The document discusses how controlled vocabulary can help users find more relevant information when searching databases. It explains that databases are tagged with controlled subject terms to group similar articles. It provides two methods for using these terms - searching for terms within results, or looking them up directly in a thesaurus. The summary emphasizes that controlled vocabulary allows users to narrow broad searches by combining specific subject tags.

1. What Search Terms
Should I Use?
Or
Why Controlled Vocabulary Rocks

2. Quiz
(this is easy – there are no wrong
answers)(really)
1. Use the word “tear” in a
short sentence.
Got something? Great! Now
go to the next slide…

3. Were you thinking
OR
?
Interesting. Okay, let’s go on to the next question.

4. 2. Use 1 (and only 1) word
to describe this picture.
Ready? Good! Next slide please.

5. Were you thinking
?
Fascinating. Next question.

6. 3. What is the profession of
the man in the middle?
Got it? Next slide.

7. Did you call him a
Or an
?
Almost done – I promise.

8. 4. Briefly define the word
“Mercury”
Got it in your head? You know what to do
(go to the next slide)

9. Which definition were you
thinking?
Did you think of all of these options?

10. Language is Complicated
 Do you see the pattern in these 5 questions?
 What might seem like a simple word or an easy
name can actually be quite complicated.
 This makes searching, especially in a library
database, just a little more challenging.
 The good news is that if you learn a bit about the
way a database works, you’ll be able to find useful
information much more quickly.

11. Find It
 Have you ever used the “find” option in a
document?
 Let’s say you want to find the word “zombie” but a
few times you decided to spell it “zomby” and once
you misspelled it “zmbie.”
 Will it “find” either of these? No, because you told
it to look for “zombie.”

12. Found Not Found

13. Why Can’t I Find Anything
Helpful?
 A database is like a more complicated version of
that “find” option.
 A database just uses the input you give in the
search boxes to “find” items that match.
 Most databases can search for multiple terms at
once or cross-reference to narrow or broaden the
results.
 But it can only do that based on the information
YOU give it.

14. Databases Can’t Think
 If you are looking for an article on the world, but
the database uses the word “earth” you may not
get many results.
 Or you might even get zero results.
 This might make you think the database has
nothing useful to offer.

15. Databases Can’t Think
 Or say you need to write a paper on the Greek god
Mercury
 You search for the word “mercury” but get results
mostly about the element mercury and the planet
mercury.
 There might be a lot of results, but they might not
be useful ones.
 This is where controlled vocabulary can help.

16. Why Do We Need to Control the
Vocabulary?
 Controlled vocabulary is what sets a database
apart from a general “find” search or a general web
search.
 Every article, essay, or item in a database has
been “tagged” with terms that let you know what it
is about.
 Think of a picture you post on Facebook:

17. No, Really, It’s Jessie!
Jessie Smith
You could tag a
picture with
anybody’s name
and there would
be no one who
could stop you.
In fact, any of
your friends could,
depending on
your privacy
settings, tag
anyone they
wanted in one of
your pictures.

18. Tag! You’re It!
 With the library databases, the tagging for subject
terms is controlled.
 People such as librarians, authors, and publishers
have taken time and effort to match articles and
books to accurate “tags” or “subject terms.”
 These terms are not perfect – after all, librarians
are people too – but they are designed to gather
information in a more specific way.

19. Choices, Choices
 There are different ways you can use subject
terms.
 We’ll review two ways that you might find most
helpful.
 The first is doing a broad search and selecting a subject
term or terms from the results.
 The second is to use the database Thesaurus to find subject
terms.

20. Note
 I will be using EBSCOhost Academic Search
Complete for my examples. Every database has its
own quirks and differences, but these broader
principles can be applied to many if not most of
them.

21. You Have to Start Somewhere
 Try doing a search using the limits that are
available.
 Using more than one search term and limiting it to
peer review only, for example, can make your
result list a little more manageable.
 Don’t be afraid to try something.
 The worst that could happen is that you have to try
a new search.
 (or the universe could implode from your paradox
but that’s highly unlikely)

22. Only a Couple Results

23. Something to Use
 Even though this only brought up 4 results, there
might be something useful here.
 Even if none of these articles are useful, their
subject terms might help us find what we need.
 The subject terms are located under the
description of the article.

24. I’m Hyperlinked
 If you click on a result to get the full description, a
lot of databases offer subject terms as hyperlinks.
 Clicking on a subject term will bring up all the
other articles that are also tagged with that subject
term.

25. Special Designators
 By clicking on the hyperlink, the database will use
a code to let the search know you are looking for a
subject term.
 For Academic Search Complete this designator is
DE.
 It will be different for different databases.
 Now that we know what it is, we can use it to
combine multiple subject terms.

