Subject Term Searching - Books

(This page corresponds with Section 2 of INF 102)

Using subject terms to locate books in the library catalog can lead to more succinct results. There are two ways to get started:

1.  If you have already found some books using a keyword search, click on the record for one that is most directly related to your topic.

I'm going to click on the record for Adventure and Extreme Sports Injuries: Epidemiology, Treatment, Rehabilitation and Prevention. Then, I will click on the Show Full Record link to see the full amount of information available on this book, including its subject headings.

Now that I can see the subjects that were chosen for this book, I may want to click on one of these to see if there are other books in the catalog that are about the same topic. I'm going to choose Athletic Injuries.

(In case you're wondering what the difference is between "Medical Subjects" and "Subjects," the latter are from the giant Library of Congress Subject Term lists and the former are from a different list of terms, understandably called Medical Subject Headings. This is not something you need to worry about - when it comes to searching the catalog, they work the same way.)

Clicking on the Athletic Injuries link brings up the list you see below (plus several options that didn't fit on the screen).

While there are three that are simply "Athletic injuries," as we view down the list, you'll notice more specific subject terms, such as "Athletic injuries--Handbooks--Electronic Books" which will show you a sources that is specifically an electronic version of a handbook on athletic injuries. Again, this can be a different way of seeing if there are books focused on our subject.

I'm going to click on the first option, which will bring up a list of 27 sources in the library catalog that have mainly to do with athletic injuries. The top of the list that appears is pictured below:

2. I could also conduct a search for the Subject Term itself. This is our second approach to using subjects for searching the library catalog.

This time, I will type concussion into the search box, but will change our search to Subject instead of Keyword.

As you can see, our results list is made up of subject terms, not books. Furthermore, it tells us that the correct subject term is Brain Concussion, not just the word concussion. Subject terms do not always call things what you or I normally would. So in order to see actual results, I'll need to click where there is a link to Brain Concussion.

 

Again, pay attention to the smaller subtopics that are offered, things like brain concussion handbooks or brain concussion physiopathology, which may be more useful than the general brain concussion category depending on what you need information about.

3. What if you can't find any subject terms for your topic? In that case, stick to performing a keyword search. And, as you've heard/read repeatedly, feel free to contact a librarian if you need further assistance!