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Natural language; the way people usually talk and write,
has an extensive range, meaning that there are many ways to say the same
thing.
For instance: soda, pop, soda pop,
coke, soft drink, and carbonated beverage
are all words that can be used to describe the same concepts.
This natural range can make it confusing when searching a library database for
articles.
For example: let's say you are using a database to find
information on the topic of the Civil War. What term would you use to search?
Civil War? Civil wars have taken place all over the world.
So do you use American Civil War? US Civil War?
War Between the States? The Lost Cause? War of Succession?
The choices seem almost endless! Does this mean you have to try and think of
every possible term to describe The Civil War? Not if you use a database's
controlled vocabulary.
A controlled vocabulary gathers all materials available on a topic
under one word or phrase, thus taking a lot of time and guess work out of
searching. A controlled vocabulary is not going to be called "controlled vocabulary"
and the database.
Databases may use the term the thesaurus, subject terms,
subject headings, descriptors, or another specialized
name depending on what database you are using. To demonstrate how to use a
database's controlled vocabulary
I'll use Academic Search complete and start out by doing a pretty broad
search for "war" AND "movie." I'll click on the title above the
article to view the Summary page and find a list of hyperlinked
subject terms, which are part of the controlled vocabulary in Academic
Search Complete.
The list of subject terms gives me an idea about the content of the article,
which also gives me a fast and easy way to determine if the article will be useful.
Notice how "movies" is not listed as a subject term,
but the word "motion pictures" is. There are also some pretty specific subject
terms here as well
such as violence in motion pictures and war films.
Clicking on one of these hyperlinked terms will start a new search
which will likely lead me to fewer but more useful results for my topic.
You can also use a controlled vocabulary before starting a search
by using the subject terms link at the top of the page.
Remember: in other databases you may find alternative names for this
such as thesaurus or subject headings. So in this case
I'll click the subject terms link, enter the word "movies"
into the box and hit the browse button.
Since "movies" is not listed as a subject term
the database suggests using the term "motion pictures."
Clicking on the hyperlink for motion pictures is this going to show me more
information.
The scope note provides a brief definition of the word.
Usually broader, narrower, and related terms are listed under the scope note.
Any one of these terms can be checked off and added to the search.
I'm going to check the box next to motion pictures
and add it and you'll see that it now appears in the search box.
Now I can do the same thing for the word "war", except after checking the box next
to "war",
I'm going to select the connecting term "AND" to tell the database that I want to
find
articles covering both of these subjects. Now when I run the search
I have fewer results than in my original keyword search
that are much more at Target with what I'm looking for. When I click on the
title of one of my results
the two subject terms that I used in my search are found on the list.
Here are a few final tips for using controlled vocabulary in your searches.
Start with your own keywords and don't abandon doing keyword searches.
It is best to use a variety of techniques when looking for information
in order to find out what works the best. Browse a database's subject terms
or thesaurus in order to find preferred terms and related,
narrower, or broader terms. Finally, certain fields
like medicine, education, and business use very specific terminology.
Always check the controlled vocabulary when searching databases related
those fields in order to discover specific terminology used in them.