This guide suggests both print and Web resources for research in the visual arts, including ceramics, photography, and sculpture. 

Background Information  |  Find Articles  | Find Books | People |  Organizations | Additional Web Resources |  Additional Library Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols.  (R 703 D561)
The Encyclopedia of Sculpture  (R 735.2303 En197)
The Encyclopedia of World Art, 17 vols.  (R 703 En19)
The Oxford Companion to Art  (R 909.04924 En19)

Some reference works are now online.  Many are in the Credo Reference Collection or the Oxford Reference Collection and can be accessed from the Quick Facts Page. These works contain the same content as print reference books, as well as additional images, videos, and sound. Click on the links below to go directly to these books. If you are off campus, you may need to sign in.

Tbe Bloomsbury Guide to Art
The Bridgeman Art Library Archive
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
The Encyclopedia of American Folk Art
The Oxford Companion to Western Art
The Oxford Dictionary of Art
The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art
Oxford Art Online
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of British Art
The Thames & Hudson Encyclopaedia of Impressionism

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page.

To find professional and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic OneFile (Gale)
Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Fine Arts and Music (Gale)
Iter
JSTOR
Proquest Research Library
Wilson Omnifile (Select ART from the Subject Area box)

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles written at the time of a particular exhibit or auction, use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
   (located in Index/Abstracts area 1 & 2, main floor)
International Index to Periodicals, 1907 - 1965
   (located in Index/Abstracts area 4, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (located in Index/Abstracts area C-1, main floor)
Official Index to the Times & The Times Index, 1906+
   (located in Index/Abstracts area C-1, main floor; indexes the London Times)

Use the Kent Library Catalog to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Examples of art subject headings -
art, abstract
ceramic
Christian art and symbolism
Kandinsky Wassily 1866 1944

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use this Dewey Decimal Chart from the undergraduate library at the University of Illinois to find topics by call number, or try the following:

730 - Sculpture, ceramics, and metalwork
740 - Drawing and decorative arts
750 - Painting
760 - Graphic arts
770 - Photography  

Learn about important artists:

Library Resources
A Biographical Dictionary of Artists, Andromeda
Ceramic Figures: A Directory of Artists (R 738.0922 F6796c)
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists
Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers (R 927 F46d2 1986)
Index to Artistic Biography, 2 vols. (R 927 H299i)
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists
World Artists, 1950 - 1980 (R 927 M342w)

Web Resources
askart.com
Library Spot: Artists
the-artists.org

Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic-related information.

Arts Council of Southeast Missouri
Art Museum Network
Missouri Arts Council
National Endowment for the Arts  
New York Foundation for the Arts

Art History
Art History Resources on the Web
Mother of All Art History Links Pages
Timeline of Art History

 Art Images
AMICO: Art Museum Image Consortium
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Museum of Modern Art
Tate Online
Victoria and Albert Museum Access to Images

Directories
International Directory of Art Libraries

For a list of web searching tools, see the Find: web searching tools page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.shtml).

Images
ARTstor contains nearly one million high-quality images.

Camio Art Images contains images from museums around the world.

For other suggestions, see the Images research guide.

Directories
Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market: Where & How to Sell Your Illustration, Fine Art, Graphic Design & Cartoons   (R 706.88 Ar78)
The Official Museum Directory   (R 069.0257 Of2)

Reproductions
World Painting Index, 2 vols.   (R 750.16 W89373)
Index to Reproductions of American Paintings   (R 759.13 Sm61i )
Index to Reproductions of European Paintings   (R 759.94016 M759i)
Fine Art Reproductions of Old & Modern Masters  (R 750.216 N42f 1976)