Click on the arrow symbols to expand or contract the menu choices to select specific pages of content:

• 1: Library Virtual Tour
  • 1.1 UMW Libraries Tour Home
  • 1.2 Simpson Library Tour
  • 1.3 Library Map
  • 1.4 Site Map
  • 1.5 Outcomes
• 2: Topic Development and Source Selection
  • 2.1 Objectives
  • 2.2 Topic Selection
  • 2.3 Purpose or Need
  • 2.4 Identification of Important Concepts
  • 2.5 Important Concepts
  • 2.6 Subject and Keyword Selection I
  • 2.7 Subject and Keyword Selection II
  • 2.8 Subject Approach I
  • 2.9 Subject Approach II
  • 2.10 Subject Approach - Some Examples
  • 2.11 Content Treatment
  • 2.12 Popular vs. Scholarly
  • 2.13 Primary and Secondary Sources
  • 2.14 Scope of Coverage
  • 2.15 Types of Materials
  • 2.16 Outcomes


• 3: Finding Background Information
  • 3.1 Objectives
  • 3.2 In Reference Sources
  • 3.3 Directories
  • 3.4 Encyclopedias
  • 3.5 Dictionaries and Thesauri
  • 3.6 Biographical Dictionaries and Sources
  • 3.7 Almanacs
  • 3.8 Yearbooks
  • 3.9 Handbooks, Manuals and Guides to a Field of Study
  • 3.10 Atlases, Gazateers and Guidebooks
  • 3.11 Indexes, Abstracts and Bibliographies
  • 3.12 Statistical Sources
  • 3.13 Locating Reference Materials
  • 3.14 Locating Reference Materials in the Catalog
  • 3.15 Locating Reference Materials in a Subject Research Guide or Handbook
  • 3.16 Locating Reference Materials by Browsing
  • 3.17 Outcomes


• 4: Performing Effective Searches in Electronic Databases
  • 4.1 Objectives
  • 4.2 Whiat Is a Database?
  • 4.3 What's In a Database?
  • 4.4 Phrase Searching and Keyword Searching
  • 4.5 Field Searching
  • 4.6 Truncation and Wildcards
  • 4.7 Boolean Logic
  • 4.8 Boolean AND
  • 4.9 Boolean OR
  • 4.10 Boolean NOT
  • 4.11 Nested Boolean Logic
  • 4.12 Proximity and Adjacency
  • 4.13 Limits and Filters
  • 4.14 Summary
  • 4.15 Outcomes


• 5: Using the Library Catalog
  • 5.1 Objectives
  • 5.2 What Is It? Reference Sources
  • 5.3 What's In It?
  • 5.4Access Point
  • 5.5Author and Title Searches
  • 5.6Subject Searches
  • 5.7Library of Congress Subject headings (LCSH)
  • 5.8Subject Searching
  • 5.9Keyword Searching
  • 5.10Subject and Keyword Comparison
  • 5.11Record Interpretation
  • 5.12Interpreting Library of Congress Call Numbers
  • 5.13How to Read Library of Congress Call Numbers
  • 5.14Library Locations
  • 5.15Other Library Catalogs and Book Databases
  • 5.16Outcomes


• 6: Finding Periodical Articles
  • 6.1 Objectives
  • 6.2 What Are Periodicals?
  • 6.3 Newspapers
  • 6.4 What Are Magazines and Journals?
  • 6.5 Scholarly vs. Popular
  • 6.6 A Quick Review
  • 6.7 Why Should I Use Periodicals?
  • 6.8 Some Examples of Articles
  • 6.9 How Do I Find the Articles I Need?
  • 6.10 What Are Indexes?
  • 6.11 Abbreviations and Explanations
  • 6.12 Sample Titles of Indexes
  • 6.13 The Change to Databases
  • 6.14 What's In a Database?
  • 6.15 What Is An Abstract?
  • 6.16 Types of Databases
  • 6.17 The Advantages of Full-Text Databases
  • 6.18 How Do I Select the Database of Index I Need?
  • 6.19 Using Indexes and Databases
  • 6.20 Subject Searching in Databases
  • 6.21 Drawbacks of Subject Searching
  • 6.22 Keyword Searching in Action
  • 6.24 Drawbacks of Keyword Searching
  • 6.25 Subject and Keyword Searching: A Summary
  • 6.26 Tips on Performing Effective Searches
  • 6.27 Does the Library Have the Periodical I Need?
  • 6.28 Finding Your Magazine or Journal
  • 6.29 What if the library Does Not Have the Magazine I Need?
  • 6.30 Outcomes


• 7: Locating Information on the Internet and World Wide Web
  • 7.1 Objectives
  • 7.2 Origins of the Internet
  • 7.3 Four Things You Can Do
  • 7.4 The World Wide Web, Hypertext, and HTML
  • 7.5 Organization/Structure of the World Wide Web
  • 7.6 Internet Addresses - URLs
  • 7.7 More on URLs
  • 7.8 Parts of a URL
  • 7.9 Moving Around on the Internet
  • 7.10 Search Tools
  • 7.11 Choosing a Search Tool
  • 7.12 Tips on Choosing a Search Tool
  • 7.13 Directories
  • 7.14 Virtual Libraries
  • 7.15 Search Engines
  • 7.16 Meta-Search Engines
  • 7.17 Using the Information
  • 7.18 Outcomes
    


• 8: Use of Information
  • 8.1 Objectives
  • 8.2 Evaluation and Citation
  • 8.3 Evaluation: Authority
  • 8.4 Evaluation: Currency
  • 8.5 Evaluation: Accuracy
  • 8.6 Evaluation: Scope
  • 8.7 Evaluation: Objectivity
  • 8.8 Evaluation: documentation
  • 8.9 Evaluation: Presentation
  • 8.10 Evaluation Example
  • 8.11 Citing Sources
  • 8.12 Citation Styles
  • 8.13 Plagiarism
  • 8.14 Intellectual Property
  • 8.15 Copyright
  • 8.16 Copyright: Public Domain
  • 8.17 Copyright: Fair Use
  • 8.18 Fair Use for Students
  • 8.19 Outcomes

TALON MODULE 5: Using the Library Catalog
Subject Searches

Subject searches look for the subject headings that have been assigned to the materials in the catalog. The subject headings are selected from the Library of Congress Subject Headings, also called LCSH. Two sets of the LCSH are located near the catalog terminals on the Library's first floor.

Subject searches must be taken from the headings listed in this multivolume set of books, unless they are proper names (people, places, etc.). This is called a controlled vocabulary search, since you can't just think of your own ways of saying the topic but must instead choose from a specific listing. If you do not use the proper subject heading, it may appear that the Library has no books on your topic when we actually have several!

Subject headings may be assigned subheadings to help narrow the topic. Subheadings follow the heading after two dashes (--). Many subject headings are not stated in terms in which most people think of the subject. Here are some topics and the proper subject headings that must be used:

Topic:	Library of Congress Subject Heading:
American art	Art, American
U.S. Civil War	United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Vietnam War	Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975
accidental shootings	firearms accidents
death penalty	capital punishment
senior citizens	aged
farming	agriculture
fish	fishes
African Americans	Afro-Americans
health insurance	insurance, health
killer bees	Africanized honeybee

Concept & Design by Laurie Preston Content Authored by Laurie Preston & Jack Bales Reviewed/Updated

Simpson Library University of Mary Washington 1801 College Avenue Fredericksburg, VA 22401-4664 540-654-1125