Keywords & Subject Headings: When looking for resources in the Gordon Library catalog, a good initial strategy to guide your search is using subject headings as your keywords. Subject headings are preferred, standardized terms developed by subject area experts, whereas 'keywords' are generally based upon natural or subjective language. In this way, Subject Headings are a kind of controlled vocabulary, and they form the organizational backbone of searchable platforms, which facilitate automated, efficient searching. Many libraries (WPI included) use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)--which are generated by the Library of Congress--as their preferred terms. As it relates to searching, the key difference is that Keyword searches look at most (if not all) of the words in a catalog record, but subject searches only look for words in the subject heading fields (6XX). As a result, subject searches are more precise, so subject search results will be more specific. Consider some of the approaches recommended by librarians in the following video--
Developing keywords for research
Run Time: 2:44
Key Student Learning Competencies:
Try using some of the listed subject terms links/ keywords to find resources supported by--and accessible through--the Gordon Library.
Check out some of the following tutorials related to the research process.
Library Searching in 60 Seconds
Run Time: 1:03
Key Student Learning Competencies:
Locating relevant databases for research
Run Time: 2:27
Key Student Learning Competencies:
Finding full-text videos
Run Time: 2:55
Key Student Learning Competencies:
Peer Review Overview
Run Time: 2:52
Key Student Learning Competencies:
The following tutorials will help students identify valid, legitimate, and scholarly rigorous information for your research.
TRAAP
Run Time: 3:17
Key Student Learning Competencies:
SIFT
Run Time: 1:52
Key Student Learning Competencies: