Keyword searching is an effective method for finding information in our specialized online indexes. Once you learn the basics, your searches will be more focused and provide you with better results.
In a keyword search, you choose the most important words for your topic - words you would expect to find in every item of interest to you. The system finds all the items with the words you request.
With a keyword search you look for one or more words, no matter how those words are related.
Thus, a keyword search is a broad and flexible search, useful when you just want to know what's out there.
If you like, you can specify that the word must be in a particular part of the results: e.g. the title, author, or subject.
Most often you're searching a description of an item, like the title, author, subject, or abstract. Be sure to use terms that might appear in these places.
In some cases, you can choose to search the full text, depending on the database you're searching.
In the tab above, see an example of the difference between browsing and keyword searching.