MARIAN Help Page

 

MORE ABOUT SUBJECT SEARCHING

What are subject headings?

Subject headings are standardized descriptions that indicate what a book is about. When the Law Library acquires a book (or subscribes to a journal or buys a videotape or other item), a cataloger looks at it to decide what it is about then assigns one or more subject headings from a list developed by the Library of Congress.

Having a standard list makes subject headings more useful. For example, instead of having some books about capital punishment listed under "death penalty" and some listed under "capital punishment," they will all have one standard heading ("capital punishment"). In this case, there is also a cross reference: if you search for

death penalty

you will see

Death Penalty -- see -- Capital Punishment

If you click on the link, then you go to the list of subject headings that begin with "Capital Punishment."

Why should I look at subject headings?

Sometimes the title of a book clearly indicates its subject. For example, the Washington Real Property Deskbook, 3rd was assigned the subject heading

Real property -- Washington (State)

Although you might think that the subject heading does not add any information to what you see in the title, you can use that subject heading in a search and find other books about real property in Washington, for instance, Real Estate: Property Law. Even if the titles do not have the same terms, the books on this subject will have the same subject heading.

Sometimes, a book’s title might not say much about the book’s subject, so the subject headings that the catalogers assign add a lot of information. For example, a book called A Guide to SIMPLE Plans was assigned the subject headings

Individual retirement accounts -- Law and legislation -- United States

401(k) plans -- Law and legislation

The subject headings tell you something about what the book is about, as well as giving you leads for finding more books on those topics.

How do I search using a subject heading?

In the SUBJECT search window, type the first word or the first few words of the subject. After you submit your search, you will see an alphabetical list of subject headings. If you click on one of the subject headings, you will retrieve a list of books and other material assigned to that subject.

You can also MARK more than one record by clicking in the boxes to the left of the list. Click on the "Save Marked Records" button at the bottom of the window. Then click on an EXPORT SAVED LIST button (on the top and bottom of the window) to see a list of books and other material assigned to the subjects you selected.

If you are looking at a catalog record for one book, you will see that its subject headings are underlined. If you click on a subject heading, it will take you to the alphabetical list of subject headings.

What are geographic subdivisions?

If a book or other work is focused on a particular state, country, or region, then the cataloger will include a geographical reference in the subject. For example:

Real property -- Washington (State)

Criminal law -- United States

Labor laws and legislation -- Japan

Environmental policy -- Asia, Southeastern

You should be aware of these subdivisions when you are skimming a list of subject headings. For instance, if you are looking at the list of subject headings beginning with "corporation," you might choose the first heading you saw (Corporation law) and fail to skim far enough to see Corporation law -- United States.

What are topical subdivisions?

Catalogers use standard subdivisions to make the subject headings more specific. For instance, a book about environmental law that uses an economic analysis has the subject heading

Environmental law -- Economic aspects -- United States

A book about the history of international environmental agreements has the subject headings

Environmental policy -- International cooperation -- History

Environmental law -- History

United Nations Environmental Programme -- History

In these examples, "Economic aspects" and "History" are all topical subdivisions.

Here are some useful subdivisions:

Popular works

If a book is aimed at laypeople, it will usually have the subdivision "Popular works" in its subject heading. For example, Money Troubles: Legal Strategies to Cope with Your Debts has the subject heading

Debtor and creditor -- United States -- Popular works

Outlines, syllabi, etc

 

Many books that are aimed at law students to help them review for a course have "Outlines, syllabi, etc" in their subject heading. For example, Civil Procedure, by Steven Emanuel, has the subject heading

Civil procedure -- United States -- Outlines, syllabi, etc

Forms

If a law book has a significant number of forms, it will have the word "Forms" in its subject heading. For example, Civil Procedure Forms: With Practice Comments (part of the Washington Practice series) has the subject heading

Civil procedure -- Washington (State) -- Forms

Simple Contracts for Personal Use has the subject headings

Contracts -- United States -- Popular works

and

Contracts -- United States -- Forms

(Note that some books may include forms without having the "Forms" subdivision.

Congresses

If a book was produced as part of a meeting, it will have "Congresses" in its subject heading. For example, The Antarctic Environment and International Law, a book that has papers from a symposium, has the subject headings

Environmental law -- Antarctica -- Congresses

Conservation of natural resources -- Law and legislation -- Antarctica -- Congresses

Environmental law, International -- Congresses

Periodicals

For example, the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review has the subject heading

Civil rights -- United States -- Periodicals

How do subdivisions display in the list of subject headings?

Note that the list of subject headings does not have the punctuation that the subject headings do in individual catalog records. So the list beginning with Corporation law would look like this:

Corporation Law

Corporation Law Addresses Essays Lectures

Corporation Law Africa East

Corporation Law Alabama

Corporation Law Alaska

. . .

Corporation Law Asia Congresses

Corporation Law Asia Periodicals

With punctuation, those subject headings look like this:

Corporation law

Corporation law -- Addresses, Essays, Lectures

Corporation law -- Africa, East

Corporation law -- Alabama

Corporation law -- Alaska

. . .

Corporation law -- Asia -- Congresses

Corporation law -- Asia -- Periodicals

How can I use subdivisions in my searching?

When you do a subject search and browse the alphabetical list of subject headings, be aware of the subdivisions that are useful to you -- for example, Washington (State) or Forms. Select those headings.

You can search for a subject heading in the SUBJECT search box. The subject headings "rotate" -- that is, they are displayed in the list with their components in different orders.

Civil procedure -- Washington (State) -- Forms

can be searched as

civil procedure washington state forms

or

washington state civil procedure forms

or

forms civil procedure washington state

When you do any kind of a search (for example, KEYWORDS), you can then LIMIT your search to works that have certain words in the subject. EXAMPLES:

Search for "domestic relations" in KEYWORDS, then limit it to "popular" in the subject.

Search for "wills" in KEYWORDS, then limit it to "forms" in the subject.

Search for "civil procedure" in SUBJECT, then limit it to "outlines" in the subject.

<