Underline the main concepts or keywords in your topic statement. Brainstorm for related words that express the topic in preparation for searching the electronic indexes. A keyword search checks authors, titles, and subject headings for your words in any order. When you find a useful book or article, check the bibliography for related references. Find Articles Search periodical indexes to find references to journal and newspaper articles.
Some indexes are in electronic format and others are in print format.
Apply the same keyword strategies in electronic indexes that were successful in finding books. Use the subject index in print indexes. Title of the journal, volume and number, year, pages, title and author of the article. Some electronic indexes have a holdings message. This tells you the location of the article in the library.