Criminal Justice

Selecting appropriate search terms

When doing library research in either a library catalog like the one at EIU, or in an article database--like the databases licensed by the EIU library--you need to use strategic terms in order to find the best information for your topic. Usually, we search the internet using "natural language" or, words and phrases used in everyday language. However, in doing academic research, this strategy will only get you so far. Research requires careful thought about what terms to use, some knowledge about how information is described (metadata), and repeated, iterative searches that build on previous attempts. 

Keywords vs. Subject Headings

The terms we use in conversation, or "natural language" are called keywords. No doubt you have heard this term before and you use that search strategy daily. Keywords are the terms that have the most meaning in any question you pose to a search tool about information you need to find. For example, take the question:

How  much do a teenagers' friends influence the possibility of delinquent behavior?

The important terms in this question are highlighted in green, while the unimportant terms are red. In fact the unimportant terms should be avoided altogether. They are natural language for posing a question, but they detract from the efficiency and accuracy of your electronic information search.

A strategic searcher would also look for synonyms for these terms in additional searches. For example adolescent and peer, and deviant are all alternatives terms to the keywords above that could also retrieve valuable search results when researching this topic. 

Alternatively, Subject Headings are standardized terms for ideas , topics, people and places that are assigned to an article when it is entered into the database. Using Subject Headings in a search can being back a rich set of results. 

Finding Books

To find Criminal Justice Materials in the Booth Library catalog, try the following Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Browse the stacks

The library catalog provides a graphical browse search that shows you what books are on the shelf next to any title you find. You may also Browse by author, title Library of Congress Call Number, or several other criteria.