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ENGL 057 - Critical Connections in Reading and Writing - Trout

Identify Keywords

In what ways do humans contribute to the destruction and conservation of the Caribbean coral reef?

By identifying key concepts and what other words or phrases describe those concepts you will get more meaningful results. With the question "In what ways do humans contribute to the destruction and conservation of the Carribian coral reef?" the keywords/phrases are human, destruction, conservation, and Carribean coral reef. Here is an example of what words could be used instead:

Original Phrase Related words or ideas
humans human-caused, anthropogenic, people
destruction threats, damage, degradation, kill, decline
conservation preservation, protection, recovery, restoration
Caribbean coral reef West Indies, Caribbean Sea, Antilles, Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

Keyword vs. Subject

When you type things into database search boxes, you are, by default, doing what is known as a keyword search. When you are looking for information on certain topics it can be helpful to do a subject search instead. However, some databases' subject headers are not as robust or descriptive, so a highly targeted keyword search might be better in some cases. Here are some key differences between the two search types of searches:

Keyword Search Subject Search
  • searches anywhere in the record for the words you typed
  • provides a lot more, but possibly unrelated, results
  • useful if you know that you have the correct words
  • search is the same regardless of database
  • has been tagged by a librarian as being relevant to the assigned subject
  • provides fewer, but more relevant, results
  • useful when multiple terms describe the same idea (ex. drugs, pharmaceuticals, medication)
  • different databases might use different vocabulary

Finding Related Terms (Synonyms)

Broad / Narrow / Just Right

Your topic is too broad if...

  • you are having difficulty discussing something in depth or writing something original.
  • the only similarity between your resources is that they are both on the same piece of literature. 
  • there are a lot of subtopics within the concept.

Example that is too broad: Charter Schools.  

 

Your topic is too narrow if...

  • you get no (or only a few) results in the databases. 
  • you get a lot results in the databases, but they're not what you're looking for.
  • you can't seem to find anything to support your ideas.

Example that is too narrow: Charter school attendance by the children of Pennsylvania state senators. 

Your topic is just right if...

  • you readily find articles that match with your ideas.
  • you can see the connection between the work, the article, and your interest.
  • you feel like you'll be able to write enough without stretching it or editing it down too much.

Example that is just right: The differences between how republican and democratic state senators vote on charter school laws.