An Analysis of Image Queries in the Field of Art History

This study investigates end-usersʹ image queries by comparing the features of the queries to those identified in previous studies by Enser and MoGregor (1992), Jorgensen (1995), and Fidel (1997). Twenty-nine college students majoring in art history were recruited. They were required to finish a term paper including at least 20 images. The participantsʹ image queries were collected by pre- and postsearch questionnaires, and three human reviewers mapped these queries into the previously identified features. Enser and McGregorʹs categories of Unique and Nonunique, and Jorgensenʹs classes of Location, Literal Object, Art Historical Information, People, and People-Related Attributes received high degrees of matching by three reviewers. This finding can be applied to add more details to Enser and McGregorʹs four categories (Unique, Nonunique, Unique with refiners, and Nonunique with refiners) and to regroup Jorgensenʹs 12 classes of image attributes.