Skip to Main Content

The Research Process of Information Literacy

Search for Information

confused womanHave you ever jumped into searching for resources on your topic only to become inundated by too much information and ended up settling for the first few results you receive? It is easy to get overwhelmed by all of the information available when you don't have a search plan.

Follow these steps to make a search plan:

  1. Identify the best sources for the information you need and determine where to search.
  2. Select your keywords, or search terms, that can be used to search for your information. 
  3. Decide what search strategies you can apply to your searches to retrieve the best results.  

Once you have a plan for searching in place, you are ready to search for your information. 

Remember that research is a repetitive process, meaning that you may need to repeat search steps discussed in this section more than once to retrieve the best information for your assignment. 

If you are uncertain about your results on the first try, don't be afraid to revisit different steps until you are satisfied that the information you retrieve will support your assignment's requirements.