Creating a Search Strategy
Getting Started
Starting with a research question helps you figure out precisely what you’re looking for. Next, you’ll need the most effective set of search terms – starting from main concepts and then identifying and other related terms (synonyms). Those search terms need to be arranged in the most effective way as search statements, which you actually type into a search box.
Key Takeaways
- An important thing to remember is that searching is an iterative process: we try search statements, take a look at what we found and, if the results weren’t good enough, edit our search statements and search again—often multiple times.
- Most of the time, the first statements we try are not the best, even though Google or another search tool we’re using may give us many results.
- It pays to search further for the sources that will help you the most.
