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ENVS 101 Environmental Science

Identifying Search Terms

Identify the keywords or key phrases in your research need.

Example:

What are the effects of plastics on the environment?

Identify synonyms for those words and phrases:

plastics    environment   
plasticizers    environmental   
phthalates        ecology
  ecological


Use search techniques to improve your search results:

“plastic bottles” quotation marks around phrases
ecolog* = ecology or ecological       symbols to expand search terms (truncation)
plastics AND environment* AND, OR, NOT to combine search terms
“plastic bottles” AND ecology* put it all together


Use the "Identifying Search Terms Worksheet" below to try it yourself.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a good tool for brainstorming and developing research questions. For help creating your own mind map, check out Mind42 and a tutorial from the University of Arizona on mind mapping by navigating to the links below. 

Starting Point: Encyclopedias