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EV 274/PS 274: Environmental Policy: Searching

Create A Keyword List

The right keywords help to effectively search catalogs, databases, and the Internet.

- Compile a list of keywords that represent each concept of your topic.

  • Try the Search Generator (Northwest Missouri State University) to help you create a keyword search.

    -Use more specific terms when searching databases versus catalogs.

    - Look for additional terms in your search results.

    •  Add these to your list.

    - Search Google Books for keywords in the title, table of contents, subject headings, and text of books.

    - Use the Library of Congress Authorities and Vocabularies thesaurus

    •  to find variations of keywords and subject headings.

      You may need to do multiple searches (RE -search) in various databases.
      With patient and persistence, you will find relevant material.

      Search features

      Like criteria for evaluating periodicals,
      what are important in searching online pages and databases?

      Leverage Footnotes and Bibliographies

      Footnotes and bibliographies:

      are a quick way to find related materials

      and track the names of popular authors.

      Image result for stack of books