| You may find that using official subject headings will help you find more specific results when searching our databases. In many of our databases, you can use the official Library of Congress Subject Headings to narrow down your search. You would find subject headings, such as these, by browsing through the Library of Congress Subject Headings books or browsing the "Catalog Record" of every title found in our Library Catalog. In some instances, like when searching PubMed, you may want to use the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). You will learn more about MeSH later in the tutorial. |  |
Library of Congress Subject Heading Examples
| CHILDREN -- Dental care Dental Anxiety psychology Dental Care Dental Care psychology Dental Care Trends Dental Caries complications DENTAL health education Dental Health Surveys Dental Hygiene Dental Hygiene Education DENTAL hygienists Dental methods Dental Offices Dental Plaque complications Dental Prophylaxis ethics Dental statistics & numerical data |
Health Education MOUTH -- Care & hygiene Oral Hygiene Oral Hygiene methods ORALhygiene products Oral Hygiene psychology Oral Hygiene Trends PREVENTIVE dentistry School Dentistry TEETH -- Bleaching TEETH -- Care & hygiene |
Using the correct words to search will help you find relevant information. Different authors and search tools use different words to describe the same concepts, so it is useful to have a list of similar and related terms in your arsenal when you set out to search for relevant information. The process of creating these alternative terms is called brainstorming terms or concept mapping.
EXAMPLE
Dental Care AND Children
Diabetics AND Dental Hygiene
While not official subject headings, these keywords can be very fruitful for your research. Try to also think of other terms such as these. Keyword searches look at all the information in the book or article record including title, author, abstract, table of contents, etc. It always helps to think of synonyms, as the way one person would describe something is not the same way another would.
Oral Cancer
Tooth Decay