Successful Keyword Searching: Initiating Research on Popular Topics Using Electronic Databases

Citation

Parry, F. (2001), "Successful Keyword Searching: Initiating Research on Popular Topics Using Electronic Databases", The Electronic Library, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 184-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2001.19.3.184.3

Anyone who works on a reference desk in a library or public information point will recognise the value of a good subject thesaurus when dealing with attempts to extract information from databases. Very often requests for information are only partially or vaguely formed and it will be left to the librarian to help devise a search strategy. This book, subtitled “Initiating research on popular topics using electronic databases”, is a brave stab at providing a starting point for such requests. In fact, a thesaurus of keywords is only part of what is on offer here. The authors have collated 144 different research topics and grouped them into broad subject areas such as “arts and literature” or “health and wellness”. Along with keywords, each topic has a section on key people, organisations and Web sites. Sources of information for keywords include Library of Congress Subject Headings, ERIC descriptors, Sears List of Subject Headings and database thesauri. Various subject and organisation encyclopaedias have been used, along with unspecified journal articles and Web resources.

It is immediately apparent that this has been a massive undertaking and the authors are to be commended for their careful research. They clearly have in mind the sort of essay and research topics that have come up again and again in high schools and undergraduate courses and, for this audience, the book will be of considerable value. I suspect that these students are mainly American, however, as there is a noted bias towards US sources. For instance, in the section for “visual arts” there are no non‐US organisations listed and just one Web site – the Louvre – that is not located within the USA.

The authors stress that this reference work should “serve as a starting point for developing research”. As such, it fulfils its remit. The keywords in particular are well chosen and are almost certainly sufficient for basic searches. It has to be said, however, that where the key people and organisation segments are concerned, coverage is patchy at best. Name selection for topics as vast in scope and history as, for example, music, literature and arts can appear to be at times a bit arbitrary. Similarly, when space is as such a premium, I was often puzzled at the incongruous selection of Web sites. For instance, in “motion pictures/film” probably the most useful of all film sites, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), is not listed whereas space is somehow found for the Taos Talking Picture Festival. Perhaps a later edition will also find space for a listing of virtual reference library Web sites such as the Argus Clearinghouse to help students find more relevant electronic resources. These caveats apart, this is a very useful ready reference tool that will be a welcome addition to library shelves.