Research Guides: Museum Studies and Curatorial Practice: Finding Articles

Additional Resources for Art History Research

These are resources that are available to you online from internationally recognized institutions. These do not require a log-in to access, but you may need to request items from Interlibrary Loan for complete texts.

Collections of the Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art maintains a searchable database of the museum's collections, of which some images are in the public domain and can be downloaded and used.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Consist of Images and Historical Information compiled by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Contains analysis of works of art, bibliographies, and historical events that influenced the time period. Move around in this site and you will find it abundant with the information you need.
The Getty Research Institute
Access to some digital copies of art history texts, rare books, and related literature.
Google Arts and Culture
An online platform through which the public can access high-resolution images of artworks housed in the initiative's partner museums.
Smithsonian Libraries
Most books available here are in the Public Domain unless otherwise noted, and are therefore free to download, use, re-use, and re-mix without regard to copyright. Due to the nature of library collections however, it can be difficult to determine copyright status.
contemporary culture index
The cci is a two-part website consisting of an infoweb and a database that provides bibliographical information on a variety of publications on architecture, art, cinema, cultural studies, design, literature, music, philosophy, photography, and social sciences. An excellent place to find open-access, out-of-print materials.
Dictionary of Art Historians
The Dictionary of Art Historians is a free, privately funded biographical dictionary of historians of western art written and maintained by scholars for the benefit of the public. It became associated with the Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies of Duke University in January of 2010. From 2016 on, it has been sponsored by the Wired! Lab for digital art history & visual culture.

Art-specific databases from University Libraries

Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
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Covers: items published 1920s-. Indexes and provides selected full text for a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. Includes the Art Index Retrospective, in-depth indexing of nearly 600 journals and magazines published from 1929-1984.
Grove Dictionary of Art Online This link opens in a new window
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A part of Oxford Art Online, Grove Dictionary of Art offers a scholarly art encyclopedia, covering both Western and non-Western art. First published as the landmark 34-volume Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner, the content of Grove Art encompasses all aspects of visual culture.
Grove Encyclopedia of American Art This link opens in a new window
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The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art (GEAA) deals with all aspects of American art and architecture from Native American art to Colonial art to contemporary American art. There are articles on all subject areas in American fine art including: biographies of major artists, architects and patrons, architecture, painting, new media, photography, sculpture, installation art, performance art, new media art, art education, and more.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
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Covers: all time periods. Provides a gateway to important reference sources on art and architecture, including:
Grove Dictionary of Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, 2001, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 1998, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms."
Artstor This link opens in a new window
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A digital library of images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. Users can search for or browse images by creator, time period, genre, type of work (e.g., sculpture, jewelry, architectural drawing), or by region where created. Artstor images are contributed by museums, libraries, and universities worldwide and are intended for educational use.
On first login from off-campus, you will be prompted to link or create an Artstor personal account. More info.

Additional Databases for Academic Research

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
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Web of Science This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1945-. Indexes high-impact journals in all disciplines. It allows researchers to determine who has cited whom, to track citations, and to find articles that share many references in common.
Use the "Editions" drop down to limit your search to arts and humanities, social sciences, or sciences.

WorldCat
WorldCat is an index of library holdings from all over the world. This is a great place to do research and request items for Inter-Library Loan through ILLiad.