Today's Hours:
A secondary source is a source that analyzes or discusses a topic, usually by citing primary sources.
The most common kinds of secondary sources are books and journal articles.
You can find articles using library search box or in the art history databases.
Articles are narrower than books, so in order to find them, you should use narrow search terms.
A good first place to look is the library search box. However, this will find items of all subjects, including items that are irrelevant to art history, so sometimes the relevant items are buried under irrelevant items. Therefore, it's a good idea to also do some searches in the art history databases.
For this class, I recommend these art history databases:
To find books, use the library search box.
Books are broader than articles, so in order to find them, you should use broad search terms.
Here are some official subject terms to get you started.
You can also browse the shelves. I recommend browsing these areas on the second floor:
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N 6280 - N 6320: Romanesque and Gothic Art
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NA 390 - NA 489: Romanesque and Gothic Architecture
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Bear in mind, though, that browsing the shelves will only find books in print. More than half of Simpson Library's books are e-books. You'll need to use the library search box to find e-books.
MetPublications is a free website provided by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Use it to view books published by the Met, including a wide variety of exhibition catalogues.
Many of the books in MetPublications can be viewed online in full text. If the book you want is not available in full text, look for it in the UMW library collection. If UMW doesn't have it, request it from another library via interlibrary loan.
