2.3.1 Keyword or subject searching?

Keyword searching

A keyword search is a good starting point as it finds items containing the terms you have entered.

View the following video on keyword searching.

Subject searching

Subject terms, also called subject headings, descriptors and index terms are added to enable more precise searching.

Subject searching helps you find relevant information regardless of the varying terminology used by different authors. Once you have identified some appropriate subjects, start using subject searches.

For example:

The subject terms assigned to this item are:

The subject terms are chosen from a list of set terms called a thesaurus or subject index.

Note: Different search tools use different subject terms. For example, library catalogues use Library of Congress Subject Headings, while the PsycINFO database uses a specialised psychology thesaurus. You need to determine the subject terms used by the search tool to describe your topic before you perform your search.

View the following video on subject searching.

Keyword and subject terms can be combined using Boolean operators.