USING KEYWORDS EFFECTIVELY

Whether you use your library’s search options or Google, you will use keywords, words or phrases that describe your topic, to search for information. You type your keywords into a search box, hit “Enter,” and the search engine scans all the items in its index for those that include your keywords. In other words, to search effectively, you must figure out which words your sources are likely to use and use those as your keywords. The tips below can help improve your search results.

If your keyword searches are returning too many results or too many irrelevant results, try the following.

Keep in mind that effective research requires ingenuity and persistence, so don’t give up too easily.