Searching by Subject Terms
Subject Terms
Searching by Subject Terms may find a range of items as the search is from the subject perspective. In ECU WorldSearch, type in su: and the subject term.
The trick is, you need to use the "right" Subject Term. A good way of finding the right Term is to find a good book (perhaps one your Lecturer has given you as a reading!) and find the way it has been classified.
Search for the book (tip: put exact titles in "quotes"), and click on the title in the results. It doesn't even matter whether ECU has the book! You'll still see how it has been classified.
Look under the Description heading, and find the Subject. Click on that link to do an immediate search for items with that Subject, or copy and paste it into a Word document to save for later.
You can combine multiple Subjects together in the Advanced search page, just keep each to its own line.
Be sure to choose the library option of Edith Cowan University to display items in the library collection. Refer to the Useful Subject Terms for Contemporary fashion for a list of the main subject terms that you can use to search for contemporary fashion resources.
Or could could just browse the shelves for inspiration!
Select Subject Terms & Call Numbers
This is not an exhaustive selection, but can get you started.
Note: Browsing the Library shelves at these numbers is fantastic for inspiration!
| Subject Term | Call Number | Subject Term | Call Number |
| Art, dictionaries | 703 | Fashion history | 391.009 |
| Clothing and dress | 391 | Fashion photography | 778.9 |
| Costume design | 792.026 | Graphic arts | 741.6 |
| Design | 745.4 | Men's clothing | 391.1 |
| Fashion | 391 | Postmodern fashion | 391 |
| Fashion and art | 746.92 | Street fashion | 391.009 |
| Fashion design | 391 | Tailoring - Pattern design | 646.4 |
| Fashion designs - Biography | 391.009 | Textile crafts | 746 |
| Fashion drawing | 741.672 |
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Fashion Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
There are many reference sources available in both electronic and print format that provide definitions, overviews and introduce a topic by themes or main points. This is a great way to discover Subject Terms as commonly used in the industry, to help you start your search.
Oxford / Grove Art Online is a great starting point:
- Grove Art Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes over 200,000 articles that span ancient to contemporary art and architecture, as well as over 19,000 images of works of art, structures, plans, and artist signatures
Other good sources for defining your terms are below:
- Oxford Art Subject Guide - FashionIncludes brief introductions to a popular topics in fashion, with links to key essays and external resources. Extensive list of fashion designers.
