Before you begin searching for information, it's crucial to understand what your assignment requires. Many students jump into research too quickly and end up with information that doesn’t fully address the question. Avoid this mistake by analyzing your assignment carefully!

📝 How to Analyze Your Assignment Question

✅ Identify the key components of the question:

• Topic/Subject – What is the assignment about?
• Scope – Are there specific guidelines (e.g., word count, focus on a certain time period, case study)?
• Instruction Words – Words like analyze, discuss, or compare tell you what kind of response is needed.

📌 Example Assignment Question:
"Discuss the role of green buildings in sustainable urban development."

✅ Break it down into key parts:

• "Discuss" → This means you need to examine the topic in detail, presenting both sides of the argument.
• "Green buildings" → Focus on eco-friendly, sustainable architectural practices.
• "Sustainable urban development" → Consider how cities and infrastructure are planned for long-term environmental sustainability.

🔍 Tip: Highlight or underline key terms and ensure you fully understand them before moving forward!

• Understanding assignments and instruction words: University of South Australia

Boolean operators help refine your search:

✅ AND – Narrows your search by combining key concepts.

• Example: Green buildings AND urban development
• Finds sources that include both terms.

✅ OR – Broadens Your Search

• Example: Green buildings OR sustainable architecture
• Finds sources that mention either term.

✅ NOT – Excludes unwanted terms.

• Example: Urban development NOT rural areas
• Finds sources about cities but removes results related to rural areas.

🎯 Tip: Use quotation marks (" ") to search for exact phrases (e.g., "green buildings").

Boolean Operators

By libncsu

Now that we have a well-developed search strategy, the next step is to use it in real academic databases like:
✅ Web of Science
✅ EBSCOhost

🔜 In the next module, we will:
✔️ Perform actual searches in databases using this strategy.
✔️ Learn how to apply filters to refine results.
✔️ Access full-text e-journals and e-books.

📖 Stay tuned! 🚀 We’re about to take our research skills to the next level! 🎓🔍

Once you’ve understood your assignment, the next step is to identifying keywords followed by developing a search strategy. This ensures that you find the best information efficiently rather than wasting time with irrelevant sources.

🔹 Breaking Down Your Topic into Key Concepts

To search effectively, you need to identify key ideas from your assignment question.

📌 Example Topic:
"Discuss the role of green buildings in sustainable urban development."

Key concepts:
1️⃣ Green buildings
2️⃣ Sustainable urban development

🔹 Think of Alternative Words (Synonyms) for Each Concept

Databases use different keywords than Google, so it’s important to include synonyms and related terms.

📢 Why is this important?
If you only search one phrase, you might miss out on valuable information. Using synonyms increases the chances of finding all relevant research.

Keywords Tutorial

Source: Ray W. Howard Library at Shoreline Community College.

Now, let’s put everything together to create a structured search for databases!

📌 Example Search String:
👉 ("green buildings" OR "sustainable architecture") AND ("urban development" OR "city planning")

This search widens the results while keeping them focused on the topic.

Now that we've developed a strong search strategy, the next step is to apply it in academic databases! 🔍📚

In the next module, we will be using the search strategies we created to conduct real searches on Web of Science and EBSCOhost. These databases contain high-quality academic sources, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and research reports.

Your assignment should be clear, well-organized, and easy to read. Follow this simple structure:

📌 Cover Page: Include your name, student number, course code, and assignment title.
📌 Introduction: Provide a brief overview of your assignment and outline what you will discuss.
📌 Main Body: Present your ideas in structured paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a single main point. Use headings and subheadings if necessary.
📌 Conclusion: Summarize your key points and share your final thoughts.
📌 Reference List: Cite all the sources you used in your assignment correctly.

⭐ Bonus Tip: Check if your lecturer has provided a specific structure in the instructions or rubric—it’s an easy way to earn extra marks! 🎯