History of the Built Environment I (ID 108)

A research journal helps you keep track of where you look and what you find. Make notes each time you spend time doing research for a project, and use those notes later to write your essays and prepare the list of Works Cited.

• Use a Search Process page to record what you do each time you search for sources.
• Use Source Information pages to record the citation for a source and information about how it might be useful.
• Use Image Information pages to record the citation for an image and information about the object pictured.

Include the following information on a Search Process page:

• Where you looked, including:
  • The name of the library, database, or website you searched
  • Whether you want to look there again
    • If you want to return, make a note of where you left off by recording your search term, any filters you applied, and how far you got in the results list (e.g., “start at p.4”)
• Search terms and filters you used, and how well they worked, including:
  • All the search terms you used
    • Examples: ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Mesopotamian architecture, Mesopotamian architecture, ancient Near Eastern architecture, ancient Near Eastern architecture motifs
  • How many results you got for each term (doesn’t need to be exact)
  • The filters you used to narrow down the results and how useful each one was
    • Example: narrowed by date=1000 BC-AD 1 – now only 50 but not what I’m looking for
  • How well the search worked, including any patterns you notice in the results
    • Example: too many results about the new offices of the Institute for Mesopotamian Architecture
    • Example: lots of results about Hatshepsut as a ruler but not much about architecture
    • Example: lots of images but all black/white

Here’s an example:

Search Tips

Try different words and different combinations of words, including ones you see used in the results.

For example:

Filters often work better than words, and it’s worth trying different combinations. For example:

Search The Met Collection for ancient Mesopotamian lion, and you get about 700 results including statues from India, China and Greece.

Search The Met Collection for lion and set the Department filter to Ancient Near Eastern Art, and you get about 250 results, all from the ancient Near East.

Search for Mesopotamian lion, and you get 9 results including Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hurrian artworks.

Searching a museum website is different from searching the museum’s collection.

Search the website to include exhibition information, blog posts, essays, events, and other items in the results.

Search the collection to see only works of art.

Bonus: Museum websites often provide a sample citation at the bottom of the page.

Tips on finding articles in ProQuest’s Art, Design & Architecture Collection:

• Check the Full text box.
• Narrow search results using the filters on the left.
  • Click Document type and select either Article or Feature (whichever has more).
  • If many results are in other languages, click Language and select English.
  • If many results are on different meanings of the words in your search term, click Subject and select appropriate subject areas.

Remember:

• An academic/scholarly source will ALWAYS have citations and are written by professors, museum curators, and other academic subject specialists.
• Museum websites are excellent sources for high-quality images and reliable information. They may also have scholarly essays.