Choosing Terms for Your Search
It is important to know the difference between Subject Terms (also known as Subject Headings) and Keywords. Using them correctly can greatly improve the output of your library database searches. Both keywords and subject terms can help you think of new ways to approach your research topic.
- A Keyword is a word or short phrase describing an element of your research topic. Keywords can be a person's name, a place, an organization, or a subject. Databases usually default to a keyword search. The database will look for your keywords anywhere in the item’s record including the title, author, publisher, abstract (summary), and subject fields. Using Keywords is a great way to get your search started when you are first browsing and getting an idea of the material available to you. Searching with keywords has the effect of producing a lot of results, sometimes thousands or even millions if the Keywords are not very specific and not combined with enough additional terms or limiters. Click the Keywords link for more information to learn to use them effectively
- A Subject Term (also called a Subject Heading) is a tag added to each item in the database by librarians or the authors of the works. Subject Terms describe an item’s content and link it to similar sources. Click the Subject Terms link to learn to use them effectively. You will usually see Subject Terms in the description of each item in the database, below its title:
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It’s a good idea to peruse some of the Keywords and Subject Terms listed in your results at the initial stages of your search. You might find that one of these terms improves your description of your topic, even if the particular article it is linked to is not exactly what you had in mind. Sometimes a new term might be better than your original terms. You might also find some words that may no longer be in popular use, but were standard at one time (e.g. Great War for World War I) and may still be critical to uncovering important material. It can also be helpful to consult a thesaurus for additional help in brainstorming terms.
As you search and find new materials, keep track of the search combinations you use as well as relevant words and phrases that appear in titles, abstracts, or in the subject fields of books or articles that you find useful. They can help you revise your search and narrow to the most relevant material.