Librarian
Best databases for Art
- Art Full Text This link opens in a new windowFull text plus abstracts and indexing of an international array of peer-selected publications and other non-Western art.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new windowGrove Art Online, the Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
- Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new windowFeatures hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
Other databases for Art
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
- Art & Architecture Complete This link opens in a new windowMagazines, journals, trade publications and books covering a variety of art and architecture subjects including antiques, art and art history, interior and landscape design, and more. Includes image collection of over 63,000 images.
- Oxford University Classical Art Research CentreCovers the art of ancient Greece and Rome, and its collection and reception since antiquity.
General databases
These general databases may also contain articles related to art.
- Research Library (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowGeneral reference database from business and political science to literature and psychology scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and daily news content, accessible to readers and researchers at every level.
- AnthroSource This link opens in a new windowFull-text of American Anthropological Association journals.
- SocINDEX w/Full Text This link opens in a new windowThe most comprehensive and highest-quality sociology research database. The database features millions of records with subject headings from a sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers.
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new windowIndex of arts and humanities journals. With link to full text journal articles.
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new windowLiterature & the literary arts, philosophy, the arts, history, culture, and creative thought. Journal articles, books, and other sources from around the world.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowScholarly full-text journals and peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects. 1975 to present.
Image & video resources
- Artstor This link opens in a new windowMore than 2.5 million images related to art, art history, architecture, painting, photography, and visual and material culture.
- Films on Demand Video Collection This link opens in a new windowThousands of high quality videos on business & economics, health & medicine, humanities & social sciences, and science & mathematics, as well as travel and fitness programming, home and how-to videos, indie films, and popular music performances. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.
- Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new windowOver 68,000 titles spanning a wide range of subjects: anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. AVON includes a variety of video material with curricular relevance: documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs and newsreels, demonstrations, and raw footage.
- CREDO Masterworks Art History videosEach short documentary showcases an artist and a key piece, illuminating the context and history of the work
- Visual Arts Database Service This link opens in a new windowSearch over 140,000 images located in United Kingdom Archives
- AICT - Art Images for College TeachingAICT includes ancient, medieval, renaissance/baroque, 18-20th century and non-Western images. It is a personal, non-profit project of its author, art historian and visual resources curator Allan T. Kohl. AICT is intended primarily to disseminate images of art and architectural works in the public domain on a free- access, free-use basis to all levels of the educational community, as well as to the public at large.
How to cite images
Visual sources can be difficult to cite, so be sure to 1) include as much information as you can, 2) format the elements consistently, and 3) adapt the general formats as described in published citation style guides as needed. If you have questions, please contact me.
Citing images from an image database, such as ARTstor, should include most, if not all, of this information (or as much of it as can be easily determined from the source).
- creator's name
- title of the image as given in the database
- date of creation
- name and location of the institution that houses the image (if any)
- dimensions (if known)
- material or format (painting, sculpture, photograph, etc.)
- database name and URL
- date accessed the database
- How do I cite an image?CMOS shop talk (blog) from The Chicago Manual of Style
- Citing Images in Chicago StyleExamples from Dickinson College, PA
- How to cite images (University of Cincinnati)Examples for MLA, APA, Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style
- How to cite images (Purdue Online Writing Lab)MLA examples of how to cite a painting, sculpture, or photograph (about half way down the page)