Art 600: Senior Seminar in Studio Art

Useful Sources

Sources for ideas and thinking about art:

Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. 1996
A standard for the study of art and art history.
Ref. N 31 .D5 1996

The Oxford Companion to Art. 1970.
A mixture of short, one-paragraph entries with longer articles that may be several pages in length on a wide variety of topics. The longer articles reference a bibliography in the back of the volume.
Ref. N 33 .O9

The Oxford Dictionary of Art.
Includes brief entries, thoroughly cross-referenced. A quicker introduction to concepts and people than the Oxford Companion to Art, it includes some technical terms that the companion omits.
Ref. N 33 .O93 1988

Artwords: A Glossary of Contemporary Art Theory.
Provides a way into the current discourse on art.
Ref. N 71 .P32 1997

Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1973.
Brief entries on aspects and people related to twentieth-century art. A few bibliographic citations are given at the end of some entries.
Ref. N 6490 .P46

Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. 2 vols.
Discusses a wide variety of themes, lists artworks related to them, an provides a list of further readings.
Ref. [q.] N 7560 .E53 1998

Sources for the artist's work life:

Encyclopedia of Associations. Multiple volumes
Use the keyword index at the beginning of the first part of the first volume to find art-related associations generally, or use the index at the end of the volumes to find specific associations. A good source of background and contact information.
Ready Ref. [q.] HS 17 .G33

Art Law Conversations: A Surprisingly Readable Guide for Visual Artists.
Divided into large sections headed "Your Life," "Your Work," and "Your Business." Provides information on legal issues ranging from wills to copyright to contracts.
Ref. KF390 .A7 R877 2005

America's Best Graduate Schools.
The U.S. News & World Report rankings. Published annually.
Ref. [q.] L 901 .A546

Foundation Grants to Individuals.
Published biennially.
Ref. LB 2336 .F599

How to Find Out About Financial Aid and Funding: A Guide to Print, Electronic, and Internet Resources Listing Scholarships, Fellowships, Loans, Grants, Awards, Internships.
Includes grants for individuals and grants for organizations. Written by Gail Ann Schlachter, a highly respected source of information on grants.
Ref. LB2338 .S345 2003

American Art Directory.
Lists organizations, museums, libraries, art schools and departments of art. Arranged geographically. Indexes for organizations, people, and subjects are also provided.
Ref. [q.] N50 .A54

A Short Guide to Writing About Art.
Primarily relates to academic writing, but the advice included would be helpful to those composing an artist's statement as well.
Ref. N 7476 .B37 2000

Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market: Where & How to Sell Your Illustration, Fine Art, Graphic Design & Cartoons.
The majority of the information in this title is divided into sections on business information for artists ("The Art of Business") and places or methods to sell work ("The Markets"). Provides a helpful list of resources and a niche market index as well as a general index. Published annually.
Ref. N 8600 .A746

Artist's Resource: The Watson-Guptill Guide to Academic Programs, Artists' Colonies and Artist-in-Residence Programs, Conferences, Workshops.
Primarily a geographically arranged guide to artists' programs in the United States. Also includes advice on becoming a professional artist and on the business of art.
Ref. N 8600 .C484 1999

The Artist's Resource Handbook.
Gives advice and contact information for those pursuing a career in the arts. Includes sections on public and private support, artist-in-residence programs and artists' communities, public art programs, health and safety issues, professional ethics, and more.
Ref. N 8600 .G69 1996

The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide.
Provides information about regulations and hazards related to making art. Includes a section on classroom safety for instructors.
Ref. RC 963.6 .A78 R67 1994

Making Art Safely: Alternative Methods and Materials in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Graphic Design, and Photography.
Presents information on staying informed about health hazards common in art, information on safe studio construction, practices, and protective equipment, and hazards specific to different media. Includes artists' comments on their experience with different materials.
[q.] RC 963.6 .A78 S62 1993

Online:

CollegeSource Online
An online searchable collection of catalogs from nearly 34,000 2-year, 4-year, graduate, professional, and international schools. Use the Advanced Search to locate institutions with creative arts programs.

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Finding More

To find items owned by the library, search LUCIA. Try a Subject begins with search, for example, artists' materials. LUCIA will list other subject headings (and subheadings) which may be of interest. For advanced research you should consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or LCSH, a guide to the terms commonly used in catalogs like ours. The LCSH can be found on top of the Ready Reference shelves behind the reference desk on the first floor of the library. A few of the subject headings that might be of interest are

• anatomy, artistic
• art--vocational guidance
• artists--biography
• artists' contracts
• artists--health and hygiene
• artists--legal status, laws, etc.
• artists' materials

The subject heading artists also subdivides geographically, so there will be books with subject headings like artist--united states or artist--wisconsin.

To combine terms for a different kind of search, try Keyword Anywhere. LUCIA will look for the terms you specify anywhere in the important areas of the cataloging records, and display a list of those records. Try a search for a phrase, like Eastman Kodak, by searching with quotation marks around the phrase, as in "eastman kodak". You can search for individual terms connected by logical operators like AND or OR. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH. You can also search for multiple forms of words; try a search like this one for photograph* and women The asterisk acts as a truncation symbol and tells LUCIA to search for all words starting with photograph: photograph, photographs, photographers, photography, and so on. You can target your search even more effectively by telling LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records; compare the Keyword Anywhere search with the Subject Keyword search.

Books are arranged on the library's shelves by Library of Congress Classification. This is a system which organizes materials by general subjects. Once you have a call number from searching LUCIA, see this guide to call number locations at Mudd and the library floor maps to find out where a book might be on the shelves.

Search LUCIA for materials in our library; try WorldCat to find materials beyond the Mudd. Make sure you've thoroughly searched our library before going to WorldCat. See a reference librarian if you need help.

Most of the materials in our library on the arts will fall into the N and T call number classes, with a smattering of technical and safety information in the R class. In libraries that use the Dewey Decimal system (DDC) the most materials will be in the 600 and 700 ranges.

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Articles

The best index to use will depend on your topic. Be sure to check the Electronic Resources page for other options. Two of our resources, JSTOR and Project MUSE provide complete full text. Our art indexes include:

Art Abstracts. 1929-
Basic index to art periodicals. The index will list other alternative subject headings to try.
Reference Indexes and on EBSCOhost (1984- )

Bibliography of the History of Art.
"Covers visual arts in all media including traditional fine arts (painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, architecture); decorative and applied arts; material culture; photography and contemporary new media; visual arts aspects of performing arts."

Newspapers and current magazines may be important sources of information for finding information on artists currently producing new work. Some of the sources you might consult include the following:

Academic OneFile
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics. Includes full-text articles, many with images. 1980 - present; updated daily.

EBSCOhost.
Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. EBSCOhost provides a single Web source for multiple databases; you might want to select the Academic Search Elite. Contains broad and specialized coverage of academic and general periodicals.

Finding News Information
From the librarians here at Lawrence. Includes links to many newspapers on the Web, and to electronic news source subscriptions.

Lexis/Nexis Academic
A version of the Lexis Nexis database for academic users. Provides access to a wide range of periodicals, national and international news sources, and reference sources, as well as up-to-the minute news wires.

Newspapers from ProQuest
Indexing and some full text for international English-language, national, and regional newspapers.

Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, try the button to see if that particular article is available. If you don't find it, you can submit a request for interlibrary loan (ILL) of a copy of the article: ILL takes about 7-10 days, so plan ahead. See the library's Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Magazine and Journal Titles

The titles listed below are some of the most important in the art field. Titles with asterisks are not currently available in the library. Look in LUCIA for the title of the journal to see which issues the library owns. You should also search BESS, an automated search of the library's full-text databases, for electronic copies of articles.

• Afterimage (available through BESS)
• American Artist (paper and online: see BESS)
• American Craft
• Aperture *
• Art Bulletin (paper and online)
• Art Calendar
• Art in America
• Art Journal (paper and online)
• Art Papers *
• Artforum
• ARTnews
• Blind Spot *
• Flash Art
• Print Quarterly *
• Sculpture *

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Biographical Sources

In addition to the sources below, be sure to look at the library's guide to finding biographical information.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index.
"A comprehensive index to nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world."

Index to Artistic Biography. Multiple volumes and supplements.
Lists other published works on artists ancient to contemporary.
Ref. N40 .H38

World Artists.
Entries range from two to three pages in length, often with portions of interviews with the artists, and include a lists of major exhibitions, major collections, and works about the authors profiled.
World Artists, 1950-1980 Ref. [q.] N6489 .M37 1984
World Artists, 1980-1990 Ref. N6489 .W67 1991

Contemporary Artists. 2nd ed. 1983
Fairly in-depth listing of over 800 artists from around the world. Includes lists of publications by and about the artists as well as some critical comments.
Ref. [q.] N 6490 .C6567 1983

Contemporary Women Artists.
Provides biographical and career information on more than 350 of the world's most prominent and influential women artists.
Ref. N 8354 q.C66 1999

Contemporary Photographers.
Valuable compilation of information; includes photos of representative works and statements by the artists.
Ref. [q.] TR139 .C664 1995

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Web Resources

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Style Manuals

Academic Citation and Writing
Style manuals of the humanities, physical sciences, and the social sciences in the Seeley G. Mudd Library.

Citing Electronic Documents
This page provides guidance on citing electronic documents and links to other guides, some on specific styles of documentation.

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
The guide for any academic papers written in the literatures and languages.
RRef. LB2369 .G53 1999

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Tips on Research

This guide is intended to serve multiple purposes. It lists some basic sources that will help artists research and understand the work of other artists, and to understand the contexts that influence the artistic process. It also provides information for those moving from the studio major out into the professional world or graduate study.

The sources listed in this guide were chosen for the broad coverage they provide. Direct links are provided to Internet resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new databases and indexes; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.

Evaluating the resources you find is an essential part of the research process. See this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles and this guide to evaluating Internet resources.

As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.

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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:

Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections

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Created: 16 February 2006
Revised: 18 February 2008
Gretchen Revie, Reference Librarian