Library databases can be finicky when it comes to searching. In a typical Google search, you can type in whole sentences or questions and the Google AI will find results that most closely match and/or answer your question. However, library databases will try to find results that contain all of the words in your search entry, which will often result in failure. Keywords are the solution.

Keywords

Keywords are the essential elements of a topic or research question and are often nouns (single words or short phrases) that you can use when searching a library database for sources.

For example if my research question is:

What happened to Japanese American students at the UW during World War II?

My keywords: Japanese American, students, UW, World War II

In addition to these initial keywords, I will want to consider synonyms, broader and narrower keywords, and related terms. Keywords can also include people, organizations, and locations.

Developing More Keywords

When beginning research on a topic, it can be very useful to find an encyclopedia article (even a wikipedia article) to kick start your list of keywords. For my topic, I find an article in the Densho Encyclopedia dealing with the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council that helps me identify additional possible keywords. As I do more and more research, my keyword list will continue to expand.

This table shows some of my keywords. Use quotations around phrases when searching (just like Google).

KEYWORDS	SYNONYMS	BROADER	NARROWER	RELATED
"Japanese American"	nikkei, nisei	"Asian Americans" Japanese	"Kenji Okuda" "Ruby Inouye"
"college students"	"university students"	students	"nursing students"	"National Japanese American Student Relocation Council"
UW	"University of Washington"	colleges universities		"relocation camps" minidoka
"World War II"	"world war 1939-1945"	history

Other terms

"American Friends Service Committee" "Robert O'Brien" "Floyd Schmoe"

Subject Headings

Databases often have their own official keywords (subject headings) that they use to group like items together. These can be useful additions to your keyword list. Subject headings differ from database to database and some, especially primary source databases, do not include subject headings.

To identify pertinent subject headings:

Do a keyword search in a database and then look at the citation of a relevant item to see what terms are listed as subjects. For example: I use UW Libraries Search to find the ebook, Storied Lives: Japanese American Students and World War II, and in the information about the book (database record) I see LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) subjects:

list of subject headings

I see that when searching for books, I should use "world war 1939-1945" as a search keyword rather than "world war ii."

Tips:

Optional Activities:

Watch: Why Do Keywords Matter (KU Library 2:01 minutes)
Watch: Concept Mapping (4:49 minutes)
Download a keyword worksheet