Keyword search is default of most databases and will return many results. The database will search for sources with your keywords in the following fields: Title, Author, Subject, Publisher, and Notes.
It can be a good place to start, especially when looking for words to use in Subject Searching, but you must carefully review results to find resources that are most appropriate for your needs.
Items are tagged with precise words before they are entered into databases (this is called controlled vocabulary).
Using Subject Search will not give a lot of results but they are likely to be accurate.
Ask a Librarian for words to use when using Subject Searching.
Combine search words to produce specific search results:
Search for an exact phrase using quotation marks.
Using “student success in college” will search for those exact words in that exact order whereas not using quotes is essentially a keyword search and the database will search for those words in any order and in any combination.
Using quotes will give you less results but they will be more precise.
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