26. Mix and Match
 If the subject term contains more than one word,
using quotation marks will tell the database to look
for the phrase instead of 2 individual words.
 We can even pull subject terms from different
articles to get more precise results.
 See what happens when we use the subject term
“ILLEGAL aliens” from our first result and
“IMMIGRANTS” from our second result.

27. Focused Results

28. REsearch
 You may have to mix and match different subject
terms to get the results you really want
 Or to narrow the list down so it won’t take you
fourteen hours to sort through (ain’t nobody got
time for that).
 And if your first search doesn’t bring up articles
that have useful subject terms you’ll have to try
other general searches to try to find some.
 It’s called REsearch because you have to search
and then search again. (ba dum ching)

29. Cut to the Chase
 All this is well and good, but maybe you want to
just start with the subject terms.
 Is there a way to do that?
 I’m glad you asked.

30. Thesaurus Rex
 A lot of databases (though not all) offer a
thesaurus or list of subject terms.
 These differ based on the database, but if there is
one, it can save you some time.
 Academic Search
Complete simply
says “Subject
Terms” at the top.
 Clicking on it will
bring up a new kind
of search screen.

31. Searchin’ and Searchin’
 This search is designed to help you find specific
subject terms, so be as simple and straightforward
as possible.
 There are two options: “Term begins with” and
“Term contains”
 Start with “Term begins with” but if few to no
results come up, try “Term contains” to broaden
the results.

32. Term Begins
With…
 See how this
differentiates
between the
different kinds of
mercury?
 This will help you
focus in on just the
type that you need.

33. More Options!
 Clicking on a term will give you more information.
 A “Scope Note” will let you know what that subject term
is used for.
 “Broader Terms” are subject terms that will open your
search up further.
 “Related Terms” are other subject terms that are very
similar or synonyms.

34. More Options!
 “Used for” shows terms that are not subject terms in the
database.
 This lets you know that you should use the official
subject term instead.

35. Step by Step
 If you have found the subject terms you need, the
thesaurus usually makes it pretty easy to add them to
your search.
 Select the check box of the term(s) you want to use.

36. Step by Step
 If you are selecting more than one term and you want to
expand your search to results that contain either or both
subject term, use the “OR” connector to expand your
search.
 If you are selecting more than one term and you want to
limit your search to ONLY results that have BOTH terms
use the “AND” connector.
 (For more on “OR” and “AND” search connectors see the
tutorial on Boolean Logic)

37. Step by Step
 Clicking the “Add” button will automatically put the
search terms into the search box.
 You can then look for more subject terms or perform
your search.

38. Compare and Contrast
Search done with keyword
“mercury”
Search done with Subject
Terms selected in last slide

39. Another Quick Note About the
Thesaurus
 Searching for the term
“Attorney” brings up this
message:
 But it offers suggestions:
 From these suggestions we can
see that the majority of the
time, “Lawyer” is used in this
database instead of “Attorney.”
 Clicking on any of these
suggestions will give you other
suggestions.
 You can also do a new search
with “Lawyer” to see the full
list of options

40. Quick Recap
 Subject Terms are like “tags” that have been attached to
items in a database to make them easier to find.
 You can find them attached to an article or item and use
those subject terms to find other similar items.
 Or you can use a thesaurus or subject term list to find
subject terms to focus your search.

41. You Did It!
 Now you know a little bit more about the way Subject
Terms work in a database.
 Playing around with them can help save you time when
you are doing research for a project.
 The more familiar you are with the way a database
works, the easier it will be to find items that are useful.
 For more information about the way a database
combines more than one search term, you can check out
the tutorial on Boolean Logic.

42. Images Attributions
• Computer crying: https://openclipart.org/detail/190381/laptop-crying-
eye-contact-by-qubodup-190381
• Torn paper: http://www.clker.com/clipart-23571.html
• Earth: https://openclipart.org/image/800px/svg_to_png/99115/World-
01.png
• Courtroom: Microsoft Clip Art (searched under “courtroom”)
• Thermometer:
https://openclipart.org/image/800px/svg_to_png/21074/jemmyw_therm
ometer.png
• Greek god holding axe: https://openclipart.org/detail/5199/mercury-
holding-an-axe-by-johnny_automatic
• Mercury planet: https://openclipart.org/detail/121831/mercury-by-
merlin2525
• Car: https://openclipart.org/detail/58399/a-family-car-by-sheikh_tuhin
• Pointer: https://openclipart.org/detail/103567/pointer-by-3dline
• Pizza: Microsoft Clip Art (searched under “food”)
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