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Learning Communities Fall 2024 - Popular vs. Scholarly

This guide accompanies the in person Learning Communities activities for Fall Semester 2024.

Searching by Keyword or Subject

A keyword is a descriptive word used to indicate the content of a document, book, album, or other type of media.

A subject is a specific word or phrase used to find and organize books and articles by topic.

Keywords

When you do a keyword search, the catalog looks through all parts of the records for your search terms: title, description, subject headings, etc....Before you start your research, you should compile a list of keywords related to your topic. As you find materials, see if other keywords appear that might be useful.

Subjects (or subject headings)

When you do a subject search in the catalog, only the subject field of each record is searched.

In the Lyman Beecher Brooks Library catalog, the subject headings are created by the Library of Congress. They use controlled vocabulary to group items into topics. Often, their subject categories won't line up with the keyword list you have developed. For example, a subject search for "autobiography" will return different results than a search for "personal narrative." Be sure to check the subject listings in the catalog record of any material that meets your research needs.

In the sample catalog entry below, the book has several subjects listed. Clicking on the subject hyperlinks will take you other materials that are categorized in the same way.

 

Keywords describe the topic you are researching.

Taking a few minutes to think about and identify some keywords before starting your search will help you search more efficiently, which will save you time (and probably a little frustration).

When researching historic events there may be several names for the same person, place, or thing. For example, the person born: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson has also been known as: Michelle Obama, Mrs. Obama, and the First Lady of the United States. 

When developing keywords:

  • Key ideas from your research question (think nouns)
  • Brainstorm synonyms (to help you find more information)
  • Talk to others to help work out your ideas
  • Record useful terms you found doing research. Be open to change.
  • Keep track of which keywords worked and didn't work, and the sources you find.

-From Coming up with Keywords used under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0