Using Wikipedia AppropriatelyBefore you can search for scholarly sources, you need to determine keywords or the major words associated with your topic. Wikipedia sometimes can be a helpful starting point for this. While you need to find better resources than Wikipedia for your final research, Wikipedia entries can provide useful overviews as well as terminology, names and places that can be useful in your search for scholarly sources.
Credo Reference is a great place to start exploring your topic and keywords. It includes a mind map tool that allows you to explore connections between words. This can be particularly useful while you are developing your research question and narrowing your topic.
What is your research topic? Once you have made a decision, you should generate keywords. Keywords are search terms that you use when searching for information about your topic. The above video explains how you can write keywords. Watch it, then continue reading this section.
Let's pose an example: you're writing about the uses of executive powers by the past three US Presidents Your keywords could include:
