There are 3 pages on this subject: please use the arrows at the foot of the page to navigate.

Part 1 Getting the words right

To get useful results from searching databases, electronic journals or the Internet, you need to have a good idea of what your topic is and how to describe it. Electronic resources can only respond to the search terms you type in, so a good strategy really helps.

Identifying your search terms
Analyse your research project title or synopsis and pick out the important terms, e.g. if your research is on the effects of Vitamin C on common colds and flu, then your keywords are Vitamin C, common colds, flu. If you already know the name of an author who writes on your topic you can also search for other publications by that author.

More words for the same concepts
Other researchers may have chosen different words to describe the same topic. To ensure you get all the relevant results try to think of as many words as possible that might have been used. A subject-specific dictionary or encyclopaedia may help.
Here is an example of an online dictionary entry

The next page describes how to combine words and phrases in a search.