#2 Boolean Basics

Boolean Search methods help filter through the vast amount of information currently available. It is definitely a method of searching that our students are not familiar with, and I would like to incorporate. I remember first being introduced to it when learning how to search through journal databases. I have my high school students research artists or works similar to the artist, movement or style that am teaching with the project. At the beginning of the year I had to push them to not pick the first image on google, then I had them work through choosing artists by first searching major museums and galleries and then searching the gallery or museum collections. Now would be a great time to introduce them to Boolean logic. For our current unit I introduced them to Margaret Burroughs, and influential artist, activist, poet and educator who had a huge impact on art in Chicago. Her style of printmaking is very bold, graphic, and part of a larger movement. I asked of them to find pieces that were stylistically similar to hers. I have a strong feeling my students typed in -black linocut- and scrolled through images. Basic Boolean search tools would have made their search more efficient and probably produced better results.
Instead of starting with just linocuts they could have used (linocut or woodcut) and black
They could have also brought in the play on pattern and line by modifying further: (linocut or woodcut) and (line or pattern) and black

The search tools I personally use most are the "" because so many art concepts come in specific phrases and being able to eliminate unwanted results saves so much time.

I find the heart of of Boolean search basics to be using the method to specify your search and find more accurate results through filtering.