Full Circle Resource Kits

Getting StartedDatabase ChoicesQuestion to QueryOperatorsHoming InBrowsingWeb 2.0EvaluationEthical Use

Just Added

Home > Question to Query > Curriculum

Optimal Query Checklist

Use this checklist to build an optimal query

  1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the question?
  2. How many key concepts will I search for?
  3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?”
  4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably needed?
  5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the intermediate words?
  6. Are there words that have multiple meanings?
  7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words?
  8. Did I spell the words correctly?
  9. Did I put the most important words first? 

hyponym = a word with a more specific meaning, as opposed to hypernym (more general meaning)

stop word = a commonly used word (a, is, the) that is not indexed by a search engine

clutter word = an unnecessary concept