Keywords
KEYWORDS carry some of the most important meanings that will open doors to vast amounts of information. You can develop keywords by searching reference sources, books, websites, and thesauri, among other materials.
Creating KEYWORD lists are important in that you will use these terms to search library tools such as the library catalog and article research databases.
Thesaurus
In addition to the link to Thesaurus.com below, MS Word has a built-in thesaurus:
Concept Mapping
From Gendron, H. & Sclippa, E. (2014). Where visual and information literacies meet: Redesigning research skills teaching and assessment for large art history courses. Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 33(2), 327-344.
Finding Background Information
It is important to gather background information on a topic before diving into doing research. It can supply context information to give a better understanding of a topic, and it can also be a great way to start developing keywords to use during the research process.
Background information on a topic can be gathered from a variety of sources, including textbooks, books, reference materials like encyclopedias, and reputable websites.