This document provides a guide to basic research resources for undergraduate art history students. It outlines the steps of the research process from exploring the topic to citing sources. Key resources discussed include the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, Oxford Art Online, library catalogues, databases like JSTOR and Art Index, and strategies for modifying searches when initial results are limited. The guide aims to equip students with effective research methods for writing art history papers.

1. Art history: a guide to basic research resources
Ching-Jung Chen
City College of New York, New York, NY, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present basic resources and practical strategies for undergraduate art history research.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the author’s experience as both an art librarian and instructor for a core requirement art
history course.
Findings – The plan detailed in this paper covers every step of the research process, from exploring the topic to citing the sources. The resources listed,
which include subscription databases as well as public web sites, are deliberately limited to a manageable number. Additional topics include defining
the scope of inquiry and making appropriate use of internet resources such as Wikipedia.
Originality/value – The paper provides the academic librarian with clear guidance on basic research resources in art history.
Keywords Arts, History, Undergraduates, Research, Resources, Academic libraries
Paper type General review
As a branch of the liberal arts education, art history courses
are widely offered as part of the core curriculum for
undergraduate studies. Yet many of the students writing art
history papers are not art majors and are unfamiliar with
resources in art history. Even for art majors, research is often
conducted in a haphazard manner, the outcome depending as
much on luck as on skills. This paper presents a practical and
methodical guide to undergraduate art history research. The
strategies detailed here are based on discussions with art
history professors and students as well as my experience as an
art librarian and instructor of an art history survey course[1].
Despite the profusion of online subject guides, none offers a
step-by-step guide to basic research about art or provides
undergraduates with effective research strategies. The
numerous guides to art history with links to hundreds of
resources maintained by research universities and leading
museums are generally not suitable for students in survey
courses, who are often overwhelmed by the complexity and
richness of materials in those comprehensive guides[2].
Furthermore, many of the most popular sites listed in online
subject guides, such as the amazing Art History Resources on
the Web created by Christopher Witcombe (2009), are not
useful for students who are simply looking for a few books and
journal articles to write an undergraduate museum paper.
Bibliographic instruction offered by academic librarians
provides a road map to the resources in the library. The
typical library instruction, organized by the type of reference
tools and focusing on subscription databases, does not
adequately prepare students to undertake research
independently. Many students remain vague about the most
effective sequence of steps to take. In their bibliographies,
they often list whatever turns up first in their searches. In
addition, they are easily stumped by obscure topics which
demand more than a few obvious searches in the obvious
databases.
The strategies detailed in this paper cover every step of the
research process, from exploring the topic to citing the
sources. The resources listed, which include subscription
databases as well as public web sites, are deliberately limited
to a manageable number. Additional topics include defining
the scope of inquiry, conveying the correct attitude towards
research, and making appropriate use of internet resources
such as Wikipedia.
The first, and most important, part of the research process
concerns exploring the topic, defining the scope of inquiry, and
compiling a list of search terms. This preparatory step, one that
is often missed in library instruction, must take place before
searching for books and journal articles. In other words,
students need to learn enough about the topic of the assignment
to lay the groundwork for further research. The best starting
points for this task are the web site of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (n.d.) in New York and Oxford Art Online.
The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, part of the vast
resources available to the public on the web site of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a chronological,
geographical, and thematic exploration of art history from
around the world as illustrated by the collection of the
Museum (www.metmuseum.org/toah). Written by the
Museum’s curatorial, conservation, and education staff, the
Timeline provides reliable, scholarly information in an
accessible language. It is beautifully designed, illustrated
with full-size images, and easy to navigate. An excellent
introduction to cultural and historical backgrounds from
prehistory to the present, it is a very useful guide for today’s
students, whose knowledge of world history and geography is
often uncertain. Students should be reminded, however, to
explore the Timeline from all the entry points (Works of Art,
Timelines and Maps, Exploring Particular Themes, Indexes
and Search) because they might not know enough about their
topics to look in the right periods or themes.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0160-4953.htm
Collection Building
28/3 (2009) 122–125
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0160-4953]
[DOI 10.1108/01604950910971152]
Received: February 2009
Revised: March 2009
Accepted: March 2009
122

2. Oxford Art Online, a subscription database, includes
several different reference works, the most important among
them the 34-volume Grove Dictionary of Art. It is one of the
best reference tools in art history with extensive articles
written by experts in the field. In addition to articles on
individual artists, students can look up particular topics in art
forms (e.g., ceramics, mosaics, or photography), geography,
styles and cultures, and time periods. The bibliography at the
end of each article is particularly useful in guiding students
towards other material on the topic.
To define the scope of inquiry and compile search terms for
A Vase with Flowers by Jacob Vosmaer in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, for example, one should first look the work
up on the online Collection Database of the museum
(www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/).
In addition to basic facts, the entry for this painting provides
information on its provenance, exhibitions, and references.
