Subject Headings Subject headings are official terms and phrases that librarians assign to materials.
Subject headings make up what is known as a controlled vocabulary .
A controlled vocabulary means that every single item related to a particular topic will have the same descriptive term or phrase attached to it. Subject headings are found near the bottom of every library record. There may be one, two, or several more headings. Subject heading searches are specific and allow you to do searches that are extremely focused. This Web site is maintained by Molly R. Pederson .