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ENG101 MCTC Library Research Strategy

ENG101 MCTC Library Research Strategy

#Topic: Keywords

Importance of Keywords

After selecting your broad topic you will need to choose keywords to help narrow your search.  

Keywords are also important to guide your searching in the library databases.

  • Keywords (sometimes referred to as "Index Terms") point the way for a computer to retrieve a particular document from a database.

One keyword may be too few, more than four keywords can be too many. Two to four keywords will be a better amount.

  • The quality of keywords will make a difference in searching.
  • The more unique and specific the keywords you use, the better your search results will be.

IMPORTANT: Identifying the key concepts of your topic will provide a better focus for what exactly you are looking.

Importance of Keywords

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 An "I Understand" Moment!

What do YOU think is the importance of choosing the right keywords?
To avoid words that are too broad, vague or unrelated to my topic.: 346 votes (81.8%)
To save time later in my research.: 48 votes (11.35%)
To create search statements.: 29 votes (6.86%)
Total Votes: 423