## The thesaurus

A useful tool for thinking up new search terms is a thesaurus. This is a list of words in which relationships between different terms are shown, such as broader or more specific (narrower) terms. Whenever you get but a few search results, you should use broader terms for your search. Conversely, whenever you get too many results, you should use narrower terms.
For example:

Secundary education

Synonyms:

- Secondary schools

- Comprehensive education

Broader terms:

- Education

- Schooling

Narrower terms:

- Lower vocational education
- Senior general secondary education
- Pre-university education
- Special secondary education

Related terms:

- Pupils
- Secondary school curriculum

An example of a general thesaurus is www.thesaurus.com.

Some thesauruses are specific for a particular field, such as the National Agricultural Library Thesaurus. Some large databases have their own thesaurus, like Business Source Premier, Eric, SportDiscus, and ProQuest. Checking a thesaurus is an easy way of finding new search terms.