Choosing Keywords

When searching in the library catalog and databases, use keywords that capture key concepts about your topic. A search with keywords like “gender” and “salary” will retrieve better results than using a phrase like “impact of gender on salary.”

• To discover more keywords, use reference sources, such as:
  • Credo
  • Encyclopedia Britannica

Scholarly encyclopedias contain background information, people's names, and place names. Pay attention to the language that reference sources use to describe the topic and use those terms as keywords in further searches.