Keyword Search
A keyword search is more flexible than a subject search. But to be effective you first need a list of likely keywords that can be entered individually or in various combinations into the search field. Start with subject headings. An extensive list of standard terms used by most libraries can be found online in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).
The screen-shot below illustrates the first step in a keyword search for source material about the "Dust Bowl", the 1930's natural disaster in which John Steinbeck set the great American classic, The Grapes of Wrath.
Feel free to open the SAGE catalog in a new browser window and become the researcher yourself. Just follow the discussion below.
As you can see, the researcher has selected the "Keyword" tab and entered a subject heading into the first two search fields. Notice that the results are to be tied together by the Boolian search term AND, which instructs the search engine to return all records having both sets of words.
