1. Keyword List

2. What is it? It is making a list of the words that will help you find the information you need about your research topic. They are called "key words" because they can "unlock" the doors that will lead you to useful information.

3. When will I use them?  In Oliver when looking for books  In indexes and content pages when looking for the relevant section in a book  In search engines when looking for websites  In indexes and databases when looking for articles

4. Why do I need to do it? If you have good key words, you'll find the kind of information you want faster. If you don't have good key words, you can waste a lot of time not finding the information you need.

5. What are good key words? Good key words are the important words or short phrases that specifically describe your topic and closely related topics. They are not long sentences.

6. When do I list them? Start as soon as you have a general topic. You will be able to add more key words to your list as you focus and learn more about your topic.

7. How do I list them?  First, write one or two sentences about your topic.  Next, underline all of the specific words that describe your topic.  Make a separate list of these specific words  Add to your list any other words that mean the same thing (synonyms) or are related terms.  Think of more words or phrases that describe the larger topic, of which your topic is a part. Add those to the list.  Think of more words or phrases that are subtopics of your topic which might help you find you useful information. Add those to the list

8. Your project is about the ocean. You want to do something about ocean mammals like whales or dolphins. Example:

9. Write a sentence about your topic: I want to do my project about some kind of ocean mammal such as whales or dolphins.

10. Pull out the key words and phrases and list them separately: I want to do my project about some kind of ocean mammal such as whales or dolphins.  ocean mammal  whales  dolphins

11. Now start expanding the list with related terms and synonyms: ocean --> sea --> marine mammals --> warm-blooded animals ocean mammal --> marine mammal whales --> cetaceans dolphins --> porpoises

12. Are there any larger categories that might lead you to information? [broaden] ocean mammal ocean life, marine life, mammals, animals

13. Are there any words or phrases that are more specific? [narrow] whales blue whale, killer whale, humpback whale bottle nose dolphin dolphins

14. Now you have a beginning list of key words and phrases to begin searching for information.

15. You can put them in order like this: Synonyms and Related Terms ocean sea marine ocean mammal marine mammal whales cetaceans dolphins porpoises Broad Terms ocean life marine life mammals animals Narrow Terms blue whale killer whale humpback whale bottle nose dolphin