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CJ 8250: Restorative Justice (Artello)

Develop Keywords

Before you can begin searching for information, you need to identify keywords related to your topic. Key terminology can be easily be found by scanning:

  • Your research questions
  • Articles found from background research
  • Bibliographies found at the end of books and articles

If you are still struggling:

  • Use a thesaurus to identify synonyms.
  • Find pictures related to your topic, then describe them.
  • Brainstorm keywords with a librarian, your instructor, or a friend.
  • Use a keyword generator.

Tips

  1. Use books or digital resources in the reference collection to get started.
  2. Write down search terms you plan to use.
  3. Note search terms that do not get you any results.
  4. Thoughtfully, play around with the Search Fields. i.e. What if you search for "Criticism" as a Subject instead of a Keyword?
  5. Look at the Subjects or Subject Headings section to find more search terms or to explore a subject you had not considered.
  6. Look at and use the citations at the end of relevant articles/books to follow the research trail of the writer. It could be useful for your research too.
  7. Ask a librarian!