This painting is also featured in the Timeline of Art History
with two related essays: “Low Countries, 1600-1800” and
“Still Life Painting in Northern Europe.” Reading through
these pages will help situate this painting in its artistic,
cultural, and historical context. One learns that the painter
Vosmaer is from Delft. Flower pieces like this are a sub genre
of still life paintings which became popular in the Dutch
Republic in the 17th century. Based on these initial readings,
one can build a tentative list of search terms including the
name of the painter Jacob Vosmaer, the title A Vase with
Flowers (which the student will learn is not a useful search
term), still life, flower painting/piece, Low Countries, Delft,
and 17th century.
It is a common misconception of beginning students that
completing their assignment calls for only articles or passages
in books which focus on the particular work of art about
which they are writing. Instinctively limiting their searches to
the name of the artist and the title of the art work, they are
easily stumped if nothing turns up. While information specific
to their topic is certainly useful, it is not necessary to write a
good paper. What is necessary are materials that help them
understand and appreciate the art object in question. The first
task of students, therefore, is to think about what kind of
information can be used to approach the subject intelligently.
In addition to facts and interpretations about the work and
the artist, knowledge relating to the artistic and cultural
context will contribute to an understanding of their topic. For
an anonymous painting showing the Sixth Chan Patriarch, for
example, information about the historical backgrounds “Song
dynasty” and “Chan Buddhism”, the genre “portraiture”, and
the medium “hanging scroll” could all be used to explain the
visual and contextual significance of the painting. In general,
proper search terms could include, in addition to the name of
the artist if known and the title if appropriate, the subject of
the work (which is not always the title), geographic area,
medium, and art historical styles/periods such as “Baroque”,
“Edo”, or “Impressionism”. This is especially critical for
anonymous works or works by obscure artists.
In the case of obscure art works or topics on which no
useful information can be found on Oxford Art Online, The
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, or the web site of the
museums that hold the material are other resources that can
be consulted. The name of the artist, if known, can be
checked in ULAN, Bénézit, or Thieme-Becker. ULAN, the
union list of artist names, is an online resource from the Getty
Vocabulary Program (www.getty.edu/research/conducting_
research/vocabularies/ulan/). With superb coverage on
western artists, its entry is often the only information one
can find on minor contemporary artists. ULAN, however, is
relatively weak on non-western artists. The 14-volume
Dictionary of Artists (Bénézit), the first English edition
published in 2006, and 37-volume Allgemeines Lexikon
(Thieme/Becker) are both excellent sources for older little
known artists[3]. The strength of these three reference works
is their comprehensive coverage. Entries tend to be short.
Bénézit, for example, provides basic biographical information,
specialties, birth and death dates, locations of works, and
price records. Because they are printed resources, Bénézit and
Thieme-Becker are rarely used by undergraduate students.
But they are the best general dictionaries for obscure artists. If
one cannot find a name in ULAN, Bénézit, or Thieme-
Becker, one has to look in specialized sources such as A
Dictionary of Japanese Artists by Laurance Roberts, which lies
beyond the scope of this article.
Students’ first choice of research tools, Google, is actually
the best starting point for obscure subjects. The problem with
Google, or any other internet search engines, is of course the
reliability of the information retrieved. The open-edit, online
encyclopedia Wikipedia exemplifies the democratic character
of the internet, which, unfortunately, also makes the accuracy
and authenticity of its content uncertain. Since most students
will not bother to ascertain the reliability of web sites, they
should be warned to approach with caution any public web
sites except those maintained by museums, libraries, and
other cultural organizations[4]. Advise students that they
should not base their paper on information that cannot be
verified from reliable sources. For example, to research an
Asmat Bis pole in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on which
not much useful information can be found from Oxford Art
Online, the student can get a lead from the bibliography,
which lists two books, in the article on “Bisj Pole” in
Wikipedia. The student can also try to search by “Bisj Pole”
as well as “Bis Pole”. In addition, the content of the
Wikipedia article can be used as tips for possible approaches
to this object, but not as a source for the actual paper.
Only after acquiring some basic understanding about their
topics will the student be ready to search the various
databases for materials to write their papers, which, in the
discipline of art history, means books and articles. Almost all
professors require at least three printed sources for the papers.
Some will ban online resources, including articles from
Wikipedia, altogether. Moreover, except for those enrolled at
big research universities, most students will need books not
available in their college libraries. Therefore, they need to
learn about World Cat as well as their own library catalogue.
In addition to books retrieved by using the search terms
compiled earlier, students should look up a particular type of
publication very important for the study of art history -
catalogues of exhibitions, collections, or complete works (or
paintings, drawings, prints) of an individual artist, known as
catalogues raisonnés. If basic information on a particular art
work is not found on the web site of the repository, it might be
published in the collection catalogues of the museum.
Exhibition catalogues and catalogues raisonnés are often the
best sources of information about a given work, providing
detailed discussion as well as a bibliography. Special care
should be taken to show students how to locate useful
catalogues by applying various combinations of “catalogues”,
exhibitions”, and the names of the artist or collections.
Art history: a guide to basic research resources
Ching-Jung Chen
Collection Building
Volume 28 · Number 3 · 2009 · 122–125
123

3. A combined search of “Metropolitan Museum of Art”,
“catalogues”, and “Canaletto”, for example, will turn up a
catalogue for an exhibition on Canaletto held in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1989.
