ART 4970: Senior Thesis

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• Identify topics of interest you
• Write down relevant words, phrases, acronyms, and synonyms 
• Identify keywords or terminology commonly used 
   

DEVELOP A SEARCH 

• Draft a brief sentence about your topic
  • EXAMPLE:  Compare and contrast the pop art of Andy Warhol and Basquiat
     
• Highlight or circle the **KEYWORDS** 
  • EXAMPLE:  Compare and contrast the  pop art of Andy Warhol and Basquiat
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• Your research topic can be searched in this way:
  • (pop art AND warhol)   AND   (pop art AND basquiat)
    OR
  • pop art   AND   (warhol   OR   basquiat)
     

TEST YOUR SEARCH

• Test your search 
• Did you find what you are looking for?
• Did you find too much (narrow your search)  or too little (broaden your search)?  
• Use the Thesaurus or Subject Terms (at the top) to help you identify the appropriate terms to use 
• Look for Subject Terms in a good article 
• Revise your search based on your results, if needed
• Try different ideas, search terms, databases, etc.
• Search again

OTHER IDEAS

• Write down your search statement, the databases you could search in, the databases you did search in and your results
• Review AND, OR and NOT (below)
• Use the Searching Worksheet (below) to help you think through your keywords 
• Use the HELP feature, if needed
• Use the references in good articles and bibliographies in good books to locate additional information

CLICK and REVIEW the diagram to understand how AND, OR, and NOT will help you broaden or narrow your search to get the best results.

CLICK and USE the worksheet to think through the most efficient way to search for information about your topic in the databases.