Here are a few tools to consider for organizing your ideas and research:
1) Post-it Notes
Post-it notes are great for brainstorming ideas and reconfiguring them to work out a logical flow for your argument, research, or paper.
Example:
2) Mindmaps or flowcharts
Mind maps are also great visual tools for brainstorming your topic. Use basic structuring principles for your process analysis to define areas of the map, and fill in the details with information from your research.
Example:
Identify words in your research question. Think about the requirements of your assignment. Make a list.
If your essay is on the issue of food deserts in American cities and what can be done to bring more fresh food options to citizens, you could choose the following keywords. It's helpful to put phrases in quotation marks.
Now write a search statement linking the words that you can use in OneSearch.
"food deserts" AND cities
