Brainstorm for the best keywords for your art & design research topic or idea

Use keywords or use subject terms found in library catalogs and databases. It is very helpful, for art and design students, to search by:

• artist's name:  For example; Pablo Picasso,  Rembrandt, etc.
• artistic style: impressionism, gothic, etc.
• time period: art, modern--20th century  or art, baroque--Italy, etc. 
• artistic medium: painting, sculpture, drawing, etc.  
• nationality/culture: emirates, UAE, arab*,  middle east, gulf, art, buddhist; art, german; painting, american, etc.
• genre: landscape painting, portrait painting, etc.  
• movement: impressionism, expressionism, futurism, surrealism, etc.
• critical theory: modernism, feminism, marxism, etc
• career focus: commercial art, graphic art, gallery owner, advertising, etc.

Use standard search techniques (remember Module 2?) to use keywords effectively in catalogs, databases and search engines:

• boolean logic: islamic and ceramics will search for items containing both words
• truncation: paint* will search for painter, painters, painting, painted and paints
• phrase searching: "portrait painter"  will search for the words next to each other, as a phrase