not
Boolean logic is foundational to internet/electronic-based search. The library catalog uses it, journal databases use it, even Google -beneath all those mysterious relevancy algorithms - uses it!
AND - searches for things that contain ALL of your keywords
OR - searches for things with ANY of your keywords (really great for synonyms!)
NOT - searches for things WITHOUT a specific keword