ARH101: Approaches to Visual Representation,
Art & Death
Spring 2008 - Brigitte Buettner
Reference Contact: Barbara Polowy x2941

GETTING STARTED

Art & Architecture Library Subject Page
Provides links to resources covering a wide variety of art and architecture topics (some resources are available only to members of the Smith College community).

Hillyer Art Library
Website provides information about art library collections and services. Includes a browsing guide to the collections.

Barker, Joe. Critical Evaluation of Resources. University of California Berkeley Library. Last updated March 10, 2008.
Available at: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Evaluation.html

Reference Tools

Art Reference N31.D5 1996 and Groveart.com, the online version
The Dictionary of Art. New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 1996. Online version updated quarterly.
Includes thousands of articles on every aspect of the visual arts from prehistory to the present day as wall as links to images and websites. Articles related to topics addressed in this course include Mausoleum, Tomb, Pyramid, Cemetery, Catacomb, Sarcophagus, Reliquary, and Monument, Public. These provide useful overviews as well as extensive bibliographies of reference works, surveys, and specialist studies. The dictionary also includes excellent articles on cultures (Etruscan) and places (Mycenae), individual artists (José Guadalupe Posada, Otto Dix) and individual works of art and monuments, for example Taj Mahal.

Oxford Reference Online
Access to Oxford University Press' series of reference dictionaries and companions, including illustrations and web links. One can search all titles at once, individual titles, or subject areas such as religion and philosophy, visual arts, history, mythology and folklore.

Neilson Reference GT3150 .T25 2000
Taylor, Richard P. Death and the Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Denver, Colo.: ABC-CLIO, 2000.

Useful "subject keyword" terms for finding encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other reference sources on special topics are:

• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries

for example, Islam -- Dictionaries | Death -- Dictionaries
Civilization, Classical -- Encyclopedias | Central America -- Antiquities -- Encyclopedias.

FINDING BOOKS & MUSEUM CATALOGS

Five College Library Catalog
The online catalog provides access to the combined library holdings of Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, and Mount Holyoke Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Useful subject searches terms for finding books and catalogs about topics addressed by this course include:

• Death In Art | Postmortem photography
• Tombs | Pyramids | Mounds | Sepulchral Monuments | Mausoleums | Martyria | Reliquaries
• [Name of memorial, monument, etc.], eg. "Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C.)"
• Catacombs | Cemeteries
• Funeral Customs and Rites | Funeral Rites and Ceremonies | Burial
• Future Life
• Human Sacrifice | Jesus Christ -- Crucifixion -- Art
• Memorials | War Memorials | Holocaust Memorials
  
• [museum's name] -- catalogs (example of a collection catalog entry) | Exhibitions
• [artist's name] -- catalogues raisonnés (example of a catalogue raisonné entry)
  Criticism and interpretation | Exhibitions | Interviews | Sources

FINDING ARTICLES IN JOURNALS & OTHER PERIODICALS

Scholarly & Popular Periodicals

Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals. Cornell University Library, Reference Department, CRIO (Collections, Reference, Instruction & Outreach). Last updated February 27, 2007. Available at: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill20.html

Examples of guidelines for contributors to scholarly journals:
Art Bulletin, Submission and Style Guidelines
American Art, Information for Authors

Indexing & Abstracting Services

Art Abstracts
Covers all aspects of the visual arts providing access to articles, exhibition reviews, and reproductions published in over 400 art magazines, journals, and museum newsletters and bulletins published throughout the world.

Humanities Abstracts
Indexes 570 scholarly periodicals in all humanities disciplines from 1984 to the present.

JSTOR
Complete full text/full image back issues of over 400 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The database has it's own search engine and is also linked to indexing services like Art Abstracts and Humanities Abstracts.

WRITING YOUR PAPER

Art N7476 .B37 2003
Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 2003.
Earlier editions are available in the stacks at the same call number.

Art Reference LB2369 .W75 2003
Writing Papers: A Handbook for Students at Smith College: a Publication of the Jacobsen Center for Writing, Teaching and Learning. 3rd rev. ed. Northampton, Mass.: Smith College, 2003.

N7477 .T39 1981 (several copies available)
Taylor, Joshua C. Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

Citation Formats for Bibliographies & Footnotes

Style Manuals & Citation Guides. Smith College Libraries. Last updated October 22, 2007.
Links to online versions MLA, Chicago, APA, and other popular manuals for writing papers. All include instructions and examples of footnote and bibliography formats.

Neilson Reference Desk PN171 .F56 W35 2006
Walker, Janice R., and Taylor, Todd. The Columbia Guide to Online Style. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
"Presents a guide to locating, translating, and using the elements of citation for both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style (APA and CBE) for electronically-accessed sources."

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS

Click here to provide feedback on this library session and follow up with any questions about topics covered in the class.

CONTACT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

Contact Barbara Polowy, the art librarian and instructor for your library session: bpolowy@email.smith.edu, 121 Hillyer Art Library, X2941.

Home | Research | Library Services | General Information | Smith Libraries & Collections | Need Help?