About The Library

Your search is only as good as your search terms!

Coming up with good search terms will also save you time.

Once you have nailed down a topic, it's time to find keywords to use in your searches for articles and other materials. Here are some tips for mining keywords from your background searches.

• Check the subject terms describing the articles.
• Mine keywords from the abstracts of the articles. Look especially for words that uniquely describe the topic.
• Look at the bibliography or sources cited at the bottom of articles. Read for background information and look at the subject terms assigned to them.

For example, a CQ Researcher article on human trafficking contains info-graphics that are full of potential search terms, like modern slavery, forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded laborers, and many more.  Looking at the bibliography, the first source is a book on the shelf at Logue Library. The link to WorldCat shows descriptive terms and a table of contents list.  The book might be a good source itself or might be a good lead to other sources or search ideas.
 

If you get stuck trying to find good synonyms for your concepts, try

• Brainstorming with a friend
• Asking a librarian (chat-in below)
• Do some Googling
• Check an encyclopedia/wikipedia
• Use Thesaurus.com