The Research Process of Information Literacy

After designing a search string for your topic, try it out in your chosen search tool and analyze the results you retrieve.

• Did you get the results you expected?
• Did you get too many results?  Or too few?
• Does the information relate to your topic?

Determine where your strategy was successful or not, and refine your search accordingly. Below are some tips you can use to refine your search.

• Select different keywords from the list you made here to try in your search, or use new keywords that you may have identified in your search results.
• To broaden your search, take out keywords.
• To narrow your search, include additional keywords.
• Use limiters in your search tool, such as publication date, scholary/peer-reviewed, etc. to limit your search results.

Keep trying until you are successful--repeat steps in the research process as necessary to find the information you need!

Watch the videos below for additional strategies and search tips to help you find information in the CSU Library.