Subject Heading: Help

What is the Subject Heading search option?

The Subject Heading search option finds search words or phrases only in the subject fields. Subjects use controlled vocabulary, which is a standard set of words or phrases that reflect the topic of an item. Use this search when the subject term is known in exact order (words must appear in their exact order or will not retrieve relevant records). Search limits are not available for Subject Heading searches. Boolean operators (and, or not) do not function in Subject Heading searches.

The controlled vocabulary that the Yale University Library catalog uses is the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). In addition to presenting a controlled list of subject headings in alphabetical order, LCSH shows the relationships among those headings and provides other valuable information, such as scope notes that clarify usage, Library of Congress classification numbers that are associated with a particular subject heading.

Subject Heading search Examples:

Search Tips:

• Omit commas, periods, apostrophes, and most punctuation. Hyphens should be retained, but not double dashes. For example: enter united states history civil war, not united states--history--civil war.
• Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve catalog records that begin with the words or phrases entered. Do not use the question mark (?) for truncation.
• Conduct a Subject search in one of the following two ways:
• Consult LCSH in order to identify the correct subject headings, or ask a librarian for assistance. Enter search words or phrases found in LCSH in the box, omitting most punctuation.
• Start with a word (or root of a word) that describes the topic. For example, a search on the "word root" econ would return the topics econometrics , economic, economical, economist, economy, economies, etc. Review the search results and identify desired headings. Select the most relevant heading in order to view a Title List for that heading. Display relevant catalog records individually and select the Subject display label using the long view button. Review the subjects assigned to that catalog record. The Subject headings should appear as hypertext links. Select the heading which most closely describes the topic to perform a search for that subject.

References and Scope Notes:

In search results, some retrieved headings will not link directly to catalog records, but will supply the user with links to related headings and scope notes (marked with the icon) as illustrated in the screen below.

#	Titles	Search Results	Type
1	48	Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924	LC subject headings
2	1	Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 Knowledge and learning.	LC subject headings
3	1	Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 Personality.	LC subject headings
4	1	Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 Views on economic policy.	LC subject headings
5		Wilson, Woodrow, Mrs., 1860-1914	LC subject headings
6		Wilson, Woodrow, Mrs., 1872-1961	LC subject headings
7		Wilson, Woodrow, Pres. U.S., 1856-1924	LC subject headings

More detailed information on References and Scope Notes is available.

Alternative Search Options: If you do not find what you are looking for using the Subject Heading search option, try Keywords or Guided Search. For example, to use Keywords to find materials related to demographic census data for poverty rates in cities, enter: poverty and rates and cities. Display a single record and select the Subject display label using the long view button. Review the subjects assigned to that catalog record, and select the hypertext link for the most closely matching subject heading listed to search for related materials.