Ethnic Literature Course Guide (Lisa Heise)

How do I know what words to enter into a Search Box?

Create a list of potential search terms using words from your assignment or chosen topic. 

What are search terms?

• keywords - a general list words related to your topic.
• subject searches - words listed or bolded database lists
• nouns - the names of something or someone -- people, things, places

•  Examples of  Search Terms for psychology topics:
  • depression 
  • bipolar disorder
  • schizophrenia

Make a list of basic search terms related to your topic. Search terms can be:

• Keywords - depression, bipolar,  autism
• Phrases - "mental health" -  try enclose phrases in quotation marks if you get wonky results
• Subjects - lists of words included with database articles

Make a list of alternate terms

•  WHY? Different authors will use different terms that mean the same thing so If you can't find enough information using one search term, try another
  • Choose Synonyms - these are different words that mean the same thing as your primary search term
  • Consult a Thesaurus to find related or alternative words or synonyms.  
•  Example  Alternate Search Terms found in a Thesaurus:
  • main search term: depression  |  alternative search terms: melancholy, despair, dejection, blues, sadness
  • main search term: bipolar disorder (main)  |  alternative search terms: bipolar, bipolar illness, manic-depression
  • main search term: schizophrenia (main) |  alternative search terms: paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, hallucinosis

Search Terms and Strategies

Reminder: Create a list of terms to use in your searches. Include related or alternative words. If one term yields poor results, try another.

Basic Search Terms and Strategies - using a single word and phrase

EXAMPLES

• culture - cultural, "cultural group," "cultural assimilation," "cultural encounters,"
• multicultural -   multiculturalism
  • African-American - Black, Afro-Caribbean
  • Asian-American - Anglo Asian
  • Latino - Latina, Latine, Latinx
  • Native American - Native, Indigenous, American Indian
• ethnic - ethnicity,  multi-ethnic, "ethnic identity," "ethnic history"
• identity -  "cultural identity," "ethnic identity," "racial identity," "identity politics"
• race -  racial, "racial history"
• ideology - ideological
• fiction - novel, novella, short story
• literature - literary, lit, "literary movement," "rhetorical movement"
• poetry - poem, poet
• author - novelist, poet, writer, audience, reader
• gender - CIS, LBGTQA, "gender norms," non-binary
• nationality - nationalism, nationalistic
• intersectional - intersectionality

Advanced Search Strategies - Combining Words and Phrases

Boolean Searching (AND, OR, NOT)

• politics AND race
• "ethnic identity" AND literature
• (African-American OR Black) AND (authors OR poets)

Truncation *

Use the root of a word and add an asterisk * to search for all variants of the root word.

• nation* - nations, national, nationalistic, nationalism, etc.