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Choosing Keywords -VCC
Online Search Tips -VCC
Once you have identified the concepts pertinent to your subject, you will need to translate these into specific keywords to use as search terms. The concepts you identified may themselves serve as effective keywords; however, some concepts will require adaptation to yield even more effective keywords. Potential keywords may include synonyms for and examples of each concept. For example, consider how the identified concepts can lead to potential keywords for the following:
Once you have a good search question guiding your research, the next step is figuring out what keywords you'll use to search.
First, identify the key concepts in your question:
E.g. Do school lunches contribute to obesity in children?
Then, extracts the main concepts (keywords) from your question:
E.g. school lunches, obesity, children
Next, create a list of related, broader or narrower keywords that can help you achieve better results.
For example:
| School lunches | Obesity | Children |
|---|---|---|
| high school elementary school cafeteria vending machines |
overweight obese health concerns diabetes |
kids teenagers youth |
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