You use your research questions to come up with keywords, which are expressions of a mental picture, a word or group of words that your mind can grab onto and define. We type these keywords in the online databases to see what sources are available to answer our questions.

Let’s look at those research questions again.

From the first four questions, I find the following key words:

global warming

causes

results

arguments

But wait a minute! When I get to question #5, I can't find keywords—I don't get a vivid "mental picture" or cannot summarize the question in a single word or phrase—so I guess that question #5 isn't researchable.

A researchable question is one that provides enough keywords to search a database.

In order to make that question researchable, I need to rephrase it so my mind has something to grab onto. When I ask about what we can do about global warming, I think I am asking about solutions or responses to it. And maybe a researchable question would be:

Then I could add the keyword 'solutions' to our list.

global warming

causes

results

arguments

solutions

Finding alternative search terms
Before we actually sit down in front of a computer monitor and start looking in databases, we need to figure out some alternative search terms (AKA synonyms) for our keywords. Having a healthy list of keywords when we sit down in front of a computer to begin our search keeps us going in case the first keyword does not give us the results we need.

Since global warming is not as common a term as the others in our list above, we might need to consult a specialized dictionary or encyclopedia, such as the Facts on File Dictionary of Weather and Climate or the Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. I can find information about these specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias by asking a reference librarian. For more common words, we can think of alternative search terms on our own or consult a thesaurus.

global warming	causes	results	arguments	solutions
greenhouse effect	origin	consequence	perspectives	resolutions
climate change	producer	outcome	debate	responses
climate variation	agent	outgrowth	controversy	answer
ozone layer	product	cost	opinion	way out

We don't have to use every keyword on our list if we are getting helpful information. And we might even find better keywords when we look the titles of some of our sources.

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