Contact Us
- Ask a Question
- Make an Appointment
- 1-800-846-4085
- 210-441-3197
- library@ollusa.edu
- @ollu_library
- Sueltenfuss Library
Planning Your Search
Concept Mapping
A concept map is a visual representation of a research topic. Concept maps are a great way to organize and explore the different facets of your topic. Once you decide on a main research topic, make that the center of your concept map. Determine the key concepts and areas that make up your main topic and make these the first branches from your central topic. Additional branches can break your subtopics down into more specific areas, which can help to narrow down your focus if your main topic is too broad to research.
Brainstorming Keywords
Once you have a topic in mind, develop a list of related terms and ideas to use in your search.
- Identify your topic
- Identify 2 - 4 key concepts related to your topic
- Identify multiple related keywords for each concept
Primary & Secondary Sources
| Primary Sources |
|
Primary sources are ...
|
|
Some examples:
|
|
Secondary Sources |
|
Secondary sources are ...
|
|
Some examples:
|
From Cornell College's "A Guide to Evaluating Resources"
Combining Search Terms
Boolean Operators
AND narrows down your results because it only finds items that include both search terms as a keyword.
OR expands your results because it finds items that include either one or both search terms as a keyword.
NOT makes your results more specific by excluding words that aren't relevant to your search.
