© Copyright 2000 State University of New York & Ulster County Community CollegeWhat is the best way to search? Generally, the best approach is to search the subject or descriptor field. (If, of course, you know a renowned author who has expertise in your area of interest, or you know an important title, then a title or author search might be most appropriate.) The computer will look at all the records in its database, searching the subject field of each, looking for the word or words you selected. If a match is found, the computer will retrieve the record for you as a "hit." This approach will provide you with specific information on your topic.
Another approach is to search the ENTIRE record for a keyword. This is also referred to as a free-text search. If the word appears anyplace in the record, the computer will find it and list it as a "hit." While this approach is often helpful, it can really lead you astray.
Imagine you are a nursing student who is assigned to gather information about Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal glands. Performing a free-text (or keyword) search you come up with hundreds of records. When you begin to look at them, you are puzzled. Some of the records have NOTHING to do with health, let alone Addison's disease.
After pondering this for a while, you suddenly realize that the inappropriate results are citations of books published by a company called Addison-Wesley. The books were selected by the computer because the word "Addison" was in the publishing field. The second search, which you now limit to the subject field, provides you with fewer hits, but they are all relevant.
When would a free-text or keyword search be appropriate?
Free-text searches may be useful if the term you are searching for is very new and not likely to be listed in the thesaurus. Free-text or keyword searching is also useful if you are looking for very specific information that probably does not have a subject heading, or when you have no idea where to begin. All you need is one relevant article; then you can check out the subject headings that were used and link to more articles with the same subject heading.
