Library Guides: Art, Art History, and Design: Articles

Art-Focused Article Databases

Art & architecture source This link opens in a new window
Fine, decorative, and commercial art and architecture. Some full-text, some indexing and abstracts. Includes publications from Western Europe. Formerly called Art Source.
ARTbibliographies modern This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs and reviews, and dissertations on modern and contemporary art. Includes photography, performance art, video art, etc.
Art index retrospective This link opens in a new window
BHA and RILA This link opens in a new window
BHA (Bibliography of the History of Art) and RILA (Répertoire de la litterature de l'art) cover European and American visual arts material published between 1975 and 2007. Continued by IBA, International Bibliography of Art (linked above).
Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
Images and information relating to the iconographic traditions of the medieval world. Founded at Princeton in 1917 and formerly called the Index of Christian Art.
Title changed from Index of Christian Art.
International bibliography of art This link opens in a new window
IBA, the successor to BHA (linked below) begins coverage in 2008. It contains citations to art in all media, museum studies and conservation, archaeology and classical studies, material culture and antiques, and architectural history.
SCIPIO: art and rare books sales/auction catalogs This link opens in a new window
Descriptions of art auction and rare book catalogs for sales from the late 16th century to the present.

Design-Specific Articles

DAAI : Design and Applied Arts Index This link opens in a new window
Includes references from more than 500 design and craft journals published between 1973-present, and data on over 50,000 designers, craftspeople, studios, workshops, firms, etc. Includes both graphic and industrial/product design; also ceramics, glass, fashion and clothing, furniture, interior design jewelry, metalsmithing, textiles and wood.
AHR net This link opens in a new window
Includes Design Abstracts Retrospective (1900-1986) and three related databases. Formerly called Arts:Search.

Multidisciplinary Databases with Significant Art/Design Content

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Searches across a wide range of academic literature. Draws on information from journal publishers, university repositories, and other websites that it has identified as scholarly.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text searching of 2,000 digitized scholarly journals. Also includes books, primary sources, and current issues of journals.

News and Popular Press

Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
Full text of more than 350 national and international newspapers. Earliest coverage is from the 1970s; includes today's papers. Text-only, no illustrations.
New York times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Coverage begins in 1851 and continues up to the most recent three years. Newer content is available in Nexis Uni (above). Includes illustrations.

Related Disciplines

America, history and life This link opens in a new window
Covers social science and humanities literature on all aspects of U.S. and Canadian history, culture and current affairs from prehistoric times to the present. Coverage begins with 1964.
ATLA religion database with ATLASerials PLUS This link opens in a new window
Provides citations on topics such as Biblical studies, world religions, Church history and religious perspectives on social issues. Links to many full-text scholarly religion periodicals.
Avery index to architectural periodicals This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation. Most coverage begins in the 1930s, but a few titles date back to the 1740s.
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (see: ATLA religion database with ATLASerials PLUS) This link opens in a new window
Covers periodicals, essay collections, and church/papal documents. The database contains indexing from 1981 to the present; earlier years are available in print (call number: BX 801 .C375).
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Covers European and world political, diplomatic, economic, social, cultural and intellectual history. It is a companion to America: History and Life and covers the world outside of North America, 1450 to the present. The database goes back to 1967, with earlier years (starting in 1955) available in print (call number: D 1 .H673)
International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, notes, and similar literature on medieval subjects in journals, Festschriften, conference proceedings, and collected essays. Covers all aspects of medieval studies within the date range of 400 to 1500 for the entire continent of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for the period before the Muslim conquest and parts of those areas subsequently controlled by Christian powers. Access info: Click on "Enter databases", then select International Medieval Bibliography.
Perseus Project: Art and Archaeology. This link opens in a new window
Presents the art and archaeology section of the Perseus Project at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Contains a search engine for the Project. Notes that the Project contains a library of classical art objects, sites, and buildings. Allows users to search the Project for architecture, coins, vases, and sculpture.

International Center for the Arts of The Americas (ICAA)

Historical Print Indexes

Some important historical art/design indexes are not available online. A few examples:

Index to Art Periodicals by Art Institute of Chicago Ryerson Library
Call Number: N 1 .A1 A68 1962
Publication Date: 1962
Industrial Arts Index by H.W. Wilson Company
Call Number: Z 7913 .In2
Publication Date: 1913-1957.
Répertoire d'art et d'archéologie by Université de Paris Bibliothèque d'art et d'archéologie.
Call Number: N 1 .A1 R47
Publication Date: 1910-1989

Locating Articles: Online and Print

Many journal articles are online and linked, but some are not. In those cases, you will see

Sometimes the Libraries will own the journal in paper, in which case you will see its call number and can find the volumes on the appropriate floor.

At other times, you will need to request the article from a different library, using the Interlibrary Loan service.

Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a system by which libraries share materials with each other.

If people need articles not owned locally, their libraries will use WorldCat to find and borrow them from other libraries.

Notre Dame's ILL service is under "Services" on the library homepage. Follow that link to establish an account, after which placing a request is easy.

The service is free to individuals at Notre Dame.