Glassblower.Info Super-Search Tips

• I have often been frustrated, when planning to travel somewhere, to find an accurate list of glass studios and schools to visit in that area.
• I have found that some online resources are up to 30% inaccurate, as a result of artists moving and email addresses changing.
• Some online resources seem to be little more than a list of company names which have the word "glass" in them, with not much more than a company name and maybe address and phone number, without any meaningful information such as website link, and without identifying the major classification of the facility such as hot shop or lampworking.

1. Geographical Search Criteria
   Many existing online resources are often oriented only by State and don't take into account that some states are really large, and what is really needed is a distance radius (much like ebay uses to localize searches).

   As such, in the first "row" of the search criteria, you have three fundamental options:

   • Search from a US Zip Code.
   • Search with a distance radius of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100.
     The idea is to give you local results, so the distance has been limited to 100 miles.
     The nice thing is that this radius might span across state boundaries to show you local results.
   • Search for facilities within a US State (without specifying zip and distance)
   • Search for facilities within a specific Country

   Implementation Details:

   • You must specify at least one geographical criteria.
   • If you specify a zip code, you must specify a distance radius.
   • The zip code must exist in the public domain database of zip codes with latitude and longitude provided by the US Census Bureau in 1999.
   • Distance calculations are based on the latitude and longitude of the Post Office for the facility's zip code, and as such is only an approximation to the "as the crow flies" distance, and is just an approximation (in part because of many short-cuts to speed up the calculations)
   • If you specify a distance radius, you must specify a zip code.
   • Instead of specifying a zip & distance, you can specify a US State.
   • You can chose a Country instead of any of the other criteria.
   • You can not specify both a zip code and state - chose one or the other.
   
   

2. If desired, you can narrow your search, to fine-tune the returned results to your specific needs, by selecting one or more of the following 21 yes-no check-box options:
   • Hot Shop (Furnace Glassblowing)
   • Torchwork/Lampwork
   • Fusing/Slumping
   • Stained Glass
   • Neon
   • Museum
   • Gallery
   • Consultant
   • Public Classes
   • Private Classes
   • Rentals
   • Public Invited to Watch artist work
   • High School
   • Community College
   • Four Year College
   • Graduate School
   • Sells Retail
   • Sells Wholesale
   • Manufacturer (especially Tools and Equipment)
   • Distributor
   • Glass Artist
   
   
3. If desired, you can also specify up to 7 numeric criteria concerning the amount/capacity of equipment in each facility:
   • Furnace Capacity (pounds of molten glass)
   • Number of Benches (number of people who can work simultaneously)
   • Number of Gloryholes (typically allows multiple folks to work more independently, not having to share one gloryhole)
   • Number of Annealers
   • Number of Garages (to keep part of a finished piece, such as a goblet, warm, while working on other parts)
   • Number of Fusing/Slumping Kilns
   • Number of Torches

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