Approaches to library research that will help you get more resources in less time.

Note: see the glossary at the end to explain useful library jargon.

1. Keyword searches in online and print sources. Search relevant keywords in catalogs, indexes, and full-text resources. Useful both to narrow a search to the specific subject heading and to find sources not captured under a relevant subject heading. To search a database effectively, start with a Keyword search, find relevant records, and then find relevant Subject Headings.

2. Subject searches in online and print sources. Subject Headings (sometimes called Descriptors) are specific terms or phrases used consistently by online or print indexes to describe what a book or journal article is about. This is true of the Library's Online Catalog as well as Proquest or the Reader's Guide or other indexes. For example, in the online catalog, DIVORCE and CHILDREN OF DIVORCED PARENTS are different subject headings with different books under them. If you want the latter and find the specific subject heading, you'll save time finding the most relevant resources. DIVORCE as a Keyword in the Online Catalog will pick up both topics above, but also about 1300 other catalog records with the word "divorce" in them.

3. Citation searches in printed sources. Track down footnotes, endnotes, and citations in relevant readings. Search for specific books or journals in the Library's Online Catalog. This technique helps you become part of the scholarly conversation on a particular topic.

4. Searches through published bibliographies (including sets of footnotes in relevant subject documents). Published bibliographies on particular subjects (Shakespeare, alcoholism, etc.) often list sources missed through other kinds of searches. BIBLIOGRAPHY is a subject heading in the Online Catalog, so a Guided Search with BIBLIOGRAPHY as a Subject and your topic as a keyword will help you find these.

5. Searches through people sources (whether by verbal contact, e-mail, electronic bulletin board, letters, etc.). People are often more willing to help than you might think. The people to start with are often Reference Librarians at the Reference Desks in the Library.

6. Systematic browsing, especially of full-text sources arranged in predictable subject groupings. Libraries organize books by subject, with similar books shelved together. Browsing the stacks is a good way to find similar books; however, in large libraries, some books are not in the main stacks, so use the catalog as well.

The advantages of trying all these research methods are that:

• Each of these ways of searching is applicable in any subject area.
• None of them is confined exclusively to English-language sources.
• Each has both strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages.
• The weaknesses within any one method are balanced by the strengths of the others.
• The strength of each is precisely that it is capable of turning up information or knowledge records that cannot be found efficiently-or often even at all-by any of the others.

(Adapted from the "Methods-of-Searching Model" in Library Research Models by Thomas Mann)

Useful Library Vocabulary

Library research, like many activities, is easier if you know what you're talking about. Though libraries are rife with jargon that you will definitely not want to know, here are a few useful terms:

Catalog: a guide to the authors, titles, contents, and location of books, videos, documents, films, records, tapes, and CDs in a library. It includes the titles of periodicals, but not the content of the articles in those periodicals. Use a periodical index to locate articles on a topic.

Index: list of terms, subjects, or names extracted from journal articles, books, etc. and giving information to locate those terms in the indexed volumes. The last few pages in a book often have an index to specific pages within the book which make it easy to find the exact information you are looking for without having to read every page. A periodical index (such as the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature) identifies specific articles on specific subjects. Some indexes also include abstracts or annotations. Many indexes are also available online and through the Web.

Subject headings/ Descriptors: a uniform word or group of words (controlled vocabulary) used to describe the subject of library materials and are assigned consistently to pull like works together to facilitate retrieval. They are also called descriptors.

Citation or bibliographic citation: information which fully identifies a publication. A complete citation includes information such as the author's name, title, publisher, and date. Often pages, volumes, and other information will be included in a citation. In databases, each element in a citation is called a field.

Bibliographic record: a citation, plus some other fields. For example, a bibliographic record for a book may include the author's name, the title, place of publication, publisher, and date. In addition, it may include the subject headings, accession number, and classification.

Field: the part of a record used for a particular category of data. For instance, the title (ti) field in a database record displays the title for the record. Several fields make a record, several records make a database.

Keyword searching: a database search that uses your natural vocabulary. Keyword searching allows a user to construct a search by looking for a word or combination of words which may be contained in any of several fields (e.g., author, title, or subject fields.) A more precise search would use the subject headings or descriptors assigned by the indexers of the database.

(Vocabulary adapted from: http://www.lib.csufresno.edu/libraryinformation/libraryinstruction/for_students/library_vocabulary.html)

Wayne Bivens-Tatum
Gen. & Humanities Reference Librarian
rbivens@princeton.edu