Tips for Searching for Information about Art
- In some databases, you will need to click on the Full Text link to find the article. If no Full Text link is available, click on the Find It button to open the article in another database.
- When searching for information about a specific artist and work of art, consider the following:
- subject
- geographic area
- medium
- art style
- period
- materials used
- Consider using search terms that will help you understand the work and place it in context. For example:
- portraiture
- Baroque
- Expressionism
- watercolor
Best Databases for Finding Resources about Art
Best Databases for Finding Information about Art
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Art Full TextCovers a variety of topics from fine, decorative and commercial art to photography, folk art, film and architecture. Indexing coverage begins 1984; abstracting coverage begins with January 1994. Full-text coverage begins in 1997.
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ARTstorDigital library of more than two million images from 280 collections in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.
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JSTORCore academic journals in mathematics, humanities and social sciences disciplines, beginning with their first volumes (sometimes dating back to the 1800s). Issues from the most recent 3-5 years are not available electronically through JSTOR; however, they may be available through their publishers or other vendors.
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Oxford Art OnlineNote: Our current license allows only three users of this database at a time.
Offers access to several acclaimed art reference works: Grove Art Online, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, as well as many specially commissioned articles and bibliographies available exclusively online.
Amy Hunsaker
Contact:
Fine & Performing Arts Librarian
775-682-5641