Junior Seminar: Doing Art History (ARTH 29600)

Professor Aden Kumler
Nancy Spiegel, Art Librarian

Reference

• Grove Art Online A standard, continuously updated reference source, searchable by concepts as well as by artists' names. The bibliographies are current and a worthwhile starting point for further research.
  
  
• The Dictionary of Art Historians: A handy index of biographical and methodological information about historians of western art history.
  
  
• Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism: One of the standard reference works in the field, this guide offers articles on theorists such as Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault. Entries on Film Theory, Cultural Studies and Art Theory provide useful overviews.
  
  
• See also the library's guide to finding reference books and selected online art and architecture dictionaries.
  

The Library Catalog and LENS
Review of advanced search techniques, LC subject headings, finding journals, etc.

Finding primary sources in the library catalog, a guide

The Multi-Library Catalogs-- Know What Else is Out There!

Search millions of book, journal, film, and archival records from libraries all over the world at once with WorldCat. Most major museum library collections (Getty, MOMA, National Gallery, etc.) came be found in Worldcat. Use the Find it! button to request a title you need through Interlibrary Loan.

See also our guides to other multi-library catalogs and to dissertation catalogs.

Finding Scholarly Journal Articles in Art and Architecture

• Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984) and Art Abstracts (1984-present): A core resource for art research, indexing over 300 key journals.
  
  
• ArtBibliographies Modern (1974 -present). Best place to start for 20th-and 21st-century artists and movements; performance and multi-media art; and emerging trends in contemporary art
  
  
• Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (1934-present). Includes architecture as well as interior design, city planning, archaeology and individual architects.
  
  
• Bibliography of the History of Art (1973-present). The largest of the indexes, BHA emphasizes post-classical art and covers a significant number of European journals. A list of journals indexed is available here.
  
  
• Index to 19th-Century American Art Periodicals Indexes 42 art journals published in the US during the 19th century. Most titles available on microfilm.
  

Multidisciplinary electronic resources of interest to art historians
For more databases, go to the Database Finder page, select the "subject browse" tab, and then a subject area from the list.

• America: History and Life (1954-present). Articles and book reviews in North American history.
  
• AnthropologyPlus (late 19th century to present) Core resource indexing the anthropological literature.
  
• Academic Search Premier Articles in the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Nice mixture of scholarly journals and general- interest publications such as the New Yorker, Ms., and New Republic. Coverage varies considerably, title by title.
  
• British Humanities Index (1962-present). Indexes humanities journals and weekly magazines published primarily in Great Britain.
• Contemporary Women's Issues (1992-present). Examines a broad range of women's issues, extracted from US and international journals.
  
• Historical Abstracts (1967-present) Articles and book reviews in European history.
  
• IBZ Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur, (1983-present). Indexes English-language and European periodicals, books, and dissertations.
  
• JSTOR Back issues of scholarly journals in all disciplines, with a moving wall of about five years. View included art titles here.
  
• MLA Bibliography (1963-present). Core resource for articles on literature, theory and literary criticism.
  
• Project Muse Full-text collection of recent (usually last five years), scholarly journals in all disciplines.

Finding Book Reviews

• Book Review Digest (1983-present)
  
• Book Review Index (1965-present)
  
• International Bibliography of Book Reviews (IBR)(1985-present)
  
• New York Review of Books (1963-present)
  Includes nearly every piece ever published in the Review, from the very first issue in 1963 to the most recent one.
  
• New York Times Book Review (1997-present). Unrestricted access.
  
• PCI Full Text (1770-1995)
  
• TLS Centenary Archives (1902-1990)
  
• Web of Science Citation Indexes
  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index, 1975-
  • Science Citation Index, 1945-
  • Social Sciences Citation Index, 1956-

Finding Archives, Manuscripts, and Museum Collections

• ArchiveGrid Contains collection records and collection guides from library and museum holdings across the country. Use ArchiveGrid to identify primary source materials, contact archives to arrange a visit, and order copies.
  
  
• Archives of American Art Library Catalog and Homepage (with links to the digital collections viewed in class). The Archives of American Art holds artists' papers; the records of galleries, museums, and art organizations; and videos and interviews from the Archives’oral history project. Most of these collections are available to the University of Chicago community on microfilm though interlibrary loan.
  
  
• Directory of British Photographic Collections London : Heinemann, 1977. f TR12.N370 1977a Reference Collection, 4th floor
  
• Index to American Photographic Collections. Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall, 1990. TR12.I52 1990 Reference Collection, 4th floor
  
  
• Official Museum Directory. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Museums, 2005. Includes profiles and contact information for over 8,000 museums in the the United States. AM11.M941 Regenstein, Reference Collection, Floor 1 next to the Reference Desk.
  

Newspapers available online (a sampling):

• Boston Globe, 1987-
  
• Chicago Tribune, 1872-1963; Chicago Tribune, 1963-1985; Chicago Tribune,1985-
• Guardian, 1996-
• Independent, 1993-
  
• Los Angeles Times, 1886-1986 and Los Angeles Times, 1996-
  
• New York Times, 1851-2004; New York Times,1995-
  
• New York Times Magazine, 1997-
  
• Times of London (index) 1906-1980; Times of London, 1992-

Lexis Nexis Academic Provides access to selected national, regional and international newspapers. Coverage varys considerably, title by title.

Google Book Search
Use the Advanced Search to specify words in title, author, date or publisher. Brief excerpts from many books are included, showing the location of your search terms within a book. The complete text of many public domain books (published before 1923) are included. Many items located with Google Books can be found in the University of Chicago's Library Catalog.

Research Tips

• Get help when you need it.
  
• Use the Find it! button to link from the article citation to the full text.
  
• Search the library catalogs for a topic using keywords; click on the title of a relevant item to find official subject headings; then search the catalogs for this term using a subject keyword search.
  
• Use our interlibrary loan service to get articles and books that we don't own. **Remember, articles can take as few as three days; books typically take 7 to 10 days, but can take much longer, depending on the time of year, and where the book is held.
• I am always available to answer your questions:

  Nancy Spiegel -- nspiegel@uchicago JRL 463, 702-5193