Keyword Searching

Identifying terms for database searching (and more).

Keyword • Definitions

Keyword: A significant word in the abstract, title (1), or text (2) of a work (1) that is used as a descriptor (1). Can be considered a type of search term (ALA Glossary of Library Information Science, 2013)

Keyword: significant term found in a document, in its title or in an abstract, which identifies subject content (Concise Dictionary of LIS, 2000).

Keywords are the most important words or concepts in your research topic. They describe and/or represent the question you would like answered and are entered into a database or search engine to retrieve results. Databases will search for keywords in articles and return options to review.

Keyword Selection

When selecting keywords, these tips may help:

• Be specific and consider context of your topic
• Brainstorm synonyms AND antonyms
• Simple combination of words or phrases may be useful
• Clearly spell out any abbreviations
• Is there more than one spelling variation
• Spell check your keywords

Keywords, Subject Terms, & More

It is important to remember that sometimes search results support your research, other times they miss the mark. Why? 

• Keywords are selected by users and most natural language options.
• Subject terms are defined by individual databases.
• Author keywords are supplied by article authors for their work.
• Author keywords and database keywords are not always the same.