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Finding and using the magic words: keywords, thesauri, and free text search.

Article Excerpt
A major characteristic that distinguishes information professionals from casual Web searchers is our determination to find the best, most appropriate search terms. We sometimes construct elaborate search strategies to obtain highly relevant, timely, and accurate information. We don't put a couple of words in a search box and trust that the top 10 results will fulfill our information need. In fact, information professionals consider the "magic words" of controlled vocabularies to be our ace in the hole. We rely on these to find information that our clients can't, and we revel in their astonished looks when we succeed where they failed.

We understand the arcane language of thesauri, taxonomies, and ontologies. We recognize the limitations and the advantages of free text searching and know when to combine those with thesauri terms. Who else, when perusing a library catalog, would automatically search for cookery rather than cook books? The Library of Congress Subject Headings have come in for their share of ridicule--and many of the truly strange headings have been rectified. My first professional job was as a cataloger for a major multinational commercial bank, and I still remember hating the subject heading interest and usury. It's not there anymore, since cooler heads realized the terms are not synonymous. (EBSCO's Business Source Premier has a "see" reference from interest & usury to interest.) In 1998, it was big news that LC changed moving-pictures to motion pictures. But today's researcher on the industry is much more likely to use films or film industry as a search term. LC semi-accommodates this, having added terms such as feature films and adventure films to its vocabulary.

Perhaps a library catalog search using the prescribed term motion pictures will return highly relevant books. But take that to the Web and things change. It's common language, not controlled vocabulary, that rules the day. Statistically, there is probably much more on Web pages that utilize some form of the...

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