Subject Headings are a type of controlled vocabulary or thesaurus. Subject Headings are more specific than basic keyword searching. Most databases use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) including LUCY, Willet Library's online catalog. Some databases use different forms of controlled vocabularies. For instance, PubMed uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). You will learn more about this in Module 3: Revision.
Use subject headings to find other resources directly related to your topic. In the databases and catalog results, subject headings, or descriptors, can be used to find other articles and/or books on your subject. Subject headings may be useful to find terms that you would not have discovered with a keyword search. For example, a keyword search for Indians may lead us to a subject heading for Indians of North America Southern States.
