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First Year Students' Guide to UW Libraries

Tips for Keyword Searches

What is a keyword?

  • A keyword is an informative word used to describe the content of a document.
  • For example, keywords are words/phrases you can put into a search bar that will pull up books, articles, and other library resources with content relevant to the entered word/phrase.

In generating keywords/search terms for your keyword searches:

  • Consider the time period and location (Example: 18th century British literature, twentieth century American poetry)
  • Consider the name of the author (Examples: Aphra Behn, Toni Morrison)
  • Consider the category of literature (Examples: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, etc.)

Please refer to library reference materials (books, online encyclopedias, etc.) for additional information, or contact a librarian at coeref@uwyo.edu for further assistance with keywords and keyword searching in the library system.

English and Literature Databases

Below are several general purpose English and Literature databases. You may find many other databases on the Databases A-Z page under the English subject listing.

Reference and Background Resources