Identifying Keywords

Keyword searching is available on most electronic databases including library catalogues and journal indexes, and is an extremely useful tool for researching any topic.

You will need to draw up a list of useful keywords to help you research your essay. You may, however, need to do some preliminary reading before you will be able to construct a list of keywords suitable for a more detailed search.

An essay question may contain a number of keywords.

In the example below keywords are highlighted:

In what ways does Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro adhere to conventions of eighteenth-century comic opera and in what ways does Mozart depart from these conventions?

Many essay questions, however, will not contain obvious keywords appropriate for electronic searches.  Keywords such as 'Mozart' may also return an unmanageable number of hits.

For example:

Provide an account of the changes of ideas and musical style that transformed music around 1600.

This question contains no keywords suitable for searching.  Before you can begin a specific keyword search you will need to do some background reading to determine the relevant composers and genres, and to discover what some of the significant changes may have been.  You will also need to think about what period is under discussion here.  What were the important centres of musical activity at this time?