ARTEDUC 6998: Online MA in Art Education

Searching for books in library catalogs and databases can feel a little different than using Google or another general search engine. Usually, if you are searching for something that has multiple parts or concepts, it is a good idea to break those into keywords using the advanced search function. To get to the advanced search, click on "Books and More" on the library's homepage, then "More Options" under the search bar, then "Use advanced search" under the NEXT search bar.

For instance, a search for books on social justice, diversity, and the arts may look something like this:

• "art education" AND multicultural
• "art education" AND STEAM
• "art education" AND "social justice"

Note that when using keyword phrases, it's a good idea to put parentheses around your search terms. This will help the search function to understand that you are looking for an entire phrase, rather than separating the terms into two different concepts.

You'll notice once you find a book that looks good to you in the catalog, that the record includes subject headings that look a little different than the keywords you used to conduct your search, but related to them. Most of the time, you can click on those headings and see if there are more books at OSU Libraries with the same subject attached. Some related to Arts Education may look like this: 

• Arts -- Study and teaching -- United States

If you click on one, it will show you how many items in the library system also have that subject heading, as well as similar, but slightly different, other subject headings. This can be a really good way to gather relevant resources during the research stage of your paper.