1. Database Practice
BVH Library

2. Narrowing your Topic Basic Information: My Example: Transcendentalism
Aspect of Transcendentalism that interests you
Connection to contemporary life
Problem
Final, narrowed topic
Transcendentalism
Belief in living closer to nature
Livestock/food industry
Too sanitized to recognize life behind the package
The modern livestock industry distances us from nature and where our food came from.
Basic Information:
My Example:

3. Forming a Question
My topic: The modern livestock/food industry distances us from nature and where our food came from.
My question: How has the modern food industry and the sanitized packaging of meat products distanced us from nature, and why is this a problem?

4. Search Terms & Synonyms
food industry
livestock
packaging
nature
commercial
marketing
factory farming

5. Advanced Searches Always Select "Full Text" Understand Search Options:
Keyword: natural language, more flexible, yields more results
Subject: "controlled vocabulary," less flexible, potentially more relevant
Use Boolean operators to specify searches
AND: narrows a search
OR: broadens a search
NOT: excludes certain terms

6. Practice Advanced Search: Example
Search Terms Used: livestock, packaging
livestock AND packaging: 38 results
livestock OR packaging: 1,798
livestock NOT packaging: 1,045

7. Be patient, and think outside the box!
You will NOT find an article written about your topic in direct relation to Transcendentalism (i.e. the "magic" article)!
Use the information you find in the articles and apply it to Transcendentalism.