Develop your search strategy

To search effectively, you need to develop a clear search strategy that will find all the relevant information on your topic.

To do this, you need to:

• Identify the keywords that describe the main ideas in your topic or assignment.
• Expand the list of keywords by finding alternative words. This includes synonyms, related words, abbreviations, acronyms and words that are specific to your subject area or profession.

Model example

Let's use the following topic as an example:

Compare team models in two contemporary organisations. Discuss the effectiveness of these models with reference to current management theories.

Note the key words and possible alternative words that could be used for your search strategy:

Keyword	Alternative words
team models	groups, teamwork
effectiveness	effective, functional, useful, operational, performance
management theories*	*Refine your search by using specific management theories

Tip: Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to help you find alternative words.

Activity: Identifying keywords