"The Survival Series" Jenny Holzer (photograph by Larry Qualls)(image courtesy of ARTstor)

Lareese Hall, Fine Arts Liaison Librarian
halll@denison.edu / x6688

Research Basics

Information on citing resources (including images) is available on the library Citation Help page.

Information on creating an annotated bibliography can be found here.

Reference materials are useful for finding a topic, narrowing an idea, and/or starting research.  The best way to find these materials is to BROWSE! In our library, reference materials can be found on the 3rd floor by the Learning Commons (they will also say "DEN Ref" in their call number) and online.  DEN Main books are in the stacks.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias: Good for quick reference and starting research.  Encyclopedias are written by leading scholars and often have bibliographies for further reading and research.

• Grove Art Online
  The best place to start; articles on thousands of artists, countries, and media.
  Print version: The Dictionary of Art N31 .D5 1996
• Oxford Reference Books Online: Art Section
  Online access to six of Oxford's art reference books.
• Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms  N33 .L75 2004
• Atlas of World Art  N5300 .A85 2004
• Contemporary Artists  N6490 .C6567 2002
• Dictionary of Women Artists  N8354 .D53 1997
• Encyclopedia of Sculpture  NB198 .E53 2004
• The Design Encyclopedia  NK1370 .B93 2004

Databases and Web Resources

Databases are infinitely more organized than some random online searches.  Remember the subject headings and keywords that were successful for you in the catalog and start with those here. Use indexes and databases to search for articles that appeared in periodicals.

After you find relevant articles, see if the database you are using has full text (usually PDF) files available for you to download.  If the full text is not available, use the CONSORT Catalog to see whether we subscribe to the journal. If we don't have the journal available make a request for the article using Interlibrary Loan.)

Article & Book Databases:
Art Full Text
Index, abstracts, and full text for articles in art.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index Provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information and cited references found in nearly 1,130 of the world's leading arts & humanities journals.
Contemporary Artists Index
A free web database from the Cleveland Institute of Art that indicates publications containing information on individual contemporary artists.
JSTOR
Historical full text (up to last 5 years) for 32 art history journals.  Searching in JSTOR allows you to search for images in both the articles themselves and in ARTstor.  Magic, again...
Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)
The ULAN contains almost 300,000 artist names and associated information. This resource is especially helpful for determining if multiple names belong to the same person and for finding brief biographical information on lesser known artists.
Project Muse
Project Muse is online archive of 400 high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from 100 scholarly publishers.


Image Databases:

• ArtSTOR
  Images only; a collection of over 300,000 images from museums and cultural sites all over the world. Click on "Search and browse for images" (lower left side) to begin.
• Art & Architecture Digital Media
  Access more than 60,000 art and architecture images.
• Digital Video Collection:
  Access digital videos from Films for the Humanities. Many films on various periods and themes in Art History; also, films on modern artists and techniques.
• VADS the online resource for visual arts
  The Visual Arts Data Service is based at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design at University College in Farnham, Great Britain. The services offered include a searchable catalog of image collections and other collections. Subject areas include fine arts, design, architecture, applied arts, history and theory, media, museum studies and conservation, and professional practice

"Solar Set" by Joseph Cornell (image courtesy of ARTstor)

Finding Books, Journals, and other materials

Use the library catalog (CONSORT) in one of the following ways:

1. You can search by title, author, keyword, subject, or journal title.  The information you find as you do your research will lead you to additional keywords and subject headings.  Remember to look at the subject headings for the things you find that are useful - that will give you specific search terms to use as you continue with your research.
   

   SUBJECT Search

   • A specific topic (ex. "fashion design" or "fashion accessories")
   • A topic, narrowed geographically (ex. Theater China or Broadway New York)
   • A person's name (ex. Chanel, Coco)

   
   Keyword Search Options

   • AND (fewer results) / OR (expanded results) / NOT (eliminates words)
   • * truncation symbol (allows you to search for artists, artwork, and art if you put in art*) - Magic!
     
   • Use "quotation marks" to search for a specific phrase
   • Use (parentheses) to make one portion of search string function first
   • "Ill." or "Illus." means a book contains pictures
     
   • Use the "Modify Search" button to perform an advanced search (to weed out materials you don't want).
     


2. MAKE LISTS!!!      Save your catalog searches using  "Saved List" (the "save" button is listed under the number of each item)
   • You can continue to save items on your list throughout your search session
     
   • To get to the Saved List, click "View Saved Records" at the top of the screen
     
   • You can print the list or email it to yourself
     


3. If you cannot find something in the CONSORT catalog, check OhioLINK to see if there is a copy available.  You can "Request this item" if you find something in OhioLINK (follow the prompts on the screen).

Types of books that are unique to art:

• Artist Monographs
  Books by or about artists that are published independent of any museum or gallery exhibition. Usually, monographs are in-depth writings that analyze or provide context for an artist and his/her work.
  ***To find monographs, look for words like "Criticism and Interpretation" in the subject search results.


• Exhibition Catalogs
  Document museum and gallery shows. Exhibition catalogs are the best source for high-quality images of an artist's work. Also, many exhibition catalogs include artist biographies, curatorial essays, artist interviews and/or writings, and career chronologies.
  ***Exhibition catalogs will appear in your subject search with the word "Exhibitions" as part of the subject heading.


• Catalogue Raisonne
  A complete study of an artist's entire entire body of work (at least in one medium). These usually include images of every piece of work ever created by an artist, along with each piece's provenance/history.
  ***Catalogues raisonnes will appear as a separate item in the list of subject heading terms.