Like any computer database, library databases have structured information:
Because of this searching can be more precise, because you can look for a word in a particular field (for instance, a name in the Author field) or more flexible, because you can look for a word across multiple fields.
A formatted record for a book as it appears in the Library's online catalog, SouthernSearch:
The coding for the same record, showing the fields (identified by number codes). Look for the AUTHOR and TITLE.
LEADER 00000cam 22003374a 4500 001 175174368 003 OCoLC 008 071016s2009 nyua b 001 0 eng 010 2007042919 019 149204185 020 9780071423083|b(hardcover : alk. paper) 020 0071423087|b(hardcover : alk. paper) 040 DNLM/DLC|cDLC|dNLM|dBAKER|dBTCTA|dUKM|dYDXCP|dCDX|dC#P|dIG# 042 pcc 050 00 R895|b.C454 2009 082 00 610.1/53|222 100 1 Cember, Herman 245 10 Introduction to health physics /|cHerman Cember, Thomas E. Johnson 250 4th ed 260 New York :|bMcGraw-Hill Medical,|cc2009 300 xi, 843 p. :|bill. ;|c24 cm 504 Includes bibliographical references and index 505 0 Review of physical principles -- Atomic and nuclear structure -- Radiation sources -- Interaction of radiation with matter -- Radiation dosimetry -- Biological basis forradiation safety -- Radiation safety guides -- Health physics instrumentation -- External radiation safety -- Internal radiation safety -- Criticality -- Evaluation of radiation safety measures -- Nonionizing radiation safety 650 0 Medical physics 700 1 Johnson, Thomas E.|q(Thomas Edward),|d1964- 856 41 |zTable of Contents|3Table of contents only|u http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip082/2007042919.html 856 42 |zContributor biographical information|3 Contributor biographical information|u http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0804/2007042919-b.html 856 42 |zPublisher description|3Publisher description|u http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0804/2007042919-d.html 903 00 LTI|aAEX August 2010
A formatted record for an article as it appears in the CINAHL database:
The coding for the same record, showing the fields (identified by letter codes). Look for the AUTHOR and TITLE.
TI- Future of physics in medicine and biology. AU- Jeraj R AF- Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. rjeraj@wisc.edu SO- Acta Oncologica (ACTA ONCOL), 2009; 48 (2): 178-84 (12 ref) PT- journal article PT- tables/charts PT- website LA- English MJ- Diffusion of Innovation MJ- Disease -- Diagnosis MJ- Forecasting MJ- Medicine MJ- Physics MH- Disease -- Therapy MH- National Institutes of Health (U.S.) MH- World Wide Web JS- Biomedical JS- Continental Europe JS- Editorial Board Reviewed JS- Europe JS- Expert Peer Reviewed JS- Peer Reviewed SC- Oncologic Care IS- 0284-186X EM- 20090410 RD- 20110513 DO- 10.1080/02841860802558938 MD- PMID: 19031162 NLM UID: 8709065 FT- N AN- 2010185984 UR- http://scsu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2010185984&site=ehost-live
In the Library Catalog, do a keyword for 'health physics' (without the quotes), or for any other topic of your choice. Scroll through the results.
Some results will be obvious--the search words are in the title of the book (or article, or video, or report, etc.) Some won't be so obvious. Click on a less obvious result and look for your search words in the record--they should be highlighted in yellow, as in the picture above.
Try searching for the same thing in the Title or Subject field using the Advanced Search. Did you get anything? (These are more precise fields, with more rules and fewer options.)
Library databases work the same way. Our databases (the library catalog is a database, too) contain information ABOUT articles and books (and other things), such as:
When you search the library catalog, you can search, for instance, for a TITLE.
This looks only in the fields for:
A KEYWORD search, on the other hand, searches any of the "word"-related fields:
(Note: the keyword doesn't search all the words in a record. For instance, it doesn't search for publisher names.)
(And we don't do ads!)
Try this with your own topics in Academic Search Premier or in another of our databases.
Different academic topics may use different lists of subject terms, usually called a "Thesaurus".
This is the Subject terminology for Heart Attacks in the general database Academic Search Premier. They use the term Myocardial Infarction, the medical term for a heart attack, to be more specific, but the topics are still fairly broad.
A medical professional searching for medical articles needs extra precision, so the terminology is more specific. This is the Subject terminology for heart attacks in CINAHL, the Nursing database.
Because CINAHL is a medical database, using medical terminology works better and gives us all the articles about heart attacks, not just the ones that use that phrase.
But now there are so many results, what do we do?
Use the other options in the Advanced search to get more specific. Each option selects different fields and different entries within each field. Here's a search for:
How do you use these terms?
You can look them up in the Subject Headings or Thesaurus in many databases. (In CINAHL they are called CINAHL Headings, and in Medline, MeSH.)
It's possible to construct very detailed searches, but you can also just use the terms as your search words. In an individual record, you can also click on a single subject heading to do a search--then use the options on the left of the search results to get more specific.