Search and browse the subject thesaurus

You can open the Search Thesaurus link in the Zine Thesaurus menu to search and browse the Thesaurus.

Browse terms

To browse the Thesaurus by letter click any letter displayed on the left under the Index tab.

Click on a term below the letters to display the whole term record on the right.

Click any linked term in a term record to go that term's record.

Search for a term

To search for a term, click the Search tab beside Index and enter a word or words in the Search for Subjects box that appears.

The results will appear on the right. They will include all preferred terms that includes the word you searched for. So if you search for the word "art," you will see "art," "art residencies," "artist trading cards," and "cartography," among other terms.

If you open a term you will go to another page where you can view the full term record and any zines in the Anchor Archive catalogue that have been assigned that subject term.

You can click on another term in the record to open it or click on a zine record to view its details.

Thesaurus term records

Each Thesaurus term record could contain links to other terms, which can help you discover other similar words, topics, and content in the Thesaurus and Anchor Archive zine catalogue. They can also give you a better understanding of what the term means and how it is used. The terms in the record could be the following:

Broader Term: A parent term or a broader category that the term is part of. A term can only have one broader term and not every term in the Thesaurus has a broader term.

Narrower Term(s): A child term or a more specific part of the preferred term. A term can have multiple narrower terms and may not have any narrower terms.

Related Term(s): A term related in meaning, which can help cataloguers choose related terms. If you want to use a term not already in the thesaurus, you will need to add it first. A term can have many related terms.

Synonym(s): Another word that can be used for the preferred term and means the same thing. It can also be called a "used for" term, because you use the Thesaurus suggests that you use the preferred term instead of this term, or a non-preferred term. A term can have many synonyms.

Scope note: A note that explains how a term should be used in the Thesaurus, perhaps in relation to other terms. A record will only have a scope note if the term's use is not clear.