Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil Engineering): Finding resources

What are keywords?

Keywords (or key words) are words that tell you what approach you should take when answering an assignment question. 

Keywords can include content (topic), limiting (restricting), and task (instruction) words.

Assignment example:

"Investigate different types of truss bridges, then select an appropriate type and build a truss bridge model in accordance to specific design requirements."

    Content Words      

  • Tell you what the topic area is.
  • Help you to focus your research and reading on the correct area.
  • Think about synonyms or similar words.    
  • e.g. in this example: truss bridges.

    Limiting Words 

  • Tell you what area(s) to focus on, e.g. appropriate type 
  • Define the topic area further, e.g. in accordance to specific design requirements
  • Indicate aspects of the topic area you should narrowly concentrate on.

 

 

 

    Task Words

  • Tell you what to do; the action(s) you need to perform, e.g. compare, contrast, describe, summarise, i.e. investigate, select, and build as in this example.

When you are searching for information for an essay question, assignment or project, use the identified content and limiting keywords to search for information sources in our Library Search and online.

Keyword search strategies

Sample assignment topic: "Investigate different types of truss bridges, then select an appropriate type and build a truss bridge model in accordance to specific design requirements."

Once you have analysed your topic and done some preliminary reading, you are ready to break down the chosen research topic into key concepts selected from both the topic and your readings. It is best to identify 2 to 4 key concepts, with each concept containing up to 2 words, which will serve as keywords or search terms you'll type in Library Search to find relevant resources.  You might need to build separate search strategies for different aspects of your research as well as use a variety of keywords to ensure you cover all aspects of the topic.

For example, focusing on the assignment topic, listed are the main concepts or keywords: 'truss bridges', 'types', and 'design'. Alternatively, you could use more encompassing or inclusive concepts, as well as synonymous terms, such as:

trusses (design OR construction)

trusses structural design

trusses structural optimization, etc.

Apply the following strategies to combine them:

  • for a basic search, enter the identified keywords in the Library Search field, for example: truss bridges types
  • you can combine keywords with some other aspects of your research, for example, you can combine 'truss bridges' and 'design' in your searches by using the Boolean operators (AND, OR & NOT) for narrowing or broadening your searches, or for excluding some search terms from your searches, if appropriate. The use of Boolean operators allows for constructing more complex search statements, for example:

 truss bridges AND (design OR construction OR structural analysis OR structural optimisation)

  • think of possible synonyms and related words or phrases, for example, 'truss bridges' OR 'trusses'
  • search exact phrases by enclosing the phrase in quotes, for example, "truss design"
  • find a term with various endings by using as a truncation symbol represented by an asterisk (*), for example, bridg* will retrieve bridge, bridges, and bridging 
  • group related or synonymous terms together by placing them in parentheses, for example, (design* OR conostruction OR model*). Note that model* includes both modelling (Australian English) or modeling (American English) spelling. 

 

 

 

Boolean operators

Civil engineering Boolean operators

 

Boolean Operators are the words AND, OR, and NOT used in library databases or Library Search that can make searches more precise, and save you time by removing the need to go through all the search results in order to find the most relevant articles. For example, searching for different materials used in the design and construction of structures, you could apply the following terms and operators:

 

AND narrows the search resulting in more focused results, for instance, searching for  “timber” AND "design', all resources in your search result will include both concepts (keywords)

OR broadens the search by instructing the database to search for any of the words, which is particularly useful for synonyms or related terms, or any words you want to include in the search, i.e. “timber” OR “steel” OR “concrete”

NOT narrows the search by instructing the database to remove all unnecessary search results, for example, “timber design” NOT “bridges”

 

Keyword searching strategies - Video

Search tools on the VU library website

Link through to the library website

Many (but not all) VU Library resources can be accessed through VU Library Search. Keywords or search terms can be entered in the search box.

VU Library Home Page

 

The library also provides tools to allow users to search for the book, journal article, video, or newspaper whether in physical or electronic format. These tools are located below the main search box on the library website. Consider the text listed under each of the search tools. 

1. A-Z Databases - Find articles, ebooks, streaming videos, case studies and special collections.

2. Publication Finder - Find online publications by title - journals and ebooks.

3. BrowZine - Easy browsing of scholarly journals on any device.

VU Page with Resources listed

 

VU Library Search Overview: Part 1

VU Library Search Overview: Part 2

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