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Tip 3. Search with Subject Terms
Subject terms are words that are assigned to each article in Academic Search that describe what the article is about. These terms are added by people at Academic Search.
Why is this so important? Think about how many words you can use for car: car, auto, automobile, truck, van, sedan, vehicle, wheels, coupe. If you were conducting a general keyword search and wanted to find all the articles about cars in Academic Search, you would need to come up with all the terms that could be used to describe cars. Academic Search makes this easy for you because it assigns the subject term automobiles to all articles concerning cars.
How do I search using Subject Terms?
- Click on Subject Terms
- Type a word or phrase into the text box and click Browse.
- Find the subject heading that best fits your research. In the list of terms, if you see the word Use followed by a linked term, click on the link to go to the correct subject heading. If there is a box next to the subject heading you would like to search, check the box.
- Click Add to add the subject heading to the search box at the top of the page.
- Click Search to run the search.
Advantages of using Subject Terms
When you use subject terms, you can be assured that the articles you find will pertain to the subject you are researching. This is not always the case with keyword searches. For instance, an article from Sports Illustrated about David Ortiz will show up in the results list when you do a general keyword search for cars, because in the article, Ortiz mentions that his mother was killed in a car crash. The main subject of this article is David Ortiz, not automobiles. Search results like this take time to filter through.
Another advantage is that subject searching will give you ideas about topics that are related to your research. Clicking on a linked subject term will take you to a list of
both broader and narrower topics that relate to the subject term. You will come across helpful terms that you may otherwise have overlooked.
The screen shot to the right shows many terms that are related to solar energy.The broader terms will give you more search results while the narrower terms will allow you to hone in on your research.