Lesson 3:
Developing a Strategy

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Define a Topic

Brainstorm Search Terms

Build a Keyword Search

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Brainstorm Search Terms

Brainstorm About Synonyms

Electronic databases can't think. They match search terms exactly and don't recognize synonyms for your terms. For example, searching for the term "grades" won't automatically retrieve results that use the term "academic success" instead.

To avoid missing relevant results, brainstorm for synonyms for your concepts.

For a topic about college students having jobs and how that affects their grades, you can brainstorm multiple synonyms for each concept. If your concepts don't have exact synonyms, think of terms that are just a little narrower or just a little broader!

concept 1		college students	synonyms		university students, freshmen, first-year students
concept 2		jobs	synonyms		employment, work, occupation, vocation, labor
concept 3		grades	synonyms		g.p.a., achievement, academic success, graduation rates

Ask yourself, "Might someone writing about my topic use different terms?" If so, use those synonyms in your searches. For example, someone writing about binge drinking might call it "alcohol consumption". On the other hand, if there's really only one word to describe your topic, that's okay too. For example, there are few true synonyms for "schizophrenia".

Consider: Are there any appropriate synonyms for each of your concepts?