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Planning your search: key steps

Preparation is important and can save you a great deal of time later on!

• Focus on the question in your assignment. What exactly are you being asked to research or write about?
• Identify the key concepts in the assignment title. Can you describe them using keywords? Use an encyclopaedia, dictionary or course textbook to help if you are not sure what terms to use or you do not understand the meaning of any terms.
• Brainstorm your topic by writing down your ideas as individual words or phrases.
• Make sure your search is focused.Check that your search terms are not too broad. For example, are you really interested in the ecology of whole forest or just one plant species.
• Think about alternative terms to use and make a list of possible alternatives. Again you can use an encyclopaedia, thesaurus or textbook to help you.

Think about:

• Synonyms: words that mean the same thing, e.g. mobile phone or cell phone; plural and singular forms: e.g. women or woman.
• Be aware of alternative spellings and terminology: e.g. colour or color; organisation or organization; real estate or property changes in terminology or appropriate language: e.g.visually impaired rather than blind acronyms or abbreviations: e.g. CEO or Chief Executive Officer.