Remember! Library databases are not Google. You can't just put your entire question into the search box and get results. Follow the steps below to break your question into keywords for better searches!
1. Take your topic or research question and break it into keywords or phrases.
Ex.) Why should the United States have universal health insurance?
2. Think of synonyms or related terms to come up with additional keywords you could use. Use your Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How questions to come up with additional keywords for more specific searches.
Ex.)
| Main Keyword 1 | Main Keyword 2 | Additional Keywords | Additional Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal health insurance | United States | Pros | Cons |
| Universal health coverage | United States of America | Rationale | Cost |
| Global health insurance | U.S. | Public health | Funding |
| Global health care | U.S.A. | Equity | |
| Obamacare | America |
Hint! Use a thesaurus or the Credo Reference topic web to help you come up with additional keywords.
Put the keywords and phrases you came up with together to form a "search string."
Ex.) "Universal Health Insurance" AND "United States"
or... "Global health care" AND "United States" AND "Equity"
or... "Universal healthcare" AND US AND (Cost OR Funding)
Notice how key phrases are grouped together with quotation marks.
Ex.) "Universal Health Insurance" / "United States"
This tells the database to search for the words together as a phrase instead of searching for each word independently.