Our Subject Searching guide explains more about subject terms and how to use them. 
 

• The guide linked above also has information on how to look up subject terms in: 

  • Summon

  • EBSCOHost databases

  • ProQuest databases.

• View our Searching by Subject for Focused Results interactive tutorial to learn how to use controlled vocabulary in your searches.

• Terms used: 

  • Controlled Vocabulary: Controlled vocabulary is a very precise set of subject terms used by databases to classify all the articles they index.

  • Subject Terms or Subject Headings: A single subject term is applied to every article on a particular subject--no matter how the author refers to it--so that all the articles with that subject term can be found easily.