Skip to Main Content

Art History and Appreciation

Boolean Search Tips

When searching databases, be sure to strategize with your keywords! 

Remember, you are using Boolean Logic: 

  • Always capitalize Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) in your search statement.
  • AND
    This strategy will narrow your search. Think about the center of a venn diagram. 
  • OR
    This strategy will broaden your search. Put words linked by OR inside parentheses ( ). A good way to remember is OR=MORE
  • Quotation marks " "
    Using quotation marks will ensure that the database finds results that use that exact phrase. 
  • Asterisk * 
    The * symbol tells the database to search for alternative word endings, this is called truncation. For example: cultur* will search for culture, cultures, cultural

Using Keywords

When using library databases, it is always a good idea to keep a running list of keywords and phrases as you go through resources. Think of these as your tools in digging through all this information. A good place to look is in the listed Subjects, or indexing terms, on a resource's record page. These terms are how the article is tagged, organized, and retrieved. Some records also have additional 'Author Supplied Keywords' that function the same. They are also hyperlinks themselves and will take you to a result list. 

For example, using the keyword 'Painting' will retrieve this article titled:

Design and Abstraction from the publication Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics

 On the record page, above the abstract, there are these subject terms listed: 

Art History
Cubism
Questions
Essentialism
Comprehension
Perceptions
Art
Consciousness
Word Meaning
Abstract Art
Design
Creativity

 

Depending on your research topic or questions, these could be very helpful in expanding or narrowing your search. You will likely find other topics depending on what the paper is about. Any of these combined with using 'AND painting' will produce more focused results. See the below table for an example. 

 

Narrow Results
Expand Results 
New Topic 
Cubism - a style of painting Art - Includes all creative mediums and practices, including painting Consciousness - A subject unto itself, but combined with 'painting' would narrow results and topic
Essentialism - philosophical approach to painting Design - A discipline within art that is not medium specific (could be graphic design, etc) Questions - Vague and free floating, likely not helpful
Abstract Art - a style of painting  Creativity - A personality trait that leads to any of the arts, but other disciplines as well Word Meaning - Not clear how this is connected, requires understanding the article to get a clear idea
Art History - a discipline through which to study painting Perceptions - Could be referring to perceiving a painting, but is a general term
  Comprehension - Could be referring to comprehending a painting, but is a general term

 

Finding Physical Books

If you are looking to explore the library stacks for a book on the arts, below are the call numbers indicating their location. These stacks can be found on the 10th floor Murray-Green Library and the Schaumburg Library as well. Books relating to the Performing Arts (PR, ML) can be found on the 11 Performing Arts Library (PAL). You can learn more about the PAL collection here. 

Library of Congress Call Number

Subject(s)

GT

 Costume, Dress, Fashion
N Visual Arts
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture
NC Drawing, Design, Illustration
ND Painting
NE Print Media
NK Decorative Arts
NX General Arts
ML Music History and Criticism 
PR 1560-3300 Performing Arts, Drama, Theater, Film
TR Photography
TT Arts and Crafts
Z Typography, Book Design