Find Background Information

Gathering background information on your research topic can help you to not only narrow down a topic that is too broad, but also collect keywords and synonyms that will help you to locate books and periodical articles. The library's links under Facts and Background Information as well as the Reference Shelf have quick reference resources that you can use, such as encyclopedias and almanacs, that can help you set the context for your research.

Understanding Indexing Terms or Descriptors
Access to resources is often restricted by an indexer's use of controlled vocabularies or thesauri. Knowing how the indexing process works will make your information retrieval efforts more efficient. The indexer, usually an expert in that field, reads a document and assigns or 'tags' subject terms or descriptors to it from a published list of acceptable descriptors called a thesaurus. Whenever you do research, you should build a list of those descriptors that support your topic so you can use them as search terms.

When you're working online, however, there are no online thesauri or cross-referencing services available, so you have to discover the appropriate descriptors by trial and error. Online search tools gather important title words, frequently used words from the first paragraph and key words from the URL and enter them into a database. The search tool then matches your search term to that database. If the search tool can't match the term you enter, it can't find any documents. You can save time and avoid poor search results by keeping a list of successful descriptors. Some search tools offer a "more sites like this" service that uses the indexing terms from a site you choose to look for others.