HI 481 Senior Seminar Masur: Getting Started

• To brainstorm ideas to research, try browsing:
  • News in your subject area. (Google sociology news to find websites to browse.)
  • The table of contents of a book or encyclopedia in your subject area.
• Do some initial searching on one or more topic ideas, using our main library search box or Google.
• Refine your topic based on what you find:
  • Maybe you found a slight variation or different direction you want to go in.
  • Tons of results? Consider narrowing your topic to focus on a smaller aspect of it.
  • Hardly any results? You may need to broaden your topic and make it less specific.
• Generate search terms/keywords by asking questions about your topic.
  • Write down what questions you have on your topic 
  • Try a concept map: Who,  What, Where, When, Why, How

If you want to discuss topic ideas and keywords, stop by the Reference Desk to chat with a librarian.

These search tips work in our library databases and Library Catalog:

• Combine keywords using AND and OR.
  • Use AND for searching different ideas within your topic. E.g. youth AND homelessness
  • Use OR for searching with synonyms of your keywords. E.g. (youth OR teen) AND homelessness
• Abbreviate words with multiple endings using an asterisk (*). E.g. homeless* to search both homeless and homelessness
• Search specific phrases using quotation marks. E.g. "Runaway and Homeless Youth Act"
• Change your search terms around to get different results.