Brainstorming Your Topic
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Creating a concept map
Identifying related topics and keywords
Creating a Concept Map
Create a concept map to enhance your understanding of the topic. A concept map can often help you define the relationships between different topics within a subject by creating a diagram, such as the one below. This concept map is based on the example topic about Australian culture and its portrayal in the media, from the previous page.
Identifying Related Topics and Keywords
Often you will find that there is more than one word that means the same in the English language. Consider alternate words you could use if the keyword you are using does not retrieve the results you want.
The terminology used in one country may vary from that used in another, and so both words could be used in an international database.
For example, in Australia, the word 'tourism' is used, whereas in the United States of America the commonly used term is 'travel'.
You may also want to think of broader or narrower keywords related to your topic. For example, 'information technology' can be divided into many narrower sub-topics, such as email, Internet or computers.
Another point to consider is whether there is an alternate way to spell a word. Organisation can be spelt using the 's' (ie organisation) as is done in Australia, or is it spelt with a 'z' (ie organization) as is done in the United States of America.
To identify related topics and terms, check a thesaurus or browse the Library of Congress Subject Headings available online.
You may also want to do some background reading in sources such as encyclopedias or textbooks to get some basic knowledge about the topic. This will help identify related terms and topics.
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