Many of our databases use a standardized list of subject headings, sometimes called a controlled vocabulary, or thesaurus. Human indexers read a book or article and determine what that book or article is about (what subject). The indexer then adds subject headings from the controlled vocabulary list to the record for that item.

One benefit of searching by subject heading instead of keyword is that you don't need to think of all possible ways an author can express a topic.

Generally, all records covering a particular topic will contain the same subject heading, whether or not that term was actually used by the author in the title or abstract.

EXAMPLES:

In an article where the author uses the words "glaring" or "cold shoulder" or "nonverbal expression," an indexer might assign the subject heading "nonverbal communication" because is the standardized phrase for this topic.

For "chat" or "IM" or "instant message," an indexer might use the broader subject heading "electronic communication."

Because the subject heading has been assigned by an indexer who has read the book or article, the citation retrieved by a subject heading search is likely to be relevant.

Some databases do this much better than others -- you may still need to use your keywords.

To find out what the subject headings for your search concepts are, check the Thesaurus or Subject Guide feature within the database you are using, if one is available. If that feature is not available, you can usually check item records, after doing a keyword search, for useful subject terms.