MONT 199C-F01: Principles of Higher Education (Caola)

Identify Keywords

Keywords are terms we use when searching for information. Searching in a library database is a little different from how you might be used to searching in a search engine like Google. In a search engine, you can type in entire phrases or questions and the algorithm will be able to parse through that to return the results you want. In a database or library search, you need to be more precise. By choosing your keywords strategically, you can maximize your search to make sure you're getting the information you want.

1. To identify keywords, start with your research topic or question. What are the key words or phrases in your question that sum up your topic? Write those words down. 
   • Example Research Question: What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on colleges' approach to online learning?
   • From this research question, the words and phrases "impact," "COVID-19 pandemic," "colleges," and "online learning" are potential keywords.
2. Now, look at your keywords and think about what other words or phrases can be used to mean the same thing. 
   • For example, impact may also be called effect, influence, outcome, or result. The COVID-19 pandemic is also referred to as coronavirus, COVID, or novel coronavirus. Some publications may use the word college, while others might use higher education or university. Online learning can also be called distance education, online education, e-learning, remote learning, or virtual learning.
3. Think about what broader or narrower terms you can use. 
   • For the term colleges, using the phrase higher education may be more broad since it includes community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. On the other hand, if I wanted to focus on a specific type of college like community colleges, using that term would give me a more narrow focus in my results.

Subject Terms

Databases will use terms called subject terms to label or "tag" the main topics in an article or publication. Subject terms are part of a vocabulary unique to the database or publisher and are used to put everything related to one topic under a consistent label to make it easier to find with a search. Knowing the relevant subject terms for your topic can help streamline your search by essentially helping you speak the database's language.

When you conduct a search, you will see subject terms listed in your search results. Take a look at those and see if you notice any that are relevant to your topic. In your next search, try using one of those terms.

Boolean Operators: And, Or, and Not

You can use the words AND, OR, and NOT to combine your search terms for precise searching. These are called Boolean operators and each one has a different purpose.

• Use AND to combine your search terms. Each search result with include all of the terms. This can help narrow your results.
  • Searching for education AND equity will find results that include both terms. Use this to combine different concepts that make up your topic to find more focused results.
• Use OR to find results that contain at least one of your search terms. This can help you broaden your results, and can be good to use if the subject you're searching for is referred to in different ways.
  • Searching for higher education OR college will show results that include either term or both terms. Use this to search for synonyms, or words that mean similar things. Some journals may use one term over the other, so using OR makes sure you're capturing the different ways publishers may refer to the same concept.
• Use NOT to exclude terms from your results. This can help you narrow your topic by removing a related term that you are not interested in finding sources about.
  • Searching for education NOT high school will show results that only include education and will not show any results that include high school. Use this strategy if you are finding irrelevant results with a common keyword or subject, or if you're looking for a more specific piece of a larger topic.

The Venn diagrams below can help visualize how Boolean operators work.