HIST 174Q - Poverty, Inequality, and Social Justice (Miller, Winter 2025): Search Tips

• Databases don't like full sentences!
• You can build your search using a few words that best describe the main concepts of your topic. These are your "keywords." 
• Keywords are the essential words that describe your topic.  These can be people, places, themes, characters, time periods. 
• Try to use keywords that describe your topic alone. Avoid adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and any other terms that are not considered essential to your topic.
• Keyword searches allow you to retrieve items that might not have been discoverable by using only Subject Headings. 
• Using keywords also allows you to combine different concepts. Each concept is separated by AND:
  • poverty AND race
• You can use the asterisk* symbol to include alternate endings to your root word: 
  • immigr* will retrieve all records with the word immigrant, immigrants, immigration

Keyword ideas:

• segregation
• justice
• criminal justice
• criminal justice reform
• injustice
• inequality
• incarceration
• discrimination
• recividism
• fair housing
• restorative justice
• restrictive covenants
• redlining
• gentrification
• redlining
• housing
• zoning

Use the Boolean AND, OR, and NOT to make your search more precise

AND: Separates each concept and finds results with all or your keywords. Example:

• food  AND social justice (both terms must appear)

OR: Finds results with any keywords. Example:

• food insecurity OR food security OR food desert (any of these terms is acceptable)

NOT: This excludes a word. It is less often used because it may remove important results. Example:

• food NOT alcohol (the second term must not appear)

Subject headings are specific, predefined terms that the Library of Congress assigns to printed material. The indexers who assign subject headings must use only terms that are listed in this "controlled vocabulary,"  which typically does not include multi-disciplinary or complex topics. Below are examples of subject headings:                                                                  

Environmental law -- United States

Environmental justice -- United States

African Americans -- Civil rights

Race discrimination -- Law and legislation -- United States

criminology

Chaotic behavior in systems

Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States

Juvenile justice, Administration of -- United States
Wages -- Women -- United States

Women -- Employment -- United State