UNH-4U (UNH Durham): Library Orientation

Keyword Searching

• word(s) you choose are searched anywhere in the database record describing the article or item
• flexible but can miss useful items if your terms are not included in relevant records
• may return many irrelevant results since search terms can appear anywhere in record

Subject searching

• use word(s) or term(s) designated as subjects or descriptors in that particular database that describe the content of the article
• a precise way of searching a database and usually retrieves the most relevant results
• less flexible since you need to know the correct subject terms for that database

To find subjects or descriptors:

• check these fields in the most relevant records you find through keyword searching
• look for a subjects list or thesaurus in the database you are using