PROS of keyword searching:
- Quick, easy to brainstorm
- Good starting point for most types of research
- Produces good results in certain databases (e.g., Google Scholar)
- Flexible - allows you to combine terms together in many different ways
CONS of keyword searching:
- Often produces too many or too few results
- Results are not always relevant
- May miss items that use different terms to talk about the same topic.
Subject headings describe the content of an item using terms that are standardized across a database. A subject heading search will return all items on that topic in a database.
To find out whether a particular database uses subject headings, look for a link labelled Thesaurus or Subject Terms. Many databases allow you to search or browse their subject headings.
PROS of subject headings:
- Can be used to focus or expand your search
- Produces highly relevant results in most databases
- Returns all items on a given topic in a particular database, regardless of the terminology used in the article itself.
CONS of subject headings:
- Less flexible than keyword searching (e.g., you may have to combine multiple subject headings to describe your research topic)
- Subject headings are different every database
- Can be time consuming