Painting Studio Library Guide: Search Tips

Once you have some search results and some keywords it is time to narrow down your topic.  

• In your search results notice the sub-topics in an entry? These are easy ways to narrow a focus.
• painting > creative ability > experience -- In art
• education -- social aspects > educational leadership > power (social sciences)

• Or narrow your question down in other areas.  How does your topic interact with:
• personal identity
• popular culture
• history
• places
• science
• literature
• art
• specific time range

Different authors use different words to describe similar concepts. When searching for information, it is best to use 2-3 concept keywords instead of your entire topic question or a sentence. The connecting words ("operators") used in computer searching are AND, OR, and NOT

Research Question : "What were the social issues related to the development of Ragtime" 

• First underline the keywords
• Then begin generating synonyms and related words, from your background research, to help you develop a search strategy

• Use these terms when searching or use them to create a search phrase for a search box (even works with Google searching):

(social issues OR race relations) AND (ragtime music OR history-1911-1920) 

Research Question : "What factors influence artistic development in women?"

(artistic development OR artistic identity) AND (women OR gender)