SUBJECT SEARCH
Search By:
Click on the circle to the left of the word "Subject". A bullet will appear in the circle when properly selected.
Search For:
Type in the Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) or Sears Subject Heading for the topic you are searching. Subject Headings use vocabulary which is limited to specific terms. Click on the following hyperlinks to learn more about Subject Headings.
LCSH at Duke Libraries LCSH at TAU Sears Subject Headings
Search At:
Click on the box to the left of the library or libraries you wish to search. A check mark will appear in those boxes when properly selected. Click on the box selected again to remove a selection.
To simultaneously search all 7 libraries listed, click on the hyperlink "Search all seven listed libraries". A check mark will appear in all 7 boxes when properly selected. Click on this hyperlink again to remove all 7 selections.
To search the Altoona Area Public Library catalog, click on the link at the bottom of the page.
Submit/Reset:
Click on "Submit" to begin the search.
Click on "Reset" to clear your selections. The "Search By" field will default to "Keyword".
SAMPLE SEARCHES
Sample "Subject Heading Search" using controlled vocabulary sources:
To find titles that are about "trains" that are held in the Bellwood-Antis or Hollidaysburg Public Libraries:
Look up the term "Trains" in either Library of Congress Subject Headings or Sears List of Subject Headings. LCSH can be found in the Reference Department at the Altoona Library. Most smaller libraries will have a copy of Sears available.
Note that in Sears, you are referred to "Railroads". In LCSH some subjects can be found under "Trains", however the referral to "Railroads" leads to numerous specific subject headings.
Select "Subject" as the mode under which you will search.
Type in "Trains" as the subject you are searching.
Select Bellwood-Antis Public Library.
Select Hollidaysburg Area Public Library.
Submit.
The return will list 6 titles about trains in the Bellwood Library and 15 titles in the Hollidaysburg Library. For comparison, type in the subject "Railroads" in place of "Trains" and Submit. Of the many subjects covered under "Railroads" in the Bellwood Library, there are 7 titles listed specifically under the subject "Railroads--Trains", 7 under "Railroads--Trains--Fiction", and 1 under "Railroads--Trains--Pictorial works". The Hollidaysburg Library has 2 titles listed under "Railroads--Trains--Juvenile literature", 12 under "Railroads--Trains--Fiction", and 1 under "Railroads--Trains--History".
Browsing the subjects retrieved by searching "Railroads" may yield even more titles that are of specific interest to your search. Unlike "Keyword" searching, a "Subject" search will include only those items that have been identified by catalogers as about that subject.
Sample "Subject Heading Search" using subject headings that are listed under a title of interest:
When you do not have access to either of the "Subject Heading" sources mentioned above, you may successfully proceed by:
Select "Keyword" as the mode under which you will search.
Type in "Trains" as the term you are searching.
Select Bellwood-Antis Public Library.
Find titles that are relevant to the topic.
Click on the title of interest.
Scroll down the catalog record of that item and look for the "Subject" field.
Click on the subject that best meets your need.
The return on "Keyword" search yielded 64 items that included the term "Trains" in the catalog record. By scrolling through, assume that you have identified the title, A Golden Decade of Trains: The 1950's, as being of interest to your search. Click on the title to call up the catalog record. Note that the "Subject" field in this record identifies "Railroads" as the subject of this title. By clicking on the term, you are taken to a list of titles held by the Hollidaysburg Library that are identified as having the same Subject Heading. There are 43 titles under the Subject, "Railroads" and numerous, more specific, Subject Headings beginning with the term "Railroads".