Art Resources via Trexler Library

Need help with your research? Contact:

Kelly Cannon Humanities & Business Reference Librarian phone: x3602 email: kcannon@muhlenberg.edu IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): refcannon (add @hotmail.com for MSN)

***Titles marked with the Muhlenberg  M are "most recommended" resources.***

Encyclopedias and dictionaries

art, generally. . .

Grove's Dictionary of Art  M  (Ref Collection 703 T948d)

symbolism in art. . .

Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Ref Collection 704.94 H177d)
Encyclopedia of comparative iconography (Ref Collection 704.903 R644e)
The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols (Ref Collection 302.222 B887i)
Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols (Ref Collection 302.222 B396c)
Dictionary of Symbolism (Ref Collection 302.23 B586d).
Symbolism: A Comprehensive Dictionary (Ref Collection 302.22 O44s)
Reverse Symbolism Dictionary (Ref Collection 302.22 O44r)

  Books

The following resources can be found by visiting the Trexler Library Home PageFinding Books

Trexler Library Catalog  
Catalog of all books and documents in Trexler Library at Muhlenberg College.

WorldCat
 Catalog of books and documents in libraries throughout the world. Watch especially for the AREA LIBRARIES designation. Use E-ZBorrow for  faster interlibrary loan.

E-ZBorrow M
A catalog of books and documents in the libraries of PALCI, to which Muhlenberg College belongs. Submit interlibrary loan requests here for rapid delivery.

Periodical articles 

Journal articles pertaining to this subject area can be accessed from home or campus by visiting the Trexler Library Home PageFinding ArticlesPeriodical Databases & Indexes.

general indexes with full text. . .

Academic Search Premier
A good starting place for journals, and includes the full text of about 3000 journals. Limit to "peer reviewed" to find only scholarly articles. Back issues of journals begin as early as 1990. Recent issues may not be included yet, due to publisher agreement. Journals held in Trexler Library are marked accordingly.

Omnifile (WilsonWeb)
Includes extensive full text, from both popular and scholarly periodicals.

Morning Call via Proquest
Updated next day and archived back to 1984.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
A full-text newspaper archive dating back to the 1980s. It is an excellent place to look for reviews of recent exhibitions.

JSTOR
An archival project from Stanford University to electronically collect back issues of some of the best research journals. Current issues are not included, by publisher agreement. Back runs may go back as far as the late 1800s.

Project Muse
Completely scholarly (only academic presses like Duke and Chicago) and completely full text. A relatively small database, about 150 journals. Archive back to late 90s.

subject-specialty indexes. . .

Art AbstractsM
The standard index for art history, with indexing and abstracts from 1984-present.

Art Index Retrospective
Indexing only, from 1923-1984

America History & Life and Historical Abstracts
The standard indexes for U.S. history and non-U.S. history respectively.

getting to the full text. . .

Once you have found the citation of a journal article you're interested in, follow this path to see if the journal is available online or in print in Trexler Library: Trexler Library Home PageFinding ArticlesJournal Locator.

articles via interlibrary loan. . .

Journal articles not found in Trexler Library can be ordered by following this path: Trexler Library Home PageFinding ArticlesGetting a Copy of an Article.

Web search engines, directories, and selected sites

Google (http://www.google.com)
Non-selective. One of the largest web crawlers.

HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com)
Non-selective. One of the largest web crawlers. Advanced search offers more precision than Google.

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com)
A web crawler that looks for content it identifies as "scholarly." Emphasis is on books and journal articles. Intended as a "federated search" to search across disciplines (weighted toward sciences and social sciences). Not always full text. Check our Journal Locator (see above) to verify if Muhlenberg has access to the full text.

Librarian's Index to the Internet (http://lii.org/)
Highly selective search engine and directory of web resources.  Both scholarly and popular sites deemed important by a team of California-based public librarians. Entries are accompanied by paragraph-length descriptions.

Sites

Artcyclopedia (http://www.artcyclopedia.com/)
Connects to art reproductions online and possibly criticism.

Evaluating sources

Find a list of criteria to evaluate web and print sources by following the path Trexler Library Home Page Research HelpResearch BasicsEvaluating. . .

Citing sources

For online step by step directions on writing a paper, consult the University of Richmond's Writer's Web (http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html).

For tips on citing print and electronic sources, follow the path Trexler Library Home Page Research HelpCitation Guides.

For an automated guide to citing in the MLA or APA styles, visit NoodleBib Express. (http://www.noodletools.com/noodlebib/express.php)

© Muhlenberg College
Last modified: 29 January 2007