Old Time Tours - 19th Century NYC Guidebooks: Subject Headings

Subject headings are used to group similar material together in the NYPL catalog.  Often researchers can begin with a keyword search, then click through the catalog record of related items to fish for relevant subject headings.  For example, if a patron sought guidebooks about NYC architecture:

• Start with a keyword search: "architecture guidebooks new york";
• Among numerous results is How to Read New York: A Crash Course in Big Apple Architecture (2012);
• Opening the catalog record, one finds two relevant subject headings: 
• Architecture -- New York (State) -- New York -- Guidebooks.
• New York (N.Y.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Guidebooks.
• However - no single subject heading will provide the absolute complete listing of NYPL holdings on a particular subject: viable research methods rely on creative thinking.

Use these subject headings to begin navigating the library catalog for material related to New York City guidebooks:

• New York (N.Y.) -- Guidebooks.
• Manhattan (New York, N.Y.) Guidebooks.
• Walking -- New York (State) -- New York -- Guidebooks
• New York (N.Y.) -- Tours.
• New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel.
• Curiosities and wonders -- New York (State) -- New York.
• Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.) -- New York (State) -- New York.
• Bars (Drinking establishments) -- New York (State) -- New York.

Alternatively, do an advanced catalog search using the keywords “New York Guidebooks” and input a date range under "Year:" to narrow the results.