FAH58/158: Installation, Video and Performance Art
Professor Monica McTighe, Fall 2007

Library Research Sources & Strategies
Prepared by Chao Chen, Reference Librarian at Tisch Library

Terms, Concepts, and Overview   ·  Critical Biographies   ·  Artists' Writings & Voices · Bibliographies   

· Books  · Articles · Search Strategies · Images

Writing about Art  ·  How to Cite  ·  RefWorks  ·  Renew Books  ·  Interlibrary Loan Request ·   Course Reserves

Grove Art Online (The seminal source for art—the online equivalent of the 34 volumes of the print The Dictionary of Art  and The Oxford Companion to Western Art, plus updates since the print version.)
            See, as an example, the entry on Multimedia.

A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art   

Art20 [electronic resource]: the Thames and Hudson multimedia dictionary of modern art. ( Circulation Desk:  N6490 .A72 2005)
Multimedia encyclopedia featuring over 3500 images, audio's of artists' voices, videos of kinetic and video art, and more than 2500 entries on artists, movements, galleries, collectors, and critics.

The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms
Art in the Modern Era: a Guide to Styles, Schools & Movements (Oversize: N6490 .D415 2002)
The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists of the 20th Century (Ref. N33 .P74 2000)
The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Art. Ref N 649 .O94.

Grove Art Online
         See a sample entry (including bibliographies) on the Marcel Duchamp.

A Biographical Dictionary of Artists. Ref N 40 .B53 1995.
Contemporary Artists. Ref N 6490. C65671996
Dictionary of Women Artists. 2 vols. Ref N 8354 .D53 1997.
World Artists 1950-1980. Ref N 6489 .M37 1984.

Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: a Sourcebook of Artists' Writings (Oversize: N6490 .T492 1996).

Twentieth-century artists on art: an index to writings,statements, and interviews by artists, architects, and designers (Ref. NX456 .R59 1996)

• Tufts Library Catalog [http://library.tufts.edu/}
• WorldCat [On the Tisch Library Website, http://www.library.tufts.edu/tisch/; select Databases and Articles]

Search strategies

1. Key Databases        Search strategies
ARTBibliographies Modern 1974-
A particular emphasis is placed upon adding new and lesser-known artists and on the coverage of foreign-language literature. It covers all aspects of modern and contemporary art, including performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artists' books, theater arts, crafts, jewelry, illustration, and more, as well as the traditional fine arts of painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing. Photography is covered from its invention in 1839 to the present.

Art Abstracts1984- .  
More than 250 key international, English-language arts publications. Includes periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, competition and award notices, exhibition listings, interviews, film reviews, and more.

Bibliography of the History of Art 1973-
Covering European and American art from late antiquity to the present.
   
Other Subject Database(s)
International Index to the Performing Arts IIPA  1998 -
Film & Television Literature Index
Film Literature Index  (1976-2001)
For 1973-1975, and 2002 forward, use the print volumes at Tisch Reference Indexes [HUM] Z5784.M9 F45.
GenderWatch  

Quick starting points (not comprehensive):
Google Scholar 

JSTOR and Project Muse
These are two digital collections of core journals in many disciplines. While Project Muse offers more recent issues, JSTOR has more earlier issues.

Expanded Academic ASAP

Tip: Use more than one source/database (each with its own particular academic discipline/subject focus and extensiveness of coverage) for a comprehensive and in-depth research on your topic.

Example, journals may be included in one relevant database, but not another. For instance, two important art and art history journals, Art Bulletin and Art History both are indexed in Art Abstracts, BHA, and Expanded Academic ASAP. However, neither of these two journals is indexed in ARTBibliographies Modern. Among the 37 art and art history journals found in JStor (at the moment) is Art Bulletin, but not Art History. Besides, JStor does not provide recent issues of any journals it covers.

How to find full texts

Arts & Humanities Citation Index. 1974- (Part of Web of Science.)
Use this database to find references cited by the article you have in hand and those who have cited your article as well.

Area, Country and Cultural Studies
America: History and Life 1964-
Scholarly literature on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada.

Historical Abstracts 1969-
Scholarly literature in European and world history and culture from 1450 to the present. Does not include the United States and Canada.

Bibliography of Asian Studies
An index of Western-language articles, monographs, and book chapters published since 1971.

Index Islamicus
The Index Islamicus covers Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It is produced by the Islamic Bibliography Unit of the Cambridge University Library and indexes articles back to 1906.

PRISMA publicaciones y revistas sociales y humanísticas
full-text scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities for the interdisciplinary academic study of Hispanic and Latin America, and the Caribbean Basin.

A short guide to writing about art (Tisch Reserves: N7476 .B37 2005)
The art of writing about art (Tisch Oversize:  N7475 .H83 2002)