TOPIC 5

Keyword & Subject Heading

          In order to search the information effectively, it is better to use keyword or subject heading. Some examples of subject headings are library subject headings, science subject headings, and thesaurus of psychological index term.

BOOLEAN SEARCHING

(Named for George Boole, 1815-1864, a mathematician) - combining terms such as AND, OR, and NOT used in building a search statement or in putting several sets together.     With Boolean Searching, we are able to groups work together, so that we can receive a number of different types of results. It is most common and basic search strategy that allows us to expand a search by using the OR or limit the search by using word AND and NOT to exclude the words from searching.

When we use the word AND between words, we will limit the search. For example, when we type ‘Air and Water’, the results that we will get are all the documents containing the word “air” and “water”.

On the other hand, when we start to use the word OR between words, we will expand the search. For example, when we type ‘Air and Water’, the results that we will get are all the documents that contain either the word “air” or the word “water”.

Lastly, when we use the word NOT between words, we can exclude the word that we don’t want in our searching. For instance, when we type ‘Air and Water’, the results that we will get are the document that contain the word “air” but not the word “water”