Subject Searching in an Online Catalog with Authority Control

Results of previous catalog research indicate that users want improvements in subject searching features, noting display of terms related to their topics as especially desirable.This study reports the findings of an examination of subject searchers' use of such a feature provided through online display of authority information from Libniry of Congress Subject Headings for terms used in the catalog.It was found that, of the terms entered by users, 78 percent were an exact or close match to catalog terms, and another 14 percent matched "see" references.Although additional information was available for nearly half of the searches performed, it was used in only 28 percent of these cases.It is suggested that improvements in subject searching features are needed to encourage use of available syndetic structures.his study examined subject searching in a large research library's online public access catalog with a controlled vocabulary.The main focus was on the system's response to the user's search.It was hoped that the findings would shed light on how to improve subject searching within the existing online system and standard catalog records.In particular, the authors sought answers to a number of related questions, raised by their experience with the online system and by earlier studies of catalog use:What kind of terms do users enter in subject searching (e.g., broad, narrow, subdivided)?How often does a user's search term match the termhwlogy of the catalog?How does the catalog respond (term found, not found, cross-referenced)?How do references affect this response?How do users interpret the response and how do they proceed based on it?How often is a syndetic structure available?How often is it used?What are the users' perceptions of the value of syndetic structure?Do online subject searchers view the card catalog as an alternative or supplemental source for subject searching?What is the relationship of subject search activity in the online catalog and use of a closed card catalog?