Sometimes your task (or topic) is too big - you don't know where to start. Sometimes it's so narrow - you can't find anything on your first try.
Keywords and key terms are what you use to:
- Look up subject entries in catalogues
- Look for information in encyclopaedias
- Look up the book's contents pages and index
- Look up information in directories
- Focus your attention on while you skim and scan your information
- Structure your work for presentation
Keywords are really important if you're planning on doing subject searches on any catalogue. Auckland City Libraries' catalogue, like most libraries, uses standard subject headings. So you may be looking for books on cars, for example, but the search you need to do is automobiles. (There is information if you search for cars but not as much as if you looked under automobiles).
Your first step is get an overview before figuring out where to go from there. Try asking simple questions: who, what, when, where, and why?
Some good approaches to try are:
Figure out the main words - which are the ones actually used in the topic.
Our example:
Who:
|
Teenagers |
What:
|
Life |
|
When:
|
1960s |
Where:
|
New Zealand |
There may not be a book specifically on that topic, so you'll probably need to broaden your search to life in New Zealand in the 1960s.
Next step: brainstorming |
