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The Concept Map

The most productive searches are those where the student or information seeker has spent time working out a search strategy before actually starting the search. A proper search strategy is critical and time spent on preparing it will result in relevant and effective information retrieval. 

You can state your topic as a question. If you are interested in "the environmental impact of refuse dumps in Auckland", you might ask: 

What is the environmental impact of refuse dumps in Auckland?

Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. An easy way to identify the concepts is: 

  1. Write out the ideal book or article title answering your question
    2. Environmental impact of refuse dumps in Auckland
  2. Separate the concepts by drawing lines between them
    3. Environmental impact   of    refuse dumps      in    Auckland
                       |                       |   
                       |                       |
                       |                       |
                       |                       |
  3. Beneath each concept list synonyms or keywords used to describe the concept. Asking yourself the following will help in identifying the relevant search terms (keywords) and formats. Do you need to include synonyms, broader or narrower terms, acronyms, technical terms? Are there alternative spellings? Do you need to include singular and plural words? The $ indicates any letter(s) following the root word.
    4. Environmental impact   of    refuse dump$     in    Auckland
                       |     refuse tip$      | 
             effect$   |     rubbish dump$    |     New Zealand
                       |     rubbish tip$     |  
           influence   |     waste dump$      |
                       |     waste tip$       |
                       |     land-fill$       |
                       |                      |
  4. The keywords listed vertically will be connected by the boolean operator OR to broaden the search while those in the different columns will be connected by boolean operator AND to narrow the search.
    5. Concept 1                    Concept 2              Concept 3
    Environmental impact   of    refuse dump$     in    Auckland
               OR                  OR                 OR
                       |     refuse tip$      | 
                                   OR
             effect$   |     rubbish dump$    |     New Zealand
               OR                  OR                              
                       |     rubbish tip$     |   
                                   OR               
          influence    |     waste dump$      |
                                   OR                               
                       |     waste tip$       |
                                   OR                             
                       |     land-fill$       |
  5.   Concept 1          AND     Concept 2        AND   Concept 3

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This page is a part of the Study & Research Help website. Last updated : 17/01/2008
Suggestions to : Learning Services