A revision of the Keyword Online Tutorial by the Pilgrim Library of Defiance College

1. An online tutorial
brought to you by the
Prescott Library
Adapted from the Pilgrim Library online tutorials for Defiance College

2. Sum up your topic
Represent your main ideas
Can be a word or phrase
Should be used when searching
for information

3. The world of online
information is
beyond a locked door
and keywords are
how you get in.

4. On any map there
are lots of roads to
choose from. You
don’t want to stray
too from the path.
It’s your job to
and .

6. Lets try this together…

7. Below are two sample thesis statements.
Try to sum each of them up into 2 or 3 keywords.
What keywords are the strongest?

8. Teachers who implement technology in
their classrooms are most effective.
WINNING Keywords: teachers, technology, effective
2nd place Keywords: implement, classrooms
Why choose these keywords?
Keywords should say a lot about the FOCUS and PURPOSE of
your work. This particular paper is going to discuss how teachers
who integrate technology are most effective. The main focus is not
using technology nor is the focus on classrooms, so those words
aren’t as important as the others.

9. Small-town entertainment venues have been
bolstered by the recent economic downturn.
WINNING Keywords: small-town entertainment venues
& economic downturn
2nd place Keywords: bolstered, recent
Why choose these keywords?
Keywords should say a lot about the FOCUS and PURPOSE of
your work. This paper is going to discuss how small town
entertainment venues (like movie theaters and bowling alleys)
benefit from recent economic hardships. The two winning
keywords capture that the essence of the paper are entertainment
venues and economic downturn.

10. Are there any synonyms for these keywords?
Alternate terms? Other phrasings?
Entertainment venues
Broader terms? Narrower terms?
Teacher
Educator
Professor
Technology Movie
Small-town
Instructor
theater
Coach Social Cinema
networks
Tutor eReaders Water
School Regional park
Wikis
District
Google
Family- State
K-12 docs owned park
College Smart Local County
History boards Small- fair
Sciences Web 2.0 scale Nightclub

11. The Asterisk * “Quotation Marks”
When you put an asterisk at You can use the quotation
the end of a word, a search marks to tell a search that
will find that word with a these words must appear
variety of possible endings. together exactly as they are
inside the quotation marks.
ex: Educat*
A search like this will return
with education, educate,
educated, educates, educating, ex: “economic hardship”
but be careful… A search will only return with
Lov*= love, loved, loves, results that show these two
lovable, loving, lovely, words together in this EXACT
loveless, lovelorn… with NO VARIATIONS.

12. With more keyword possibilities than before, how
do you possibly choose? Use the following criteria:
 What best captures the big ideas of my topic?
 What keywords are most likely to bring back the
most useful information when I search for them?
Remember: You can always change your mind!
That’s what’s great about online searching. Start with keywords that
seem best, and then adjust. If one term isn’t working, try another.

13. Take your carefully-chosen keywords and begin
searching. Plug those WINNERS into a search
engine or database and watch them SHINE!

14. For more research help, click to visit a
Prescott Library LibGuide!

15. You’ve successfully finished the library tutorial
Keywords: Small but Mighty
Modified from the Pilgrim Library online tutorial, “Keywords, Small by Mighty” for Defiance College
If you have any questions about this tutorial or need further research assistance,
please contact Ms. Smith or Ms. Covintree in the Prescott Library