5 Generating Topic-Based Search Terms

In English 110, you would have been introduced to the concept of “key terms” and used them in reading and writing strategies in Essays 1 and 2. However, these are not exactly the same as “search terms” which are crucial for library research. Whereas a key term is a central and often recurring concept that is key to expressing (and understanding) an argument, a search term is a word or phrase that helps researchers find the types of sources that are relevant to their area of inquiry. For example, “monsters” and “literacy” are key terms in the articles “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen and “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt, respectively. However, they both would be ineffective search terms and lead to hundreds of thousands of results if used as standalone search terms in the library databases. Even though key terms might not make effective search terms, they can still be great starting points for developing search terms.

Watch this short video that demonstrates generating search terms. Then read the following paragraphs for review and complete the exercise.

Search Keywords Tutorial by Ray W. Howard Library at Shoreline Community College

To generate search terms when using a topic-based approach, let’s start by examining the research question you generated in the previous exercise. At this point in the research process, you might be used to Googling your entire question word for word, to see what comes up.

Library research works a little differently.

We’re going to break down a research question into distinct concepts, with each concept represented by an individual word or very short phrase.

Here’s how it might look, continuing my example from the research question exercise:

Then, for each concept, think of synonyms or related terms. These search terms will give us flexibility when searching library resources.

As a general rule, the more specific the search terms, the better they function in research. Give yourself a few tries to come up with the most specific search terms possible. When it comes to the topic-based approach, brainstorming some particular examples of the concepts you’re researching will be especially important. Right now, you may not know of any specific examples. That’s okay, because you’ll use the search process to identify some.

Some of these concepts, synonyms, related ideas, and examples will probably prove to be a little too specific when we try using them to search. Finding the right balance between broad and narrow takes time and practice, and it’s always good to have a range of search terms to choose from.

We will try using these search terms, or the search terms generated by your classmates, during our library instruction workshop. You will most likely continue revising your list(s) of search terms, synonyms, and related concepts as you learn more about the topic and the terms experts use to talk about it.