Searching with Keywords

When you search a book’s index for a particular topic, you have to think for a moment, predict which term or terms may be used to identify the topic, and then start looking. Doing a computer search involves a similar process. Follow these steps:

1. Define your topic. Precisely stated topics yield focused results.

   Note: Guiding research questions (see page 364) can serve as topics in a computer search. Example: What preparations must I make to travel outside the U.S.?

2. Make a list of keywords. Break your topic into parts or terms. Each term is a keyword or key phrase. Also list alternative words or phrases for your search.
Examples: travel, preparations, outside the U.S. Alternatives: foreign travel, travel planning, visiting overseas, world travel

1. Use Boolean operators. Special operators such as the words and, or, and not; quotation marks; and +’s and –’s help a search site process your request. (Check advanced search options for operators.) Boolean operators work as follows:

Operator	Examples	Result	Graphic Representations
and or +	travel and foreign travel + foreign	Files with both “foreign” and “travel” separately
not or –	travel not foreign travel – foreign	Files with “travel” but without “foreign”
“ ”	“foreign travel”	Files with the exact phrase “foreign travel”
or	travel or foreign	Files with “travel” or “foreign” or both
* (or other “wild card”)	travel*	Files with “travel” or “traveled” or “traveler” or “traveling” (and so on)

4. Evaluate your results. If your keywords are well thought out and your search program has a complete database, you’ll receive good results. If your results are disappointing, however, you’ll need to either revise your keywords or use a different search program (or both) and try again.