Keyword vs Subject/Thesaurus Searching

Whereas the common keyword search is based on an exact word match, a subject or thesaurus search locates records by assigned subject or descriptors.

Searching with controlled vocabulary in a subject index or thesaurus allows you to:

  • more precisely retrieve relevant information on your topic,
  • illustrates relationship between related terms and
  • helps you identify synonyms and broader and narrower terms.

Keyword and subject terms searching can be combined.
Rather than guessing what keywords to use, consider doing a subject or thesaurus (controlled vocabulary) search first. Review and evaluate your results. Then, add a keyword search to the query or use Search History to combine searches.

Thesaurus/Subject Headings

Use subject headings or the thesaurus and combine multiple searches.

  1. Click Thesaurus in the top menu bar.
  2. Key a term in the Browsing text box and select a browse function (Term Begins With, Term Contains, or Relevancy Ranked). Click Browse.
  3. To display details of a term, click the term. Click the checkbox in front of the terns(s) to include in the search. Click Add to move the thesaurus terms into the search text box.
  4. Click Search, or browse for another descriptor to add to the search string.

Identify all the major concepts of your thesis or research topic. Then use the thesaurus or subject index to locate, explore and select descriptors for each concept of your topic.

Communication Source thesaurus

Try a keyword search, retrieve a record that looks relevant to your topic, and then click on any descriptor for a new search on that subject.