Introduction - Brainstorm

  1. a sudden bright idea; 2. a harebrained idea

Before you begin your research, write out a few detailed sentences about your topic. Underline the main words in these sentences. From the description that you write, create a list of related keywords and phrases.

If you have trouble coming up with a topic or its keywords:

• Check a subject encyclopedia, handbook or bibliography for ideas and concepts.
• Do some exploratory searches in a periodical index relevant to your topic. Look at the abstracts or summaries of articles that interest you – they may give you ideas for topics. Also, look at their subject terms for possible keywords.
• Ask a reference librarian . . . they love to help.