ARH101: Approaches to Visual Representation,
Women in the Arts
Spring 2002 - Nina James-Fowler
Reference Contact: Barbara Polowy x2941

GETTING STARTED

Art Reference N31.D5 1996 and Groveart.com, the online version
The Dictionary of Art. New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 1996.
Includes 45,000 articles on every aspect of the visual arts from prehistory to the present day and links to 130,000 images and 1,000 Web sites. The article Women and Art History provides a useful overview of this topic as well as extensive bibliographies of reference works, surveys, and specialist studies about women in the arts. The dictionary also includes excellent articles on individual artists.

General Research Guides

Art Reference N59.J66 1999
Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information and the Internet: How to Find it, How to Use It. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999.

Art Reference N85.J64 1990
Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information: Research Methods and Resources. 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1990.
Covers basic and advanced art research methodology, search strategies, and the use of specific types of art research tools.

Special Subject Resources

Art Reference N8354.C66 1999
Contemporary Women Artists. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.
"Provides biographical and career information on more than 350 of the world's most prominent and influential contemporary (20th-century) women artists." Entries include lists of exhibitions, collections and installations, selected bibliographies, and critical essays.

Art Reference N8354.D53 1997
Gaze, Delia, ed. Dictionary of Women Artists. 2 vols. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997.
Includes introductory essays "examine training opportunites and the changing condition of work for women since the medieval period," an extensive general bibliography, and 600 substantial, illustrated biographical essays.

Art Reference N43.P47 1985
Petteys, Chris. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1985.
Brief biographical entries for 21,000 women painters, sculptors, printmakers, and illustrators. Includes bibliographical references and lists of exhibitions.

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 headings for finding books and catalogs about topics addressed by this course are:
[artist's name] | [artist's name] -- Catalogues raisonnes
Women In Art
Women Artists | Women Architects |Women Landscape Architects |Women Painters
Women Photographers |Women Sculptors |Women [other art media]
Women Art Collectors |Women Art Patrons

• Library Reserve List
  Up-to-date list of readings and references selected by Nina James-Fowler for for ARH101, Women in the Arts.
  

Published Museum Catalogs

Use these subject headings in the library catalog to find museum publications:

• Collection Catalogs
  [museum name]--Catalogs
  For example: Metropolitan Museum Of Art (New York N. Y.) -- Catalogs;
  National Gallery of Art (U.S.) -- Catalogs; Smith College. Museum of Art -- Catalogs
  
• Exhibition Catalogs
  [museum name]--Exhibitions
  For example: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) -- Exhibitions;
  National Gallery of Art (U.S.) -- Exhibitions; Smith College. Museum of Art -- Exhibitions

Online Collection Catalogs

Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Collection." Online.
Available: http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/index.asp. February 9, 2002.
Brief descriptive records and images for about 3,500 objects in the museum's collections."

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "MFA Online Collections Database." Online.
Available: http://www.mfa.org/artemis/. February 9, 2002.
Brief descriptive records, some with images, for more than 15,000 of the over 350,00 objects in the museum's collections. See also, "MFA: A Guide to the Collections," descriptions and images of 500 of the most important works in the collection at http://www.mfa.org/handbook/.

National Gallery of Art. "The Collection." Online.
Available: http://www.nga.gov/collection/srchart.htm. February 9, 2002.
Text and/or descriptive data for the over 100,000 objects in the gallery's collection.

National Museum of Women in the Arts. Online.
Available: http://www.nmwa.org/. February 11, 2002.
Includes highlights of the museum's collection.

Smith College Museum of Art. "Permanent Collection." Online.
Available: http://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/collections/index.htm
Includes collection highlights with excellent digital reproductions (including a selection of art by women) and a link to the "Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield Collections Database," a record of over 6,000 objects in these local collections. February 9, 2002.

FINDING ARTICLES

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. Updated monthly, abstracts are provided for records added after 1994. Useful "Subject" terms are:
[artist's name]
Women in Art
Women Artists | Women Architects | Women Designers | Women Photographers
Painters, Women | Sculptors, Women
Women and Architecture | Women and City Planning
Women Art Collectors

WRITING YOUR PAPER

Art Reserve N7476 .B37 1997
Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 5th ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1997.
Earlier editions are available in the stacks at the same call number.

N7476 .B37 1997
Sayre, Henry M. Writing About Art. Boston: Little, Brown, 1989.

Citation Formats for Bibliographies & Footnotes

Reference Tools: Style Manuals. Smith College Libraries. September 2001.
Links to online versions MLA, Chicago, APA, and other popular manuals for writing papers and preparing manuscripts. All include instructions and examples of footnote and bibliography formats

Art Reference PN171.D37 L5 1996
Li, Xia and Nancy B. Crane. Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information. 2nd ed. Medford, N.J.: Information Today, 1996.
Includes citation formats for full-text databases (individual works, books, monographs or full-length works, periodicals), bibliographic databases, electronic conferences (Interest Groups) or bulletin board services (BBS), electronic mail (personal), computer programs.

Art Reference PN171.F56 W35 1998
Walker, Janice R., and Taylor, Todd. The Columbia Guide to Online Style. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
"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." An abbreviated guide, Basic CGOS, is available online.

CONTACT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

Contact Barbara Polowy, the instructor for your library session: bpolowy@email.smith.edu, Bell Hall 228, X2941.

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