Need to search for a particular topic?  Try a Title/Subject Keyword Search.

Librarians use specific words called Subject Headings to describe what a book is about.  Sometimes it is hard to guess what those words are, so it can be frustrating to use the Subject search box on the library's catalog. 

If you have a particular topic in mind, try using the Title/Subject Keyword search box:

When you search in Google or Yahoo, you are searching for a keyword.  The computer scans millions of web pages for the words you typed.  When you search for a word in the Title/Subject Keyword search box, the computer will search for those words in the titles of books, and subject headings that have been assigned by librarians.

Once you find a book about your topic, look at the Subjects that are listed to find out which words the librarians have used to describe books on your topic.  Since they are links, you can click on the Subject to find other books on your topic:

So why don't library catalogs work like Google or Yahoo?

Library catalogs have been around a lot longer than Google.  Remember card catalogs?  They were around a lot longer than computers!  Librarians have been assigning Subject Headings to describe books for a long time.  Librarians realized that along with the Title and Author searches, Subjects were also very important to people looking for books in a library.  But because there is often more than one word to describe a certain topic, librarians decided to create a list of vocabulary that everyone should use when assigning Subject Headings for books and other materials in a library.

Computers made searching easier with keyword searches.  Sometimes keyword searching works well and connects you to the right information right away.  But having human beings assign subjects to books or websites is helpful too.  Google and Yahoo have their own human assigned subject guides called Directories.  In fact, Yahoo started out as a Directory search and had their employees search thousands of websites and label them with subjects, just like librarians do with books in a library. 

It is important to remember both keywords and subjects when searching on the library catalog and on the World Wide Web.  It will make you a much better searcher!