This guide collects Library resources and tips useful for your Object Biography assignment. All links used in class appear on this first page. The other pages provide links to a wealth of art history resources that might help you with your research.
Guide to accessing library resources off campus
Guide to using UC Library Search
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase.
Use AND to search for items with all search words in any order.
Use OR to search for items with at least one search word.
Use a question mark to search for variations of a single character.
(ex: search for "woman", "women", and "womyn".)
Use a wildcard/asterisk to search for variations of multiple characters.
(ex: search for "culture", "cultural", "culturally", etc.)
Use NOT to exclude words or phrases. (ex: search for voodoo but NOT voodoo economics.)
Art-related periodical indexes lead to both popular and scholarly articles in the journal literature. List of Indexes.
Books Search by author, title, keyword, or subject in UC Library Search.
Catalogues Raisonné present the complete works of an artist, often accompanied by a comprehensive bibliography. Search of these in UC Library Search and include 'catalogue raisonne' as a keyword.
Dictionaries (general or subject-specific) can be useful for tracking down unknown or obscure words and terms, and for related terms. Examples include: A Concise Dictionary of the Avant-gardes; The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism; Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art.
Exhibition catalogs contain scholarly essays and high quality images. Search in UC Library Search and include 'exhibition catalog' as a keyword.
Newspaper Articles can be useful when searching for current artists and exhibition reviews. Search in News Databases.
Primary Sources represent first-hand accounts, such as oral histories, personal interviews, an artist's archives, etc. The Bancroft Library, and the Berkeley Art Museum are excellent sources for finding original source material. Also see Calisphere for digitized collections from libraries and archives around California. See the Digital Public Library of America for digital collections from archives and libraries around the U.S. Also search WorldCat and limit to Archival Materials. You may also use an archive directory such as Archive Finder or ArchiveGrid to find archives with relevant holdings.
Reference Sources are sources such as handbooks, dictionaries and encyclopedias. Examples include: Bloomsbury International Encyclopedia of Surrealism; Oxford Art Online. See our guide page on reference works for more information.
