Keeping a research diary can help you organize your literature searching time so that you don't duplicate searches, feel lost or overwhelmed and can help you to be a more efficient and successful searcher.
- Date
- Topic
- Where you searched (Library Catalog, ERIC, Google Scholar, etc.)
- Keywords or keyword phrases you used
- Limits you used
- Number of results
- Subject terms you found
- New keywords you encountered
- Key authors
- Key journals