CHOP, DROP, and OR method...illustrated
Start with your topic.
You might describe it in a phrase or a question.
CHOP it up into its individual concepts.
Essentially you're identifying the most important words in your topic description. Often these are nouns.
DROP those terms into individual search boxes.
The order isn't important.
Add synonyms or related words for relevant concepts, using OR.
These other terms may come from your head, a thesaurus, or something else you've read that's on-topic.
Look at good records for related words you can add into your search.
The subjects field of a library database is a great place to look for useful search terms.
After you evaluate your results, and revise your search, be open to repeating that cycle to get to the best set of records.
After all, research is an iterative process -- you're unlikely to find the best results with just one search.
