Community Development

Why Keywords?

• Because good keywords are essential to good research.
• The more keywords you can think of, the more likely you will find what you are looking for.

Why Synonyms?

Synonyms make your list of keywords longer. More keywords = better searching = more results. Look at the example below to get an idea of how synonyms can broaden your understanding of a given concept:

Our Advice: 

• Make lists of keywords for the main concepts of your research topic.
• Use single words or simple phrases.
• Be prepared that this may all change as you learn more information through your research.
• Be flexible and adaptable in your thinking.
• Use a thesaurus to help generate synonyms.

Many library resources offer the option to combine your keywords using AND, OR, & NOT. This can also be useful when searching online. Use quotation marks to search for a name or phrase.

• AND = All words must be present; helps limit the search.
  • "market-based redevelopment" AND "affordable housing"
  • "smart communities" AND Chicago AND engagement
  • "Kevin A. Lynch" AND "mental mapping"
  • "Maggie L. Walker" AND biography
  • "dog parks" AND "municipal government"
• OR = Great for synonyms or variations of the same concept; helps broaden the search while staying within the subject area.
  • race OR ethnicity OR "ethnic origin"
  • "urban renewal" OR "urban regeneration" OR "urban revitalization"
• NOT = Exclude an unrelated term, or to weed out irrelevant results.
  • ("Jane Jacobs" AND "Economy of Cities") NOT "book review"
  • London AND (gentrification NOT gentry)
• Another example:
  • "food insecurity" AND (college OR university) AND students
  • (citizen OR resident) AND participation AND "community engagement"