Searching by Subject - Continued

What if I don't know what my topic's subject heading is?

To identify the correct subject heading for your topic, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings. The Library of Congress Subject Headings is a set of books that list all the standardized subject descriptors that librarians use to index books. Proper names, such as a person's name or the name of a city, are not included, but they are also considered good subject descriptors.

Ask a librarian to show you how to use the Library of Congress Subject Headings to broaden or narrow your search.

What types of things can I search for using subject headings?

Use subject searching to find items about a person, place, thing, or idea.
    For example, to find a book about Eleanor Roosevelt, type:

 

Notice: To search for a person as a subject, type the last name first, just as you did to search for an author.