Basic Art Research  

1. Define your topic as clearly and as completely as possible.
2. Locate background information in encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, and online sources. For example: Oxford Art Online
  and Oxford Reference Online
3. Search CONSULS for books. Remember to set your library pin so that you may request books from other CSU libraries and access the online databases from off-campus.
4. Search the Art Databases and print indexes for journal articles available in Buley Library, online, and in other libraries. Locate reproductions and images.
5. Search the Journal Locator by the title of the journal to find the full text of the article. Note that not all articles will be available in the full text format. For journals held by SCSU, search CONSULS by "Journal Title" for availability and location information.
   
6. Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services if needed
7. Document your sources

       Define your topic as clearly as possible. Before you begin looking for information, take some time to brainstorm your topic. Write down the main concepts as keywords, and then write down some synonyms for these keywords.

      Reference Sources (such as Encyclopedias and Dictionaries) present an overview of a topic and will also include links and lists of additional sources. Many reference sources are available online, while other paper volumes are located in Buley Library and are marked with “Ref” before the call number. Here are some examples of art reference sources in the stacks and online:

• Oxford Art Online Includes access to Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Also includes links to image databases such as the Bridgeman Art Library.


• Oxford Reference Online

  The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms The Oxford Dictionary of Art		A Dictionary of Modern Design A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art The Oxford Companion to the Garden The Oxford Companion to the Photograph The Oxford Companion to Western Art

• ArtStor- Digital Image Library

• Dictionary of Art (Groves): Ref N31 D5-- Visual arts from prehistory to the 1990's in 34 volumes.

CONSULS is the shared library catalog for SCSU, CCSU, ECSU, and WCSU. To limit a search to SCSU, use the pull down menu to the left of the search button. When you search for a book, video, journal or other library materials on CONSULS, take note of the location of the book and the call number. This information is in the holdings box for each record on CONSULS. SCSU studentscan request materials from CCSU, ECSU, and WCSU by using the ‘request” option. You must first set a library PIN in order to use this function. If you are unsure about how to set a pin, please ask--a librarian will assist you.

• To search for a book when the title is known, enter the exact title. If the exact title is unknown or not found, try a keyword search.
• To search for a book by author , type in the author's last name, then first name.
• To search for a topic by keyword or subjects :
  • Keyword searching allows you to use your own terminology and searches for these words in the title, source, and body of the text of each record.
  • Subject searching is much more specific and searches only the subject heading fields of the records . Subject headings are based on a controlled vocabulary that is often unique to a particular catalog or database.
• **Tip 1: It is often a good idea to begin a search using keywords. Then, take note of the subject headings being used in the records most relevant to your topic. You can then re-enter your search using the most relevant terms.
• **Tip 2: To do a complete search on an artist, search the artists' name in subject, author, and keyword . In some cases, especially in exhibition catalogs, the artist is regarded as the author of the content of the work, without actually having written the book:
  • KW= Cezanne, Paul (searches for these words in the title, source, and body text of the record. This is the broadest and most inclusive search since it may also include works where Paul Cezanne is included in a chapter or section of the work)
  • SU=Cezanne, Paul (will locate this term in the alphabetical list of subject headings)
  • AU=Cezanne, Paul (locates records where Paul Cezanne is designated as the author of the content –even though he may not have actually written the book.)

The library subscribes to indexing tools in paper form as well as in the form of online databases. There are general as well as subject-specific databases and indexes. Refer the database tab above  for links to the databases available through Buley Library. If you need retrospective materials from pre-1980's, then you will need to use some of the paper indexes in the library, for example Art Index, since it will lead you to citations of articles back to the 1920's. Ask a librarian for assistance with selecting the appropriate databases or if you are doing retrospective searching. 

General Tips for Database Searches:

• Combine terms with "and" to limit your search. The search ‘impressionism and American' returns records where both terms appear. This will limit your search because both terms must be present in the record.
• Use parentheses to combine 2 or more search strings:
  • (realism or naturalism) and art
• Use quotation marks to keep words together as a phrase: “American Impressionists”

Once you have found the citations to the articles you need, the next step is to locate the articles. Search the Journal Locator by the TITLE of the JOURNAL to check for availability of full-text articles online. Some databases will include full-text documents, however in other cases you need to retrieve them from our collection, or from interlibrary loan. In our library, journals and newspapers are shelved alphabetically by the title of the journal.

Search the Journal Locator by the title of the journal to find out whether the article is available in full-text from any of our online databases, or if it is available in our print or microforms collections. Note that not all of the articles will be available in the full text format. For journals held by SCSU, search CONSULS by "Journal Title" for availability and location information.

If Buley Library (SCSU), ECSU, CCSU, or WCSU do not have the material, you may request it through the Interlibrary Loan department. There are forms available for this on the library homepage. Access Services Department: Circulation & Interlibrary Loan .

Citing Books, Articles, Online Resources, and Information on the Web

       When researchers and scholars use books, articles, and other electronic sources, they need guidelines for formatting citations to those documents. Sometimes your instructor will indicate which guidelines they want you to use. There are printed style guides (such as the MLA Handbook or the APA Publication Manual ) available at the reference desk. In addition, many university libraries provide handouts on the Web, for example:

• Duke University : Citing Sources
• The University of Wisconsin-Madison: Writing Center
• Purdue University : The Owl at Purdue