WISE: Subject search

Subject searching uses a controlled vocabulary of special terms assigned to item records. These terms are known as Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings and represent the main subject content of an item.

When using controlled vocabulary, the exact terminology must be used. For example, we can perform a subject search for film and not find anything! This is because motion picture is the subject term used.

Subject headings are found in the Subject(s) field in every item record. Every subject heading links to other items that have the same subject heading.

The great advantage of subject searching is the accuracy or precision of results. Only items with the assigned subject headings, will be retrieved.