Finding a reference source
A reference source is a great place to get an overview of the artist. By carefully reading a detailed reference article you can:
- Get a solid grounding on the facts or background of an artist or the time period in which they were working
- Gather keywords, names, and dates for further searching
- Use the Selected Bibliography to start gathering your secondary sources
For this project you should look in:
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Finding journals articles
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJStor is an excellent source for Art History papers as it has academic articles that date back to the 19th century. Be cautious of articles that are book reviews--these are not sources for your paper, but can lead you to excellent sources.
- Proquest This link opens in a new windowAccess to full text periodicals-- contemporary academic journals, magazines, and newspapers and historical newspapers (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal).
- Gale Academic OneFile (requires SFPL card) This link opens in a new windowThis database is worth a look, but is not necessarily heavy on art history journals. It might be better once you have a list of references you are trying to hunt down.
Finding books
You can also find books online:
- EBSCO Books This link opens in a new windowA robust collection contains more than 200,000 multidisciplinary e-books representing a broad range of academic subject matter.
- Open LibraryYou'll need to create an account to access these books, but it's free and quick to do. This can be a really useful place to find older titles.
- Google BooksYou may not be able to access the whole book, but you might be able to assess whether it's work searching for the book elsewhere.