Keywords are the terms in your research question that are likely to appear in publications about your topic. So it is important that you have thought about and identified what they may be before you start searching for resources online.
Remember not to give up too easily and try using alternative keywords in your searches.
Have a look at the photograph of Falmouth below. (Photo by Nigel Brown)
Think about some keywords related to the image and jot them down.
Now click on the plus signs to find out some of our suggestions!
If you search with several keywords, it’s a good idea to use more advanced search options, or to use some boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to make them work together. By doing this, your search will be more focused and you will have fewer, but more accurate results to work with.
Try the mix-and-match activity below. If you're unsure watch this search techniques video.
Try the mix and match activity to see what you know about different search tools
Then try our suggestions for some simple searches to get you started
You will need to use the library website and the Library Search. We recommend opening the website in a new tab during the activity or on your mobile phone.
Visit our Library Search video playlist to help you learn more about how to use it.
Have a look at Google Scholar to see what you can find.
This is a search engine that searches academic literature. It pulls information from university repositories, journal publishers, and other ‘scholarly’ identified websites. Be aware though that you may not be able to access the full text and what you find may not be peer-reviewed.
Watch our walkthrough video and then have a go at searching using keywords for your topic using the link above.
