Break your topic down
The first step in conducting academic research requires you to think critically about your topic and brainstorm a list of keywords. You will use these keywords to search within the databases, so try and come up with synonyms you could use to search with. A great place to begin looking for synonyms is by doing background research either in the library or on the Internet with a Google search. For example, a Google search for the Byzantine Empire reveals that it is also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium. For more information about conducting background research see the Background Research tip sheet.
You should also consider how scholars in the field would phrase the concepts you will be researching. For example, heart disease is commonly referred to as cardiovascular disease among medical professionals.
Sometimes these key concepts can be found in your prompt, but you will want to avoid typing in your entire assignment prompt or research question into the database search boxes. This most likely will give you zero results. Instead, try inputting one concept into each search box, or if you are using the Library OneSearch box, try entering a couple of concepts at once.
Take for example the following research question: "What type of impact are school lunches having on childhood obesity?" For this question, you may want to begin with the following search strategy using the Library OneSearch's advanced search option.
Here is a short video that explains this concept in further detail: Keywords are Critical.
Review your search results by browsing the titles and subject terms related to the articles. If a title sounds interesting, select the Show More link in EBSCOhost or the Preview link in ProQuest to view the abstract (or summary) of the articles to get more information. You should also take a look at the subject terms in your search results as well. These are usually found at the bottom of a result's information. Using subject terms as keywords is speaking the language of the database and will give you better search results.
If you get no results, think of different keywords and search again. It’s important to remember that searching is not an exact science, and you may need to experiment with your search terms until you find the results you want.
If you haven’t a clue as to what your topic means or don’t understand what you are being asked for in the assignment, reach out to your instructor for clarification and do a little background research online first to develop your ideas on the topic.
If you still have questions you can chat in real-time with a librarian here.