Before searching for images, review any concept maps or play analysis lists you may have created while reading the play.
Make a list of 20 words that you could use as search terms. You can include active verbs and descriptive adjectives -- descriptive terms may work better as keywords in online search engines than in library databases, but you can adapt your searches to the search tool you are using.
Your search terms might include:
Make a shorter list of 2-3 places you will begin your search. These might be a database like ARTSTOR, or an online source like Google Arts & Culture. Maybe you want to start with a PRIMO search, to find a physical book? Strategize what your first few moves will be -- you can always expand your search later.
Get searching! Play around with a database or two. Take notes on which keywords work well, and which don't. Rinse and repeat.
Don't forget to record citation information for the images you find. Refworks or Zotero are great tools for capturing and managing your citations.
adapted from "Visual Research Exercise 1" in Porter, Lynne. Unmasking Theatre Design: a Designer's Guide to Finding Inspiration and Cultivating Creativity, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ups/reader.action?docID=1818208&ppg=150.
To find books that are composed primarily of images, add the term "pictorial" to your search in Primo. For example, movie theaters pictorial, or 1940s pictorial.
You can also search by period or style. For example, mid-century modern will find books that cover the time period and design style you are investigating. You may also want to use words that denote the inside of a house, like room or interior, for example.
Books on "daily life" often contain a variety of images. For example, "daily life" + United States.
