Keywords--terms that can appear anywhere in a record--are the quick and easy way to search.
Using keywords, you can combine multiple ideas, or locate specific essays inside collective works.
Connectors: Use "and" or "or" to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use "and not" to exclude words. Examples:
Wildcards: Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk or question mark:
Examples : theat*, wom?n
Adjacency: "And" is assumed between words. Place phrases in quotes. Example:
"lyric poetry"
Subject Headings--terms applied by catalogers or indexers--describe the content of the item. Often, subject headings are divided by geographic place, by time period, by ethnic group, or other aspects. Subject headings are searched as phrases.
Using subject headings will pull together related records with terminology you may have not considered in your keyword search.
Examples:
keywords | subject headings |
horatian satire | horace--criticism and interpretation |
women athens | women--greece--history |
achilles as hero | achilles (greek mythology) in literature |
Material on this page originally created by
Beth Juhl
Web Services
University of Arkansas Libraries
Search in the library catalog under subjects and keywords such as:
broad topics | sample subject terms |
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art, architecure, archaeology |
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history and geography |
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literature and drama |
To search for works by an author, look under author:
To search for works about an author, look under subject:
To search for books about a particular work, try keyword or look under the author as subject:
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religion and mythology |
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