As you prepare to start your research, it's important to note that searching in a library database is not the same as searching Google. In a database, rather than using a natural language search (most popular college majors), it's helpful to break up your topic into little "chunks" of information (college majors AND popular).
Here is an example of the keyword brainstorming process for the topic: Fast food causes health risks in children
Use the topic handout to keep track as you go along. (Here's a blank one you can print out.)
Key concepts: 1) fast food, 2) health risks, and 3) children
Once you've broken your topic into key concepts, write those key concepts in the top box of two of the columns (see the example below). Then, brainstorm additional keywords to use in your search. Try to find at least a couple additional keywords related to each key concept. It's good to find synonyms as well as broader and more narrow keywords for concept.

Once you've brainstormed your keywords, you'll connect them together using the words AND and OR:
- AND narrows your search by looking for items with all of the keywords.
- OR broadens your search by looking for items with any of the keywords.
Once you've brainstormed your keywords, you can use them to search one of our databases (see below).