ENG 101 - Unsolved Mystery (Stevens)

3. Search Tips

Who

Think about who might be involved. This could be a specific person, but it could also be groups of people or not even specifically related to an individual. 

What

Consider what factors are involved in your topic. Read some background information or a summary to learn more about your topic, and then make a list of relevant factors.

The background reading can also provide you with keywords, specialized vocabulary, and definitions, which will be useful for future searches.

When

What time period is involved? Are you considering present day, current time? or are you going back in history to look at a time period long ago. Be sure you know what dates and times are involved in your topic because that will affect how you write about them. Your topic may have specific dates associated with it or it may be more general.

Where

Sometimes places or geography are important to your topic. Are you considering issues in the United States or another country? The situation can be quite different in some countries than it is here.

Why

This is a really important one. Why do people care about this topic? Why is it important or controversial? What's at stake? or Why did it happen / is it happening?

Keywords

As you think about what topic you want to research, think about what particular words might be found in a good article about that topic. 

• Try searching for the name of the mystery:"Black Dahlia"
• Sometimes, you may get results that have similar keywords to your topic, but are about something else. In that case, think about what search terms you could use to narrow down your search-maybe the name of a person who was involved or the place where it happened: "Black Dahlia" AND "Elizabeth Short"

Also, as you start to search for the solution you are proposing, you want to think about some keywords for that.

• "Solution" is probably a good start: "Black Dahlia" AND solution
•  You may also want to use similar words like "explained" or "solved". What other synonyms can you think of?

If there are multiple possible solutions to your mystery, you will want to search for information on the solution you are proposing, so think about what search terms you can use to narrow the topic down to just that solution

Keywords work best by trial-and-error. Never do only one search. Some keywords will work better than others, and some keywords may lead you to different articles than you found in your first search.  Search the databases with the keywords you selected to find relevant articles. And remember to ask a librarian if you need assistance coming up with keywords or looking for sources.