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Western Civilization II: Develop a Search Strategy

This guide was designed as a starting point for researching topics in Western Civilization, Hist102, 1500 - Present

Brainstorm Keywords Associated with your Topic

Before you begin researching your topic, brainstorm possible search terms. Jot them down or try an online tool such as Text2MindMap. Here's an example:

 A breakdown of topics into subtopics, and subtopics into keywords useful for searching those topics. Starting with Child Labor as a main topic, it is broken down into Place, Child, Labor, Industry, Conditions, Employers, and Law. From there, each subtopic lists keywords which help with finding appropriate searches. Place has United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England; Child has children, girls, and boys; Labor has job, work, and occupation; Industry has mill, mine, factory, and farm; Conditions has disease, equipment, hours, environment, and machinery; Employers has master, overseer, owner, and boss; Law has regulation, activism, reform, act, statute, and change.

Combine Keywords to Improve Search Results

After brainstorming, learn about how you can combine terms using Boolean Operators to fine tune your search results.