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Plan your search

Plan your search

Planning your search is key to getting the most relevant and high quality results. The following video will help you get started.

Video length: 2 min 26 sec

Key points from the video:

  • Searching for your whole assignment is not very effective
  • Identify the key concepts in your question or topic
  • Think about what other words (similar words or alternative terms) might be used to describe the key concepts
  • Connect your concepts using AND and OR
  • You can change your search as you find more information

The rest of this page will outline the three key steps for planning your search as discussed in this video: identify keywords, consider alternative keywords, and connect your keywords.

Step 1: Identify keywords

Typing your question into Google or the Library Collection is not the best way to search.

Mapping out your search can be a good place to start:

  • Identify the keywords (also known as key concepts) in the assignment question - these are the words which give meaning to the question, the main ideas
  • Remove task words (also known as instruction words) from your assignment question - these are the words telling you what to do with the key concepts (e.g. analyse, compare, discuss)

Check out the guide below for more information on instruction words.

Test your knowledge

Can you find the keywords in the activities below? 

Step 2: Consider alternative keywords

To cover the range of terminology used in the literature, you must also identify synonyms or similar keywords for each concept.

Also consider:

  • Plurals, different word forms ( architect vs architects vs architecture)
  • Different spellings (labour vs labor),
  • Hyphenated words (site-specific vs site specific)
  • Acronyms or abbreviations  (18th-century vs eighteenth-century)

Try doing the following to help you understand your keywords and find similar or alternative keywords:

  • Use your course readings, an encyclopedia, dictionary, or reliable websites to understand your topic
  • Use a thesaurus to help you find similar or alternative keywords
  • Do some basic initial searching using the keywords you've already identified to see what other words are used in the papers you find
  • Create a mind map or table to help you brainstorm alternative keywords

For example, you could create the table below for the topic:

How will machine learning impact the future of architecture?

Main concepts

Concept 1
Machine learning

Concept 2
Architecture
Synonyms (similar concepts)

automation
artificial intelligence
AI

building design

Tip: As you search, you may come across more concepts or synonyms you can incorporate. Don't be afraid to change or modify your search as you go.

Step 3: Connect your keywords

Once you have identified your keywords and found alternative keywords, you need to connect these to put your search together.

You can use the following operator words, which many search tools have, to indicate how you want the tool to search for your keywords:

  • OR: Combines similar keywords
  • AND: Combines different keywords
  • NOT: Excludes words from the search (use cautiously and only when necessary or you might exclude results you actually want)

Remember to use "quotation marks" to keep phrases together.

For example:

Operator words What it does Example
AND
  • Narrows your search.
  • The more concepts you connect with AND the more focused your search will become.
 "machine learning" AND 
architecture
OR
  • Broadens your search.
  • Includes results that use different terminology.

"machine learning" OR automation OR AI 
OR "artificial intelligence"
NOT
  • Removes concepts from a search.
  • Not recommended as you can potentially eliminate relevant results.
 "artificial intelligence" NOT
robotics

Test your knowledge

Remember, searching is not a linear process. You may change your search as you discover more information.