Keywords--terms that can appear anywhere in a record--are the quick and easy way to search.
Using keywords, you can combine multiple ideas, or locate specific essays inside collective works.
Connectors: Use "and" or "or" to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use "and not" to exclude words. Examples:
Wildcards: Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk or question mark:
Examples : slave*, wom?n
Adjacency: "And" is assumed between words. Place phrases in quotes. Example:
"gold coast"
Subject Headings--terms applied by catalogers or indexers--describe the content of the item. Often, subject headings are divided by geographic place, by time period, by ethnic group, or other aspects. Subject headings are searched as phrases.
Using subject headings will pull together related records with terminology you may have not considered in your keyword search.
Examples:
keywords | subject headings |
modern slavery | human trafficking |
middle passage | slave trade |
african cultural survivals | african influences |
Search in OneSearch, and WorldCat, the union catalog of libraries worldwide, under subjects and keywords such as:
broad topics | sample subject terms |
---|---|
the slave trade |
|
the institution of slavery | |
the history of africa | |
other places and times | |
ethnic and cultural encounters and conflicts |
Not finding what you need in OneSearch?
Our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service can borrow books and articles not found in our collection from other libraries.
To use the ILL service:
More about the ILL service: