Introduction to Searching

1
Introduction to Searching

• Databases and Records

2
What is a database?

• A database is a large, organized collection of
  information.
• Addresses
• Recipes
• Citations to books
• Photographs
• Full-text articles
• A database can be printed or electronic.

3
(No Transcript)
4
How are databases organized?

• Each item in a database is called a record.
• In the phone book, a record contains the name of
  a company, the address and phone number.
• In a catalog, a record contains the citation to
  an item (mostly books), subject headings and
  location.
• In an article database (index), a record usually
  contains the citation and an abstract.

5
How are databases organized?

• Printed databases, like phone books, are searched
  by browsing for items grouped by subject or in
  alphabetical order.

6
How are databases organized?

• Online databases are searched by matching search
  terms to the content of the record.
• To increase searching effectiveness, records are
  organized into fields.

7
Fields

• Keyword searches multiple fields at one time
  (title, abstract, subject heading) broadest type
  of search
• Title searches just the words in the title
• Author searches the for authors usually
  lastname firstname

8
What are subject headings?

• Controlled vocabulary
• Set of standard terms used to describe the
  contents of items in a database.
• A term in a controlled vocabulary may describe a
  person, an event, an idea, or a place.
• Often referred to as subject headings or
  descriptors.
• Differ from database to database.

9
Why use subject headings?

• Subject headings draw together under a single
  heading all the material that is available on a
  particular topic regardless of the words used by
  the author.

10
Example?

• For example, let's say you're trying to find all
  the information you can in the library on the
  topic of the World War I.
• World War I?
• First World War?
• WWI?
• World War One?
• Great War?
• War to end all Wars?

11
Subject headings in the Catalog

• The UW Libraries Catalog and most libraries use
  the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).
• The complete list of LCSH are published in 5
  volumes.
• WWI books
• World War 1914-1918
• WWI books on American women
• World War 1914-1918 Women United States

12
Create a Record

• Quickly skim through article and create a record
  with the following info
• Author
• Title of article
• 2-3 sentence abstract (summary)
• 3 subject headings (from list)

13
Mock Searches

• Author brady kathy
• Keywords letters
• Keywords executive order 9066
• Keywords japanese american chilcren
• Subject japanese americans correspondence
• Subject librarians world war ii
• Subject poston relocation center
• Subject japanese americans evacuation and
  relocation 1942-1945

14

• Title Letters from home love and friendship in
  times of war
• Other Titles librarian helps Japanese children
  in U.S. internment camp during World War II
• Personal Author Brady, Kathy
• Journal Name American Libraries
• Source American Libraries v. 33 no. 5 (May 2002)
  p. 73-4
• Publication Year 2002
• Physical Description Illustration Portrait
• ISSN0002-9769
• Language of Document English
• Abstract Clara Estelle Breed, a children's
  librarian at the San Diego Public Library during
  World War II, helped young Japanese Americans
  endure internment during the conflict. She
  provided self-addressed, stamped postcards to
  these children as they and their families were
  taken away to internment camps. She received over
  250 letters detailing the children's experiences
  and day-to-day life in the Poston Relocation
  Center in the Arizona desert. Digital exhibits of
  Breed's story are now available on the Web sites
  of the Japanese American National Museum and the
  Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
• Subject(s)Children's librarians/History
  Children's library services/History War and the
  library/History Japanese American National
  Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.) Poston Relocation
  Center (Ariz.) Breed, Clara E., 1906-1994

15

• Letters from home Love and friendship in times
  of war
• Kathy Brady. American Libraries. Chicago  May
  2002. Vol. 33, Iss. 5  pg. 73, 2 pgs 
• Subjects Librarians,  Personal
  profiles,  Children youth,  World War
  II,  Concentration camps,  Japanese Americans
• People Breed, Clara Estelle
• Author(s) Kathy Brady
• Article types Feature
• Publication title American Libraries. Chicago Ma
  y 2002. Vol. 33, Iss. 5  pg. 73, 2 pgs
• Source Type Periodical
• ISSN/ISBN 00029769
• Abstract (Article Summary)
• With books and moral support, librarian Clara
  Estelle Breed helped young Japanese Americans
  endure internment during World War II. Breed knew
  and loved the many Japanese American children in
  her library's service area.