How to find a book by SUBJECT using the WebPAC
To view the SUBJECT menu, please click here. (The SUBJECT search menu will open in a new window.)
Notice that the WebPAC prompts you for a Library of Congress Subject Heading (or LCSH, for short). Subject headings are standarized terms used to identify and index topics within large databases. Library catalogs use Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Many subject headings are straightforward - Chemistry, for example, or Musicals. Usually when you type in a subject, the WebPAC will respond with a list of headings displayed as links. Select a heading by clicking on it. You should then see a list of titles that fall under that subject. Click on a title to see the complete entry for that title, including the location, call number, and circulation status.
Many subject headings, however, are not obvious. If what you type in as a subject is not an official subject heading, the WebPAC will often provide "see references" - links to Library of Congress Subject Headings that seem most relevant to what you typed in. For example, a subject search of the term Vietnam War results in the following response from the WebPAC:
| Vietnam
War 1961 1975 is not used in this library's catalog.
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 is used instead. SEARCH for Vietnamese
Conflict, 1961-1975 |
To continue the search, you would simply click on the link for Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975.
The WebPAC also provides a link to "Related Subjects". A subject search for international law, for example, not only results in a list of topics that begin with that term, but also retrieves a link to "33 Related Subjects". Click here to see what this looks like in the WebPAC (will open in a new window).
If you are having trouble finding information using the Subject search, consider using the WebPAC's Keyword search instead.
Another possibility is to browse the thesaurus guide to Library of Congress Subject Headings. This is a set of large red books shelved on a lectern next to the Reference Desk in the Main Floor Reading Room.
Of course, you can always ask for help from the Reference Desk.
TIP: People can also be searched as subjects. For example, literary criticism of an author is listed as a subject under the author's name.
Enter the person's name directory-style, last name first. Here are two examples (will open in a new window).
updated jsb May 21, 2004