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English 001 A (Ficarra): Search Terms

Reinventing the American Dream

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. Library of Congress Subject Headings Books

EXAMPLES

American Dream

National Characteristics, American

Social Mobility--United States

Quality of Life--United States

Civil Rights

Equality

Social Justice

Businesswomen--United States--History

African American Scientists

Mexican American Athletes

Asian Americans--Biography

(combine profession and biography, or an ethnic

or gender group and biography)

Professional Associations

Associations

Nonprofit Organizations

Social Enterprises

Non-governmental Organizations

Nongovernmental Organizations

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.

Biographies

Upward Mobility

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

Nurses AND Biography