CMP-125 (Titus, Spring 2011)

Advanced Search

Try a keyword search in either the BASIC or ADVANCED search in the library catalog.

Remember: A keyword search is NOT a sentence! Pick out the words that describe the concept you are looking for.

Choose a record from the results lists to examine more fully.  Notice the subject headings ("Subjects:") used. This is the controlled vocabulary.

• Click on these headings to find more items on the same topic.
• Or, combine these terms in a new keyword search. Use the advanced search to combine "keyword anywhere" searches and "subject keyword" searches.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are made up of a main topic (main heading) and subtopics (called subdivisions), separated by a dash ("--").

Some headings, like "African American male college students" are very specific.  Others, like "Children--United States" are very broad. Such headings will help you gauge the scope and specificity of the book.  A book with a subject heading "Children--Psychology--United States" will be more specific than the book with a heading of "Children--United States."  However, it is possible that each book could have information on children and Internet usage: you would want to check the table of contents and index of the book.  A book with a subject heading "Internet and children" is specifically on that topic.

If a main heading does not have subdivisions, that means it is about that topic in its broadest sense.  Subdivisions (subtopics) tell us that the book focuses on specific themes.

Here are some subdivisions that might be helpful in your ethnography research.  You can combine your keywords with these subject terms in the advanced search.

[main heading]--Social aspects [used for topics]

[main heading]--Psychological aspects [used for topics]

[main heading]--Economic aspects [used for topics]

[main heading]--Attitudes  [used for individuals or classes of persons and ethnic groups]

[main heading]--Social life and customs [used for individuals or classes of persons and ethnic groups]

[main heading]--Psychology [used for individuals or classes of persons and ethnic groups]

[main heading]--Social conditions [used for classes of persons, ethnic groups, and places]

Examples:

African American youth--Social life and customs

Internet--Social aspects

Internet users--Psychology

You can also use these terms to search WorldCat.org, a database of the contents of over 10,000 libraries.