LibGuides: English 001 A (Williams): Search Terms

Subject Headings

These are the official Library of Congress Subject Headings that you can use for many of your searches in our databases. 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 (Onotlogy is the subject term for "Being in the Present," for example).

EXAMPLES

Ex-Convicts Gangs Gang Members Gangsters Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile Delinquents Organized Crime Prison Gangs Youth Gangs	Civil Procedure Criminal Justice Administration Crime Prevention Gang Prevention Gangs -- Legal status, laws, etc. Injunctions Law Enforcement Zero-tolerance Policy


Children -- Institutional care Church Work With Prisoners Correctional Institutions Imprisonment Institutionalized Persons Juvenile delinquents -- Rehabilitation Prison Educators Prisoners -- Deinstitutionalization Prisoners -- Educational Programs Prisoners -- Education Prisoners -- Vocational education Prisons Prison Reform	Behavior Therapy Correctional Rehabilitation Criminals -- Rehabilitation Criminal Psychology Halfway Houses Mentoring Non-school educational programs Occupational training Pre-release Programs for Prisoners Recidivism Recidivism Rates Recidivists Rehabilitation Rehabilitation Centers Rehabilitation Counseling Transitional Programs (Education) Transformative Learning Treatment Effectiveness Treatment Programs Vocational Education Vocational Guidance Vocational Rehabilitation

What "search terms" to use?

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

Gangs AND Mentoring

Recidivism AND Rehabilitation

Keywords

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.

Mentoring Programs

Homeboy Industries

Reentry Programs

Second Chance Act