What Keywords Do I Still Need?

Keys and Locks, An Analogy

Objectives - ISTE NETS for Students #3: Research and Information Fluency

"locate information from a variety of sources and media"

• think of alternate words for more powerful queries

Materials

a keyed lock and a variety of keys, one of which opens the lock

Directions

Opening a lock with a key is a good analogy for searching: using the right keyword will retrieve the information that is needed. It may take several tries to find the right key.

Show the lock and ask students the best way to open it. Show the keys and ask if any key will open the lock. What should they do to open this lock? (try keys until one works).

Explain how this is the same way it works on the Internet with search engines. Words are the keys (keywords). You never know for sure which words will find what you need. Most of the time it takes two or more keywords to be successful. That means trying different combinations of words.

Option: To introduce the idea of searching different databases, show the picture of several chests--note that each one has several locks, each one requiring a different keyword. If the information is in the chest you are opening (e.g., Google) then the right combination of keywords will work. But if the information isn't in Google (e.g., Yahoo), then words alone won't work. You have to try a different (database) chest with those words.