The first step in the research process is generating keywords, so you know what to look for in library databases, the library catalog, or an online search engine. You may be looking in exactly the right place, but without the right keywords, you might never find the right source.
If you'd like more help as you're developing your keywords, contact your librarian for the School of the Sciences:
The most obvious keywords have already been given to you. In the description of the assignment, your professor already gave you some possible options:
dissection
ethics
for or against
biology course
Some keywords will find many search results, but you may have to change some of them to locate the best results. For example, compare "for or against" to "dissection." Can you guess which one will find more and better resources? Why is that?
There is probably at least one synonym for most of your keywords. Try some of these:
| Your keywords are: | dissection | ethics | for or against | biology course |
| How else could you express this concept? |
dissect |
moral necessary |
pro/con
|
biology biology lab labs pre-med nursing classes |
Great! Now you have several more options for search terms.
In some cases, brainstorming related concepts can also be a good way to expand your search. This is especially true for a topic that has pros and cons, because you may want to dig deeper into the arguments on both sides.
Consider these the arguments for and against dissection. They're a little too long to be used as part of your search, but is there any part of them that can be boiled down to search terms?
| Pro/For | Con/Against |
|
Dissection provides an important look at biological systems and functions that cannot be replicated by a simulated or computerized experience. Possible keywords: simulation, virtual |
The availability of simulation has made dissection unnecessary.
|
|
Animals do not have the same capability for reasoning as humans and do not have the same rights as people when it comes to issues of scientific and medical consent. Possible keywords: animal rights |
Dissection is unethical because animals are sentient and should have rights, including the ability to consent to or decline being used for scientific testing. Possible keywords: animal rights |
Although simulation, virtual, and animal rights are not direct synonyms for any of your earlier keywords, they can still be good jumping-off places for finding sources related to your argument.
Some databases, including OneSearch, give you the option to use truncation, which means replacing part of your search term with an asterisk. The asterisks can go at the beginning and/or the end of the word. For example, searching for dissecting would only find dissecting, but searching for dissect* would find dissect, dissected, dissects, dissection, and dissections. That can save time because you'll be able to do one search instead of five.
Choose the right place to truncate your search term. dissect* works because there are only a few words that start with "dissect" and they all have slightly different endings. On the other hand, dis* wouldn't be the best choice -- can you see why?
Which of your keywords could you truncate?
| Your keywords are: |
dissection dissect |
ethics moral necessary |
for or against pro/con |
biology course biology biology lab pre-med nursing classes |
simulation |
virtual | animal rights |
| Can these be truncated? |
dissect* |
ethic* moral* *necessar* |
Nothing helpful here |
bio* medic* nurs* |
sim* |
Nothing helpful here | Nothing helpful here |
So now you can add the eight truncated options to your search.
You now have many, many options for your search. Your last step is to string them together to come up with a search strategy. Here's what we came up with in the first three steps:
| Your keywords are: |
dissection dissect* |
ethic* moral* *necessar* |
for or against pro/con |
pre-med nursing classes bio* medic* nurs* |
simulation sim* virtual |
animal rights |
That's a lot of keywords. Don't put them all in one search! Yes, you can try looking for ethic* of dissect* in pre-med or nursing classes simulation vs. animal rights, but that's a very specific search and you might not be able to find any sources that discuss all of those things. Instead, consider stringing together two or three at a time from different columns:
dissect* ethic* biology
pro con dissect*
nurs* dissect* vs. sim*
dissect* moral* animal rights
Give yourself time to try several different combinations until you find the best ones.
