Skip to Main Content

Using Gale Article Databases: Subject Searching

Subject Guide Searching

subject guide search

By selecting Subject Guide Search from the top of the search screen, you can search for articles by Subject. Subject terms are labels the database uses to describe what an article is about. For example, this is a Subject search for "video games." 

A Subject Guide Search won't immediately find a list of articles. It first goes to a page in the database where you can browse for other Subject terms or explore Subdivisions. Clicking Subdivisions will expand the subject screen to show all the subtopics, or more specific aspects, of the Subject term. 

subject term search results

Clicking on one of the Subject term Subdivision will find articles that have been assigned that combination of Subject and Subdivision terms. Examples of subdivisions for Video games are "Economic Aspects" and "Educational Aspects."  By choosing any subdivision, you've made your search more focused and you will retrieve fewer results.  

If you do a Subject Guide Search and find nothing, try searching for another Subject term or do a keyword search instead. Remember, keywords are up to you, but the database determines which Subject terms can be used for searching.