Sunday, November 4, 2007
In Library class..
In class we went over different ways to a find a book in the school library. We used a database that allows you to search the author, title, etc. Also, we discussed how to find books while utilizing the call number, which is located on the spine of the book. We were to look up a book relevant to our cluster topic, and then find that book in the library if it was "on the shelf." I found a book that was relevant to my cluster topic, and then I found it in the library. I was ecstatic to find my book for several reasons. For starters, I learned how to search the school library, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I found the book. Second, I was excited because the book I got hasn't been checked out since 2000, so I was happy to get the book some credit and get it back into the library's computer system...The differences between "words" and "subject headings" is that when you search "words" you will get generic words within your search, whereas if you search "subject headings," the database will isolate the results that only contain your search words in the form of a subject heading. "Words" obviously apply to any form of letters, whereas "subject headings" is a specific type and arrangement of words. Some advantages are that you can target and pin point certain database searches with the strategies that we talked about in class. For instance you can look enter Edgar Allan Poe as an "author" and get results that will include books that he wrote. If you use a generic database, Edgar Allan Poe may have results that include articles or analytical pieces that his name was brought up in. Some disadvantages are say that you have any idea of what you are looking for, but don't know how to search it. On Google or Yahoo, you can search a word and get different results. However with specific databases, the results will omit possibly the result that you are looking for as you may not be as specific as possible.
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I understand exactly how you felt about finding a book that hasn't been checked out in a while. Let me reassure you that it won't leave the library computer system unless someone, a librarian, chooses to de-select it from the collection, but it's true that we sometimes choose to remove books that haven't been used in a long time.
As for words vs. subject headings, your word search will simply search that string of characters in the records in the catalog. It will search all the indexes, too - author, title, subject, notes, etc. With subject headings, you must have a specific set of words and phrases in a specific order and it will only search the subject index - nothing else.
Your Poe example is interesting. If you enter Poe and search as an author, you will get the works that he wrote. If you search Poe as a subject, you will get works "about" him, but not his works.
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