This guide gives an overview of tools and basic strategies for conducting library research in Art History. If you have questions, concerns, or recommendations please contact Donald Juedes, the librarian for Art History at the Sheridan Libraries. CONTENTS: Basic Information & Bibliography | Finding Books & Library Holdings Research Databases | Selected Electronic Journals | Finding Images Specialized Research | Sheridan Libraries' Services | Related Hopkins Departments Using the Internet Wisely | Supplemental Web Sites | Getting Help |
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Subject encyclopedias and dictionaries are good sources of basic or background information, basic bibliography, and can be used to gain an understanding of a topic's broader context. They can also be used as initial resources to explore or clarify a research topic. Many people use Wikipedia for this purpose. While Wikipedia may provide inspiration or be a good discovery tool, it is NOT a reliable scholarly resource; All ideas represented in Wikipedia must be verified in other scholarly sources. For more detail, see Wikipedia's own DISCLAIMER PAGE. | |
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In order to locate books or other scholarly materials, a library catalog is an essential tool. The Sheridan Libraries' Catalog can be browsed using the ALPHABETICAL mode or searched by KEYWORD. The catalog will indicate whether a resource is available in the Hopkins libraries and, if so, where specifically it is located. If our Libraries do not own the materials you need, you may use databases such as WorldCat and RLIN to identify which libraries in the world own the materials. You may either choose to visit a holding institution or place an InterLibrary Loan request to have the materials brought to Johns Hopkins for you to use. | |
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Subject-specific research databases are essential tools to help you identify scholarly material on your topic: journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, proceedings, and other such publications. The first group of databases listed to the right are the primary databases that provide this function in the field of Art History. In addition to the primary research databases, there are other more general databases that also cover Art History scholarship, among other fields. After using these research databases to identify materials on your topic, you will next need to find the source materials, either in our Libraries' holdings or the holdings of other institutions. To do this second step, see the Finding Books & Library Holdings section above. In addition to the bibliographic research databases, there are many specialized resources that include images, the full text of writings, and other information pertinent to art historians. Several that the Libraries subscribe to are listed here. | |
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Many important journals in the field offer electronic versions to subscribers. They are either purchased in conjuction with the printed counterpart or made available through journal packages, such as JSTOR or Project Muse. For a definitive listing of all journals the Libraries subscribe to in any format (printed, digital, microfilm...), search the journal title in the Libraries' Online Catalog | |
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Images of art and cultural objects are essential to the study of art history. Representations of artworks can be found in electronic and printed sources. Several of these sources are listed to the right. | |
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The guides listed to the right focus on particular topics, considerations, or specific courses that require specialized assistance. | - Researching art objects held in local institutions [forthcoming]
- Course-related research guides [forthcoming]
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The Libraries offer a number of services to gain access to scholarly research material, either that which is held by our libraries or not. To the right is a selected listing; for complete information see the general Library Services section of the Sheridan Libraries' Web Site. | |
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There are many great free resources on the Internet, but most of what you find searching Google or other search engines is of questionable reliability. Because of this, they are generally not suitable for scholarly research. For tips on how to use free Internet resource reasonably, please look at the two guides listed to the right. Unlike most Internet tools, Google Scholar and Google Books link to reliable, scholarly materials that the Hopkins Libraries may own. These tools may be helpful in addition to the Research Databases listed above. To customize Google Scholar to show Hopkins' library holdings, follow the directions here.
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Aside from the scholarly research tools mentioned above, there are a number of useful free Internet web pages that may supplement your research. This list is a selection of such web sites. | |
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If you have trouble finding the research material you need, please feel free to seek assistance at the Libraries' Information Desk, use the Ask a Librarian portion of the Web Site, or contact Donald Juedes, the librarian for Art History. |
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