The first step to defining your topic is to make sure that you understand the assignment and all of its components. Read the assignment carefully to make sure you understand the question. Is there more than one component to your paper? You need to identify the main concepts or keywords in your assignment topic/question to help you define your topic and then design your search strategy.
Some students find concept mapping useful for defining a topic and developing keywords for searching.
Developing a good search strategy involves the following steps:
Spend some time thinking about the keywords that best describe your topic. Consider things such as:
While it is possible to type a whole question into Google and Ask.com, it is not an effective way to search the databases or the library catalog.
For more information on Keywords, see LINKS Tutorial Module 2