Research Guides: History Information Literacy: Keywords: You Try!

Your Turn!

Now that you have demonstrated you understand what keywords are and how to develop them, try one or more of the databases and resources below.

Think of a topic in US History or a primary source.
Identify possible keywords.
Use the databases and ebooks to develop additional keywords as you refine your search topic.
Create a log or mind map like you saw in the video to track and document your keywords.

NOTE: If you are working on a class assignment, be sure to check the assignment requirements.

Databases for Forming a Research Topic in History

The following databases provide background information for topics in history. Students may use them to browse topics and identify additional relevant keywords.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference provides full-text online versions of over 3,500 published reference works from more than 100 publishers in a variety of major subjects, including general and subject dictionaries as well as encyclopedias.
TexShare
U.S. History : Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
presents information on the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History. The database contains reference content and articles from full text magazines, academic journals, primary source documents, images, videos, and audio files.
TCCD
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
The Black Freedom Struggle in the United States database features select primary-source documents related to critical people and events in African American history. Our intention is to support a wide range of students, independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. – and the fights against it.

Keyword Brainstorming Templates and Tools

The resources below may be downloaded and edited as tools to help students brainstorm and document keywords applying the skills and strategies in this tutorial.

Keyword Brainstorming Table
This Word document includes a table students may use to brainstorm relevant keywords.
From Topic to Keywords
This downloadable document walks students through forming a topic, research question, keywords, and applying advanced search techniques.