Keyword and subject heading searching are both useful approaches to locating relevant sources. You may find that using a combination of keywords and subject headings brings you the most success.
- keywords - words that describe the main concepts of your research
- for exp. ecosystem anthropocene, african american foodways, zora neale hurston folklore
- subject headings - controlled vocabulary that describe a topic and subtopic in a standardized, consistent way
Library of Congress (LC) subject heading classifications are most commonly used, however article databases, such a JSTOR, may use their own subject headings. Find subject headings by viewing the full details of the source, use the database's subject list/ thesaurus if available, or look to filter your search results by subject.
For more search terms, click on the different topics at the top of this box. The topic pages borrow from MIT's Anthropology & archaeology: Subfields guide.