Simpson Library: Art & Art History: Databases &amp; Articles

Using Databases

Simpson Library subscribes to more than 200 databases.

In these databases, you'll find...

scholarly journals
newspapers
magazines
e-books
videos

...and various other kinds of information sources.

Most of our databases, but not all, can be searched simultaneously using the library search box.

Art and Art History Databases

Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
(1984 to date; full-text coverage begins in 1995)
Indexes a broad range of some 600 magazines and journals in the arts. See also Art Index Retrospective.
Art Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
(1929 to 1984)
Predecessor to Art Full Text.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is more than just a database of scholarly journal articles. It also contains the entire Artstor collection, comprising more than two million images of artworks.

MetPublications
Publications from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including Metropolitan Museum Journal, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, and hundreds of e-books.
Bibliography of the History of Art
An index to books and articles in art history that were published between 1975 and 2007. This free database does not contain full-text articles or books.

Other Useful Databases

Art & Architecture ePortal This link opens in a new window
Contains nearly 350 e-books related to the history of art, architecture, decorative arts, photography, and design.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index This link opens in a new window
An index to millions of biographical sketches in hundreds of reference books and other sources. To use the index, 1) Look up your name. 2) Note the various titles that contain information on the person. 3) Use the Library's online catalog to locate the reference works. An excellent place to begin biographical research on living and deceased persons from around the world.
Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
"Offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works."
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
(1907-1984)
Indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
(indexing: 1984 to date; select full text: 1995 to date)
Indexes some 600 journals in the humanities.
Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
(coverage varies; approximately 1985 to date)
Provides the full text of hundreds of magazines, journals, books, and other works.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
(archived publications from the 1800s to the last 1-5 years).
A full-text collection of scholarly journals in a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. To focus your search, use the Advanced Search and the "narrow by discipline" and "language" limiters.
MasterFILE Premier This link opens in a new window
(coverage varies by publication)
Furnishes full-text coverage of thousands of reference books, biographies, and primary source documents.
Nexis Uni (LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
(coverage varies; mostly 1980s to date)
Contains full-text articles from newspapers, magazines, legal and business sources, reference books, and other works.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
(coverage varies; mostly 1995 to date)
Provides online access to more than 400 scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Magazines vs. Journals

Magazines are periodicals that are generally popular in nature, unlike journals, which are usually more scholarly and specialized. Here are some differences between the two:

♦ Appearance

Magazine: Glossy; pictures often in color.

Journal: More serious look; few pictures, if any.

♦ Content

Magazine: Current events; general interest.

Journal: More specialized; research topics.

♦ Audience

Magazine: General public.

Journal: Scholars and researchers in a particular field.

♦ Style

Magazine: Written for the average reader.

Journal: Written for others in the field; shows research.

♦ Foot / Endnotes and Bibliographies

Magazine: Few notes, if any. No bibliographies.

Journal: Includes notes and sometimes bibliographies.

♦ Advertisements

Magazine: Many ads, often in color.

Journal: Few or no ads. If any, they are usually for books.

Subject Guide

Peter Catlin

he/him

Email Me

Subjects: Art and Art History, Historic Preservation, History and American Studies, Music

Finding special types of articles

Book reviews
Book reviews tell you about relevant books, and help you decide whether you should read those books. To find them, use the library search box. On the search results page, under "Refine My Results," click on "Resource Type," then click on "Reviews."

For more information about finding book reviews, see the Book Reviews guide:

Book Reviews
by Peter Catlin Last Updated Aug 28, 2024 19 views this year

Exhibition reviews
To find reviews of art exhibitions, add the words "exhibition" and "review" to your search. For example, to find reviews of exhibitions of Impressionist art, search for impressionism exhibition review.