Snapshot 4: See the Big Picture How do I pick a topic

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Snapshot 4 See the Big Picture How do I pick a
topic?

• Information Literacy Drop-In Session/4

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By the completion of this lesson, student will

• know the steps in choosing a topic.
• be able to identify synonyms for search terms.
• know the use of Boolean Operators, and, or, and
  not .
• know how to create search strings.

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My Topic

• When we first think of topics, we tend to be very
  general.
• Drunk Driving
• Eating Disorders
• Religion
• Fashion
• Nursing

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Limiting a Topic

• Then we need to make the topic smaller. We
  cannot tell about the world in 6 pages.Think of
  the chapters in a book.
• If my general topic is Drunk Driving, what would
  the chapters of a book be called?
• Laws
• Teens
• Alcoholism
• Prevention

Now my topic is becoming more manageable.
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Limiting a Topic

• Lets choose one chapterTeens
• What are some subtopics for drunk driving and
  teens?
• If I Google drunk driving and teens, I find the
  following topics
• Punishment
• Prevention
• Causes, more than just drinking
• Organizations, SADD, and MADD

Now Ive got a workable topic!
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Brainstorming Keywords

• When we think of words to search in the Library
  Catalog, Google or the Online Databases, we have
  to experiment. What we think is a good term, may
  not be what the cataloger or the author would use
  .
• For example What is this?

We all see different things but are looking at
the same picture
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Brainstorming Keywords
Now create a search string. These are words we
expect to find in the article or on the web site.
(Drunk Driving or DUI or DWI)and prevention and
(teens or teenagers)not Britain
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Library Catalog

• For the Library Catalog, we just use the general
  search terms. Then when we locate an entire book
  on Drunk Driving we can use the index or Table of
  Contents.
• We can search browse or keyword.

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Looking for a Topic?
Try the Online Databases!