What are "keywords"?
You likely already use keywords all of the time in your own daily searches. Keywords are how we distill a question into its most fundamental parts, but most of us do it without even really thinking: if you've ever looked for a spot to eat and entered something similar to "mexican food" and "fremont" into some search interface to describe the information you need, you already know how keywords work!
Keywords in Research: "keywords" are sometimes used interchangeably with "search terms," but "keyword" also means we're trying to use language to identify main ideas and topics--whatever might be the "key" to unlocking our research question.
We don't always have to have the perfect topic, question or idea before we start searching. Identifying keywords can be a good opportunity for brainstorming and finding the right keywords that will return relevant and useful information also means we can continue to define our topic as we search. Keywords are most helpful to our research when we allow them to change or shift in response to the resources we're finding and as we explore the existing conversations that are already taking place around your topic.
Searching in Library databases:
Since database search functions don't use "natural language" (like asking, "what is the relationship between immune system health and vitamin C consumption") and instead asks that we identify search terms or keywords that will help scan all possible results for relevant information (like "immune system" AND "vitamin C" AND "effects"). Generating these keywords can be a process that involves seeing which terms other researchers are using when they ask similar questions and narrowing down specialized vocabularies that different fields and disciplines might use.
In addition to adding in search filters, generating keywords is the best way to search strategically and can also help you in the process of articulating your research question and narrowing down or refining some of your own ideas.
This video from our colleagues at Seattle Central College offers a good example of what this process can look like. Their advice to keep "one idea per search bar" is especially helpful:
As your searches turn up additional results, notice the conversation between experts happening around your topic. Is the research going in one direction or emphasizing a narrowed-down version of your topic?
Tips for developing keywords:
Tip 1: Highlight the main concepts within your research topic.
Example: How do cigarettes affect one's health? The words I would remove are "how", "do", and "one's". That would leave me with "cigarette," "affect," and "health." For this situation, I would change "affect" to "effects" so that the search will include the health effects of cigarettes.
Tip 2: Make a list of synonyms of those highlighted concepts.
Example: cigarette--nicotine, tobacco products, smoking; health--lungs, heart, body; effects--impacts
Tip 3: Write down questions within your research topic and highlight the concepts within those questions.
Example: How do cigarettes affect one's health? -- What are cigarettes made of? What chemicals are found in cigarettes? What are the short-term and long-term effects of smoking? What kind of tobacco products are there?
