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Subject Heading Searches

Subject searches find materials based on descriptions of their topics within a controlled vocabulary, the Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH). Most records in the CU Library Catalog have been classified and assigned LC subject headings, and you need to use the exact wording or terms of a LCSH for a successful subject heading search. For a less precise search, use keyword searching.

For more information on the relationship between Subjects Headings and Call Numbers see the Library of Congress Classification Outline .

See the Search Type Comparison chart for an overview of all of the CU Library Catalog searches.

To Perform a Subject Headings Search:

1.    Identify a subject heading search in one of the following ways:

• Consult the LCSH books in your library for the correct subject heading or ask for assistance at your library's reference desk.
  
• Begin by doing a Guided Keyword Search on your topic
  1. Review and identify relevant records.
  2. Use the "Long View" to review the assigned subject headings.
  3. Conduct a new search using those subject headings, or redirect your search by clicking on the hypertext link of the subject heading. See an example of a search of this type.

2.    Click Subject Heading in the Search by: box.

3.    In the Search for: box, type the subject heading.  See Search Tips below.

5.    Click Search.

Search Tips:

• A common cause of failed searches is using non-LCSH phrases in subject searches. You must use LC subject headings in subject searches; for free text searching, use Guided Keyword searches.
• Punctuation including commas, periods, apostrophes, and dashes is not necessary; enter scott george gilbert sir for Scott, George Gilbert, Sir.
• To narrow your subject heading search, include all hyphenated terms found in the subject heading. Dashes are not required. For example, enter hotels employees labor unions united states, not hotels employees.
• Do not use a truncation symbol (?) in subject heading searches. Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve records that begin with the words or phrases entered. For example, a search on neuro will retrieve records for neuroanatomy, neurobiology, neurology, neuromuscular diseases, etc.

LCSH Subject Heading...	Enter into search box...
Veterinarians--United States--Directories	veterinarians united states directories
Napolean I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821	napolean I emperor of the french or use only napolean
Cookery (Vanilla)	cookery vanilla

Example starting with a Keyword Search:

1. Do a subject search on the phrase italian cooking. Notice that your search did not retrieve any headings on this topic. This is because italian cooking is not a Library of Congress subject heading (LCSH) .
2. Switch to any keyword search and search on italian cooking as a phrase. This time your search retrieves a number of hits. After reviewing records in the "Long View" you will find Cookery, Italian is the LCSH you need to search on.
3. At this point, it is unnecessary to conduct a new search. Instead, click the heading Cookery, Italian to redirect your search to the correct subject heading.

When searching on subject headings, look for the "More Info" buttons. These buttons can lead to additional or related subject terms on your topic. For example, if you search on the term art, you will see the "More Info" button on the left in the headings display. When you click the button, it produces a table showing narrower terms (architecture) or related terms (aesthetics). To redirect your search, click on any of these related terms.