FIELDS
For
every book in the collection there is a record
in the online catalog. Each record consists of fields
that provide bits of information about the book. See
the record below for the fields- Author, Publication information,
Physical description of the book, etc.
In
addition to the fields, the record also indicates which
collection the book is in, (stacks, reference, children's,
etc), the call number of the book,
and whether or not it is checked in.
If you do
an Author Keyword Search, the
author field of each book in the collection will be scanned.
If you do a Title Keyword Search,
all the titles in the collection will be searched, etc.
Take a look at the Subjects field in the tan
column on the left of the page. If you do a Subject
Keyword Search the
subjects field for all the books in the collection will be scanned
for the search terms you have used.
The subjects assigned a book
are intended to indicate its content. This
book came up in response to a search for books on social
justice. Notice that there are two other subjects. Each subject
is a link to books with similar subject matter.
Click here
for an explanation of the General
Keyword Search
Tips
for Smart Searching
If
a search for books on a subject yields few results, check
the subject field of the books that have come up to find
additional books on the topic. Getting into the habit of
scanning the subject headings of any book a search produces
might pay big dividends.
Another
term for subject headings is controlled vocabulary, the official
language of a catalog or database. When you search using
keywords, you are using terms that you have generated. Generally
you start your search using keywords and then check the the
subject headings (controlled vocabulary) of the records for
books your search produces.
The
records of books with a bibliography will have a bibliography
field, so you can check it to see if the book has additional
useful sources on your topic.
Finally,
if a search yields few results, try searching using different
keywords and keep checking the subjects field.
