Generating keywords for a search or refining a search when you don't get the results you expected can be some of the most challenging aspects of research. Students often feel frustrated and overwhelmed in this scenario. This is normal and every researcher experiences this frustration from time to time. When you start feeling this way, reach out to a librarian for help.
You can meet with a librarian in person by coming to the library during the hours librarians are working or by making an appointment here: https://washjeff.libcal.com/appointments?lid=6461&g=14670. Appointments can also happen on Teams if you prefer a virtual meeting. For less complex questions, you can start a chat or email asklib@washjeff.edu.
Keywords are the building blocks of research. However, finding ones that produce the kind of search results that you are looking for can be tricky. These questions can be helpful to think through these questions when developing keywords:
Like the research process, developing keywords is an iterative process, so don't panic if your first keywords don't produce the results that you were expecting.
Below are some resources from other libraries with further tips for developing keywords
Nearly all scholarly sources, and many other reputable sources of information, will include Works Cited, Reference, or Bibliography pages (some will also include footnotes or endnotes). These are treasure troves of additional relevant resources to your topic. This method of searching, referred to as Citation Chaining or Citation Mining, can also be useful for figuring out the prominent scholars in a particular field.
When you find a citation for a potential source, you can check to see if our library has access using one of these methods.
Ask a librarian for help. Bring your citation to the reference desk, open a chat, or send an email to asklib@washjeff.edu and a librarian can quickly determine if the citation you found is something we can immediately access through the library.
Search the title in EDS.
Look for the name of the publication the article appeared in and use the Find Periodicals search tool on the library home page to see if we have access in any of our databases.
If our library does not have access to the source you're interested in, don't worry! You can submit an Interlibrary Loan request for it. This is a simple, free option that allows us to ask other libraries to provide you with access to an article. Learn more about ILL here: https://libguides.washjeff.edu/ill