Introduction to Searching Databases and Records

What is a database? A database is a large, organized collection of information. Addresses Recipes Citations to books Photographs Full-text articles A database can be printed or electronic.

How are databases organized? Each item in a database is called a record. In the phone book, a record contains the name of a company, the address and phone number. In a catalog, a record contains the citation to an item (mostly books), subject headings and location. In an article database (index), a record usually contains the citation and an abstract.

How are databases organized? Printed databases, like phone books, are searched by browsing for items grouped by subject or in alphabetical order.

How are databases organized? Online databases are searched by matching search terms to the content of the record. To increase searching effectiveness, records are organized into fields.

Fields Keyword – searches multiple fields at one time (title, abstract, subject heading); broadest type of search Title – searches just the words in the title Author – searches the for authors; usually lastname firstname

What are subject headings? “Controlled vocabulary” Set of standard terms used to describe the contents of items in a database. A term in a controlled vocabulary may describe a person, an event, an idea, or a place. Often referred to as subject headings or descriptors. Differ from database to database.

Why use subject headings? Subject headings draw together under a single heading all the material that is available on a particular topic regardless of the words used by the author.

Example? For example, let's say you're trying to find all the information you can in the library on the topic of the World War I. World War I? First World War? WWI? World War One? Great War? War to end all Wars?

Subject headings in the Catalog The UW Libraries Catalog and most libraries use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The complete list of LCSH are published in 5 volumes. WWI books: World War WWI books on American women: World War Women United States

Create a Record Quickly skim through article and create a record with the following info: Author Title of article 2-3 sentence abstract (summary) 3 subject headings (from list)

Mock Searches Author:brady kathy Keywords:letters Keywords: executive order 9066 Keywords:japanese american chilcren Subject:japanese americans correspondence Subject:librarians world war ii Subject:poston relocation center Subject:japanese americans evacuation and relocation

Title :Letters from home: love and friendship in times of war Other Titles: librarian helps Japanese children in U.S. internment camp during World War II Personal Author: Brady, Kathy Journal Name: American Libraries Source: American Libraries v. 33 no. 5 (May 2002) p Publication Year: 2002 Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait ISSN: Language of Document: English Abstract: Clara Estelle Breed, a children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library during World War II, helped young Japanese Americans endure internment during the conflict. She provided self-addressed, stamped postcards to these children as they and their families were taken away to internment camps. She received over 250 letters detailing the children's experiences and day-to-day life in the Poston Relocation Center in the Arizona desert. Digital exhibits of Breed's story are now available on the Web sites of the Japanese American National Museum and the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Subject(s):Children's librarians/History; Children's library services/History; War and the library/History; Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.); Poston Relocation Center (Ariz.); Breed, Clara E.,

Letters from home: Love and friendship in times of war Kathy Brady. American Libraries. Chicago: May Vol. 33, Iss. 5; pg. 73, 2 pgs American LibrariesMay 2002 Subjects: Librarians, Personal profiles, Children & youth, World War II, Concentration camps, Japanese Americans People: Breed, Clara Estelle Author(s): Kathy Brady Article types: Feature Publication title: American Libraries. Chicago: May Vol. 33, Iss. 5; pg. 73, 2 pgsAmerican LibrariesMay 2002 Source Type: Periodical ISSN/ISBN: Abstract (Article Summary) With books and moral support, librarian Clara Estelle Breed helped young Japanese Americans endure internment during World War II. Breed knew and loved the many Japanese American children in her library's service area.