Art History 200 Research Guide

This guide focuses on finding documents relevant to your research on the art work you are researching for Writing Assignment 2 (annotated bibliography).

In addition to searching for information about the art work, you will also want to find documents relate to:

• the artist and their other works unless there is no identified artist
• other art from the same art-historical period or style
• technical processes used to make the artwork
• subject matter and themes represented within the artwork
• social or historical context, etc.
   

Find 2 relevant encyclopedia or dictionary entries.

You may want to use some of the library's art encyclopedias and dictionaries or look at an artist's website as well as museum and gallery web sites, etc. to get an overview of topic and identify important key words for focusing your research.

Back to top

Workshop Powerpoint

Use Sofia (Concordia Library catalogue) to identify books and'or exhibition catalogues  relevant to the art object you are researching.

Also consider using Google Books to identify books that may discuss the art work or artist you are researching. Check CLUES to find out if the book is available at Concordia Library.

You can also check other Montreal libraries for relevant book titles. Use your Concordia ID card to borrow at other Montreal university libraries.

Back to top

Workshop 2 Powerpoint 

Find a total of 20 articles (10 relevant records from each database accessed).  You will then choose the 3 most promising articles. Consider using the following databases to identify recent journal and magazine articles relevant to the art work you are researching.

VISUAL ART AND ART HISTORY DATABASES:

• Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson) / Art Index Retrospective (H.W. Wilson) cover about 500 journals covering all art periods and media. Generally, a good starting point for art-related research for journal articles.
• Artbibliographies modern (ABM) covers 19th century to contemporary art; doesn’t cover architecture. Especially useful for contemporary art and often more extensive coverage of Canadian art.
• Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and International Bibliography of Art cover all art periods and media and includes publications from 1975 to 2007. Useful for pre-21st century art-related topics.

INTERDISCIPLINARY DATABASES WITH ART & ART HISTORY COVERAGE:

• JSTOR covers approximately 250 art history and architecture journals as well as numerous scholarly journals from other disciplines. Note: the last3-5 years of some publications are not available.

CANADIAN/QUEBEC DATABASES:

Consider using these databases when doing research on a Canadian or Quebec artist or exhibition.

• Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database (CBCA)
  Covers a wide range of Canadian journals from various disciplines including Canadian art magazines many of which are available full-text
• CPI.Q Canadian Periodicals Index
  Similar in ocverage to CBCA with some overlap; however, there are some unique titles.
• Erudit Scholarly Journals - CRKN
  This interdisciplinary database provides the full-text of a number of Quebec art and cultural journals. Useful when researching artists or exhibitions in Quebec.
• Repère
  Covers a wide range of Quebec journals including some art journals.

Back to top