Keywords | vs | Subjects |
---|---|---|
natural language words describing your topic - good to start with | pre-defined "controlled vocabulary" words used to describe the content of each item in a database | |
more flexible to search by - can combine together in many ways | less flexible to search by - need to know the exact controlled vocabulary terms | |
database looks for keywords anywhere in the record - not necessarily connected together | database looks for subjects only in the subject heading or descriptor field, where most relevant words appear | |
may yield too many or too few results | if too many results, also use subheadings to focus on one aspect of the broader subject | |
may yield irrelevant results | results are usually very relevant to the topic |
Your search will only be as good as the words you use
What do you know about your topic?
What would you like to learn?
Make a list of the keywords you identified while focusing your topic and find synonyms for your search terms.
For Example:
MAIN IDEA: body image
MAIN IDEA: self-esteem
MAIN IDEA: media
MAIN IDEA: altered images