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HIST 357 - US Cultural History - Petit: Getting Started

Search Tips

  1. Keep your searches simple (at least at first)
  2. Break down complex questions into different parts
  3. Brainstorm different ways to describe what you are looking for (consider using Boolean operators to help)
  4. Remember that research is an iterative process (do multiple searches with different combinations of terms and using different strategies)
  5. Learn from your search results (there is no such thing as a "failed" search)
  6. Keep your research organized (for example, keep a list of search terms you've used or have not yet used)

 

Generating Keywords Activity

An example of the main concepts in a research questionSynonyms of key concepts

 

Generating Keywords

What is your Research Question?

 

 

 

What are the main concepts in your Research Question?

1.

2.

3.

 

 

What are some synonyms (or related terms) for those concepts and your topic?

Concept 1.

 

Concept 2.

 

Concept 3.

 

Work together with your partner to try to help each other generate other keywords.