When beginning your research think about your topic:
- Is it extremely narrow in focus? A narrow topic such as the nutritional habits of 18-year old female college students during the winter months may get only 1 to 2 hits, if any.
- Or is it too general? Starting with nutrition will get thousands of hits. If you add terms to your topic, such as nutrition and college students, your results may become easier to manage.
- Is the database you are searching appropriate for your topic? For example, a business database may be inappropriate for health-related topics.
If you’ve followed the above suggestions and are still having problems, you may want to consider synonyms (other keywords) that could be used for your topic (i.e. attorney for lawyer, physician for doctor, etc.). You can always ask a librarian for assistance. We are here to help and may be able to suggest other ways to get started!
