MK411 - Spring 2023 (Flynn)

About subject headings:

• Subject headings are assigned words or phrases used to describe the content of each item in a library catalog or database.
  • The library catalog uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to classify books and other materials.
  • Article databases use their own subject headings, which are unique to each database. Most article databases have a thesaurus that you can browse for subjects that match your topic.
• As you search in the catalog or a database, take note of the subject headings used to describe a book/article. Use subject headings to find relevant items on the same topic. Searching by subject headings is the most precise way to search databases.

About keyword searching:

• Keyword searching can be an easy and effective way to begin a search, especially if you haven't yet identified the relevant subject headings.  
• Keyword searches look for your search terms anywhere in the record:
  • In the library catalog, keyword searching will include the title, author, description (if available), table of contents, and subject headings.
  • In databases, keyword searching will include the title, author, abstract, subject headings, and the full text of the article (if available). 
• After identifying relevant materials with a keyword search, look at the subject headings and incorporate those into your search.

When searching for articles in the library's databases it is important to identify relevant keywords and experiment with a variety of combinations. Here are some suggested subject headings and keywords to use for your research. This is not an exhaustive list of terms, but these terms will help you get started. See the search construction and tips section below for information on how to effectively combine search terms and construct a search using Boolean operators.

The library's databases have different search interfaces, but they share basic search principles. Some of these principles are listed below.

It is good practice to look for the [Advanced Search] option in each database that you use. The advanced search page will usually make it very clear as to how you can control your search using Boolean search techniques, limiters, field searching, etc.

Boolean Searching

Boolean searching is the cornerstone to an effective search strategy. Boolean searching refers to searching using a combination of words and the three Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT.  A best practice is to capitalize your Boolean Operators.

• AND will make your search smaller. If you are retrieving too many records on your topic, try adding another search term with the operator AND.

For example: "krispy kreme" AND marketing

• OR will make your search bigger. If you are retrieving too few records on your topic, try adding another search term with the operator OR.

For example: (adolescents OR teenagers)

• NOT will exclude a word from your search results. If you are retrieving too many records on an unrelated topic, try eliminating a word with the operator NOT.

For example: dolphins NOT football

Phrase Searching

To search for two or more words in the exact order in which they are entered you should enclose the phrase in quotation marks " ".

For example: "obsessive compulsive disorder"

Truncation

Truncation allows you to search the root form of a word with all its different endings by adding a symbol to the end of a word. Truncation symbols vary by database (check the help screens or ask a Librarian), but are usually one of the below:

* (asterisk)
! (exclamation point)
? (question mark)

For example: advertis* will search for advertise, advertisement, advertising, advertises

Field Searching & Limiters

Each database has a variety of predefined fields or limiters that you can search within. Some examples of fields and limiters are:

• article title
• article abstract
• article text
• author
• publication title
• date
• geographic location
• company name
• product name
• ticker symbol
• NAICS/SIC Codes
• document type
• publication type
• scholarly or peer-reviewed