Controlled Vocabularies
Controlled vocabularies provide a standardized way of describing and accessing material. They are useful because they can simplify your search. For example, if you searched for information on "indians" you might end up with information on Native Americans, Indians from India, or even perhaps a team mascot. Controlled vocabulary clears up this kind of ambiguity. Catalogers apply a precise term to all the material on a topic, no matter what terms are used in the article or book. So the good news is once you find the right term to use it's easy to retrieve related material in one search.
The bad news is that these terms may not always be ones you yourself would use to retrieve the information. They can sound artificial and, depending on when they were created, dated. So how do you find that right term? A good way is to begin with a keyword search. You'll find out how this process works, below.
Two different examples of controlled vocabularies are:
- Subjects (Library of Congress Subject Headings) in the NSCC library catalog
- Suggested Topics in the ProQuest periodicals database
Subjects in the NSCC catalog
After you have done a keyword relevance search in the catalog and clicked on a title, you willl bring up the title record, which includes name, author, publisher, and Subject(s).
Click here for a sample title record.
Take a look at the Subject(s) in the record. Find the subjects in the list that describe your topic. When you click on these subject links, you can click on through to find other titles related to your topic. If you don't find any good subject links, try another keyword search in the catalog and see what you find that time. Depending on your topic (and our library holdings in that area), you may find several Subjects that work for your topic or only one.
NOTE: This is why selecting Subject in your catalog search and then putting in your words in the search box is not a good idea. These subject terms were created (controlled) by catalogers and chances are the cataloger's words are not the same as yours.
Suggested Topics in ProQuest
When you conduct a keyword search in ProQuest, you will usually find Suggested Topics in your results list:
Click here for a sample suggested topics list.
Find the topic that most closely fits your own and click on that link for more information.
Remember: a good way to get to the controlled vocabulary in a system is via a keyword search. Academic research includes both search methods. See Finding Books and Finding Articles for more information.
