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Writing 100 (Spring 2025, Porter)

What are Keywords?

Keywords

Keywords are the words you use to tell the database what to find. For example, if you want to find information about libraries and book weeding, you would enter these words into the database:

libraries AND (weeding OR "collection maintenance")

You might also look for other keywords that are more tailored to what you are interested in. For instance, you might say something like:

"school libraries" AND censorship

It is a good idea to try both BROAD and NARROW keywords to see which ones give you better results.

Here are some other starting points for other topics:

(psychopath* OR sociopath*) AND television

"patient health outcomes" AND ("web-based applications" OR AI)

addiction AND prevent* AND "twelve-step programs"

 

Keywords

Sample Keywords

These are potential keywords.

  • jobs OR employment OR career
  • medicine 
  • AI
  • workers
  • psychology
  • lab safety

Your research question likely includes one or more concepts in addition to the one you started with. Here are some possible themes.

  • public health / health disparities
  • disease modeling
  • health outcomes
  • retraining / skill attainment