Start your search with your keywords or search query - this is what you enter into the search bar.
Tip: Write what information you are looking for and your keywords or search queries down and keep this in front of you as you research. This will help you stay focused as you search
Once you have entered your keywords and gotten your search results, use the filters provided by the Melbourne Polytechnic Library catalogue, databases, and other search engines like Google to narrow down your results. Think about the scope (limits) of your search and what exactly you are looking for. You might limit by:
There are lots of useful tricks to make your search as effective as possible in the MP Library catalogue and many databases.You can use these tricks individually or combine them to conduct more targeted searches. See some of these below:
Putting " " around your search terms means they will match exactly with the results. Try searching for the name of an artist in quote marks to get exact results. For example, "Christian Waller"
Putting * at the end or inside of a search term stands in for multiple characters/letters. For example, art* will search for art, arts, artist, artists, artistry, etc.
Putting AND between search terms means you will search for both of those terms
Putting OR between search terms means you will search for either of those terms
Putting NOT before a search term means you will exclude it from your search
Use () to combine AND, OR and NOT in your searches. For example, (colour OR hue) AND jewelry, (colour OR hue) NOT theory
See these videos for more information:
Images can be a great source of inspiration for your work. Here are some things to keep in mind when searching for images online:
Keywords - develop keywords to search for images by thinking about how you would describe the image or object you are looking for a visual of. Think of the kind of text that might accompany it (written description, artist information, etc.)
Licenses - if you want to print or otherwise reproduce an image or creative work in your professional practice or assignments, you need to be aware of what license it is under and what your obligations are to the artist and copyright holder. For more information about different kinds of licenses, see the Copyright library guide and SmartCopying
Filters - limit your search using filters, just like you would with the library catalogue or database when looking for a text-based resource. Searching for images may give you different filters to work with including:
Where to search or browse for images: