Library Art and History of Art 201

• Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art
  Provides information on a wide range of current and historical materials and techniques in both traditional and nontraditional media.
• ARTstor
  Image database including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture.
• AHR net (Art History Research net)
  Resource for research into the history of modern design and the applied arts.
• Oxford Art Online
  Oxford Art Online is the access point for Grove Art Online, and other Oxford art reference works covering all forms of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic and decorative arts, and photography from prehistory to the present.
• Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) (1973 to present)
  Covers both new designers and the development of design and the applied arts since the mid-19th century.
• JSTOR
  Full-text backfiles of over two thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. (Alumni access)
• Arts & Humanities Database
  Full-text publications that focus on art, architecture, design, history, philosophy, music, literature, theatre and cultural studies.
• America, History & Life (1964 to present)
  Covers the world's scholarly literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada.

Also see the Quick Reference research guide for more sources for statistics, data, overview articles, etc.

• Reference Universe
  Searchable index of the library's entire reference collection, both print and electronic.
• Encyclopedia of American Studies
  Leading reference work for American Studies, with searchable articles and accompanying bibliographies, related websites, illustrations, and supplemental material.
• Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History
  Articles surveying all aspects of the black diaspora; strongest on U.S.
• Encyclopedia Britannica
  Standard general encyclopedia.
• Cambridge Histories
  Provides political, economic and social history, philosophy and literature of selected countries and subjects.
• Encyclopedia of Ancient History
  Contains over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE, and covers all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt.
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
  70 reference e-books, including multivolume works like the Encyclopedia of Religion, American Decades, and more.
• Historical Statistics of the United States
  Standard source for quantitative information about the U.S., updated and includes 37,000 data series.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest)
  Provides statistical tables and charts covering various aspects of social, political and economic conditions of the United States.
• U.S. Political Stats
  Data from all three branches of U.S. government, including Supreme Court decisions, floor votes, presidential performance, and other measures. Browseable by data type, policy, and government branch, and features maps and data visualizations.

PRINT:

Handbook of Material Culture. AC stacks GN406 .H36 2006
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor.  AC stacks GN740 .M16 2011
The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects by Richard Kurin. AC stacks (currently on reserve) E173 .K87 2013
Tangible Things: Making History Through Objects by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich et al. AC stacks GN406 .U57 2015
Hispanic-American material culture: an annotated directory of collections, sites, archives, and festivals in the United States  AC reference E184.S75 G69 1989
Native American arts and material culture: a guide to research. AC reference E78.S7 P37 1991

MUSEUMS WITH MATERIAL CULTURE COLLECTIONS:

• Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture
• Winterthur Museum
• AATA Online (Getty)
• The British Museum images
• Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Cooper Hewitt Museum

SOME WEBSITES FOR FACTS:

Snopes.com

Factcheck.org 

Politifact

A NOTE ON GOOGLE:
Google indexes only a small percentage of information online.  Use other search engines to get results beyond or instead of what Google delivers. These sites provide access to other online information past and present.

For additional information and tips, see the Primary Sources Research Guide.

• African American Newspapers (Readex) (1827-1998)
  Provides access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers from more than 35 states and chronicles a century and a half of the African American experience.
• World Heritage Sites: Africa
  Digital resource covering the archaeology, history and culture of Africa through its heritage sites and landscape
• American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (1684-1912)
  A comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912. Subject coverage includes: advertising, health, women's issues, science, the history of slavery, industry and professions, religious issues, culture and the arts, and more.
• American Periodicals (1740-1940)
  Digitized reproductions of more than 1,100 18th and 19th century newspapers and periodicals.
• Latin American Newspapers (1805-1922)
  Provides more than thirty-five fully searchable newspapers published in Central and South American between 1805-1922.

GENERAL:
To find books and other materials relevant to this course in the Five College Libraries, search for "material culture". Use the limiters at the left of the screen to more specifically narrow search results. You can also follow subject links in the catalog records for books and articles.

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FACT FINDING:
Check for background information in: dictionaries, handbooks and encyclopedias. (See the Reference/background tab)

Look for facts in: statistical guides, almanacs, biographical sources, or handbooks.

Primary sources sometimes help verify facts. Historic newspapers may be useful.

Academic articles and books must cite their sources, and are also reliable resources.

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SOME STEPS FOR OBJECT-CENTERED RESEARCH:

find out as much as possible about your object
[OBSERVATION & IMAGE RECORD – DIRECT OBSERVATION, MUSEUM label or collection databases, THEN BOOKS]

use SECONDARY SOURCES to explore historical background and cultural context
[SEARCH CATALOG for books, DATABASES for journal articles, REFERENCE WORKS for overview]

find RELATED and SIMILAR objects that can help shed light on your object
[READ REFERENCE WORKS, EXHIBITION CATALOGS, MONOGRAPHS, JOURNAL ARTICLES]

develop your thoughts/assertions
[COMBINE your own thinking with what you’ve learned from sources]

test your conclusions against OTHERS’ RESEARCH
[READ JOURNAL ARTICLES, MONOGRAPHS]