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English 004 (Rajaram): Asian American Literature: Search Terms

For Samantha Rajaram's English 4 class.

Subject Headings

Library of Congress Subject Headings Books

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.

 

EXAMPLES

Asian Americans

Pacific Islanders

Bangladeshi Americans

Chinese Americans

Drukpa

East Indian Americans*

Filipino Americans

Guamanians

Hawaiians

Hmong Americans

Indonesian Americans

Japanese Americans

Korean Americans

Laotian Americans

Malaysians

Pakistani Americans

Thai Americans

Tibetans

Vietnamese Americans

History

Social Conditions

Culture and Customs

Ethnic Identity

Personal Narratives

Assimilation

 

Buddhism

Hinduism

Islam

Christianity

United States

California

San Francisco

Hayward (Calif.)

East Bay (Calif.)

Angel Island


 

*For Americans who have ancestry from the country of India, vs. Native Americans who are "Indians of North America."

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.

South Asian Indians

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

Korean Americans AND Los Angeles

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

Sex Differences AND Communication


If for some reason, you are getting results you do NOT want (say for example you want to find only articles on communication in opposite sex marriages) try a NOT search.  Librarians caution that NOT searches often also weed out articles that may have been relevant for you.  So only perform such searches if you have LOTS of results (say over ten that are in full text format):

EXAMPLE

Marriage NOT Same Sex