When using library resources, it's usually best to pick out the main concepts of your topic and search by using these (referred to as keywords), instead of a sentence or question. Consider which parts of your topic are essential, and use those.
When looking for keywords, focus on nouns and noun phrases; these are more effective search terms. Ignore verbs and words like influenced, affected, etc.
The main keywords for the following research questions are bolded and in purple:
- What impact would paid parental leave have on unemployment rates?
- What factors caused the global financial crisis of 2008?
- How has Brexit affected international trade?
You can combine your essential keywords with the word AND. AND means that all these words must be present in your search results.
- paid parental leave AND unemployment rates
- global financial crisis of 2008 AND factors
- Brexit AND international trade
To keep phrases (two or more words) together, place them in quotation marks: "unemployment rates".