Creative Arts Research (CRAR 9060 - Semerjian) 

It seems simple. Type in a term, get results. But real research is rarely that simple, or straightforward. It may take time, effort, and dead ends before a search strategy yields the results you need. Try some of the tips in the box to the right to make your searches more focused from the start.

Go to the Advanced Search in FSC's catalog, and try these Subject searches:

• Art in education
• Art - Study and teaching - United States
• Education, Elementary - Activity programs
• Drama in education
• Music in education

It is critical that you cite your sources! These guides will show you how.

• APA Citation Guide
  
• MLA Citation Guide

Take it Apart

When starting a search, many people will type in a phrase, such as: arts in the classroom. This may not yield the best results though, since most search engines will start by trying to find the whole phrase, then parse it into individual words. Instead, take your phrase, and pull the key ideas out into keywords. A better search might be: arts AND classroom, or, arts AND teaching, or, arts AND pedagogy.

Think Outside the Box

Very often we start with a single term, like "theater," and all our searches revolve around that term. Thinking about similar terms, or synonyms, will help find results that you may have missed otherwise. Searching for: teaching AND (theater OR drama OR acting) will yield far more focused results than a search on just the term 'theater". (Don't forget different spellings too! i.e. "theater" and "theatre")

Let Other People Do the Work

Unlike a search on the web, most catalogs and databases have a controlled vocabulary. This means that at some point a person read the book or article in question, decided what it was about, and assigned very specific subject terms to it. These often appear as part of the citation. By clicking on subject terms, you'll immediately be directed to other similar items. Controlled vocabulary is a very powerful search tool - use it.  

Step Up to Advanced

Almost every search engine, catalog, and database offers an Advanced Search feature. Most will allow you to search on multiple terms, sort for full-text, date ranges, and type of publication, as well as remove certain types of results from a search (like reviews or editorials).