Spring 2008 - Lale Burk and David Dempsey
Reference contacts: Barbara Polowy, x2941 & Rocco Piccinino, x2951

Barker, Joe. Critical Evaluation of Resources. University of California Berkeley Library. Last updated October 1, 2007.
Available at: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Evaluation.html

Reference Sources

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 including extensive articles on art conservation (Technical Examination, Conservation and Restoration, Architectural Conservation and Restoration, art materials (Pigment, Paint, Adhesives), equipment (Brush), and techniques and processes (Metalpoint). Each article is supplemented by a bibliography of major primary and secondary sources and often includes links to illustrations available on the Internet.

CAMEO: Conservation and Art Material Encyclopedia Online
"The MATERIALS database contains chemical, physical, visual, and analytical information on over 10,000 historic and contemporary materials used in the production and conservation of artistic, architectural, archaeological, and anthropological materials."

Science Reserve ND1500 .G4 1966
Gettens, Rutherford J. Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopaedia. New York: Dover Publications, 1966.

Art Reference ND1500 .M3 1991
Mayer, Ralph. The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques. New York: Viking Press, 1982.
(Ultramarine example)

FINDING BOOKS

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 begins with" headings for finding books and catalogs for CHM100 assignments are:

• Art -- Conservation and restoration | Museum Conservation Methods
• Artists' materials | Pigments | Paint | Colors
• [specific materials and techniques], e.g., Ultramarine | Marble
  Painting |Acrylic painting | Tempera Painting
  Sculpture | Drawing | Gilding
• Cleaning | Adhesives

Useful subject subheadings (to use in subject keyword searches) are:
Analysis | Technique | History

Need a book that one of the other Five Colleges has, but Smith does not? Use the Request Item feature in the Five College Library Catalog. To see an animated demo, click here.

FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES

Look for the SC Links button or use Smith's Journal Locator to access journals by title. Connect to the Five College Library Catalog to find call numbers for bound periodicals in the Young Science Library and Hillyer Art Library collections.

General Art & Science Databases

Begin your research using the databases listed below. For a more comprehensive list of library research databases, consult the Chemistry Subject Resources Page and the Art & Architecture Subject Resources Page.

Useful subject terms for searching in these databases are:
Conservation of antiquities and works of art
Artists' materials | Pigments | [Specific materials], e.g., Marble | Iron | Lapis Lazuli
[medium or material] -- Conservation and Restoration | Analysis
e.g., Painting -- Conservation and Restoration | Paint -- Analysis

General Science Abstracts
Abstracts of articles from over 160 journals and magazines from the U.S. and Great Britain. Covers general science topics including biology, chemistry, computers, earth sciences.

Art Abstracts
Covers all aspects of the visual arts providing access to articles published in over 400 art magazines, journals, and museum newsletters and bulletins published throughout the world from 1984 to the present.

Special Databases for Conservation & Art Materials

Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts
"A comprehensive database of over 100,000 abstracts of literature related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage."

CoOL: Conservation On Line
"A full text library of conservation information, covering a wide spectrum of topics of interest to those involved with the conservation of library, archives and museum materials."

JAIC Online: Journal of the American Institute for Conservation
The online archive edition of JAIC from Volume 16, 1977 to Volume 44, 2005.

CITING YOUR SOURCES

Having trouble deciding when and how to cite? Click here to learn more about plagiarism and to test yourself. If you ever have ANY DOUBT about what to cite, talk with your professor, or Ask A Librarian.

helps researchers gather, manage, store, and generate citations and bibliographies. Smith faculty, staff & students have access on the web without charge.