For journal articles, students should start with JSTOR.
Even though it extends well beyond the fine arts and indexes
only a limited number of art periodicals, JSTOR covers the
most important journals in art history, including the official
publications of the College Art Association and many leading
museums. Therefore, citations in JSTOR tend to be
substantial, scholarly articles are excellent for research
purposes. The problem with JSTOR is, of course, the
moving wall, the gap between the last issue available in
JSTOR and the most recently published issue of a journal.
Students should be made aware of the moving walls in
JSTOR, which range from zero to ten years, because it can be
a problem, especially for contemporary topics. Besides
JSTOR, students should also look at Wilson Art Index.
Indexing and abstracting 460 art journals and magazines,
Wilson Art Index is the most comprehensive index to fine art
literature including Art Full Text, Art Index, and Art
Retrospective[5]. The wide range of publications indexed,
including scholarly peer-reviewed journals as well as popular
art magazines, makes Wilson Art Index a standard tool for art
historical research.
Another important resource is Google Scholar, which offers
a free indexing service to books and journal articles across
disciplines in a familiar, easy-to-use interface. Because of its
powerful software, it will turn up pertinent materials which
might otherwise be missed. While its coverage on art history
lags behind Art Index, Google Scholar is especially useful for
relevant articles published in journals outside the humanities
and the arts[6].
Another importance resource often overlooked by
undergraduates is the bibliographies found in writings on
the subject. For art works in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the bibliographies in the Collection Database often
provide excellent leads for pertinent materials. Most articles
on Oxford Art Online end with a bibliography listing the most
important works on the topic. In addition to bibliographies in
books, articles, or web pages, textbooks are excellent places to
look for useful citations. Art historians have long relied on
bibliographies in their research. Students should follow the
lead of their teachers and make a habit of compiling
bibliographies from their sources.
It is important for students to develop the attitude that
database searching does not end simply because nothing turns
up. No hits does not mean that there is nothing relevant in the
particular database, but that the search needs to be modified.
The reason could be as simple as the wrong search type,
incorrect spelling, different systems of transliteration, or
change of country names. For Chinese terms, for example, try
the Wade Giles Romanization system if Pinyin yields no
results. The names of many geographic entities in Africa and
Oceania have changed in the second half of the twentieth
century and both old and new names should be employed in
searches.
Many students instinctively type the title of the work into
the search box, which would result in a plethora of irrelevant
hits for titles such as “A Vase with Flowers”. Through
practice, students will learn whether the title of the work is an
appropriate search term. Too many or too few search terms
cause problems as well. By experimenting with different mixes
of terms, students will learn to find the optimal combination.
It is important to be flexible and creative. When nothing
appears to have been written on a given topic, one has to
search for more generally appropriate materials. If one cannot
find any information on the flower piece by Jacob Vosmaer,
for example, writings about another flower piece by the same
artist or others from the same culture might help one
understand this particular painting and be used to write the
paper. For a clay figurine of a female dancer from the Western
Han China, what was written about a jade dancer from the
same period with the same long sweeping sleeves, might
contain materials applicable to the clay lady. One can also
create materials by comparing works of the same subject or
style. ARTstor, a vast library of digital images, is the best tool
for locating comparable works[7].
When it comes to the actual writing of the paper, the best
resource is Writing about Art, a public web site created by
Professor Marjorie Munsterberg (2008) who teaches a course
of the same name at the City College of New York. In
addition to chapters on different approaches encountered in
undergraduate art history classes, the appendices contain
step-by-step guides to the writing and research processes.
Most students will find indispensable the “Citation Forms”
section, which breaks down different components of the
citation and provides clear instructions for compiling the
bibliography and footnote.
Students will benefit from the strategies described in this
paper beyond art history classrooms. In addition to database
searching skills that can be applied to other disciplines,
students learn valuable lessons through the research
experience. The most important lesson is to keep trying,
not to give up upon encountering the first obstacles, and not
to expect instant gratification. The process of research entails
labor beyond typing on the keyboard. It entails running up
and down the library and opening up books and journals. One
should not expect to find what one is looking for
instantaneously. A promising title might not yield any useful
material - this is a normal process of research. Unsuccessful
searches should not be seen as efforts wasted, but experience
gained. One should keep looking and thinking - and learning
from the looking and thinking. Ultimately, students learn the
reward of perseverance and acquire critical thinking skills,
lessons that will benefit them for life.
Notes
1 Recent literature relating to the study of art history tends
to focus on the research needs of art historians – for
example, Elam (2007), Beaudoin (2005) and Rose
(2002). The latest publications devoted to the
information needs of art history students, on the other
hand, date from the early 1990s. See, for example, Likness
(1993) and van Jacob (1993).
2 These guides, however, are a great resource for librarians.
The most useful ones include those maintained by the
Yale University Library (www.library.yale.edu/art/
subjectguides/arthist/art.hist.guide_frontpg.htm), UC
Berkeley Library (www.lib.berkeley.edu/ARTH/
researchresources.html), and the Metropolitan Museum
of New York (www.metmuseum.org/education/
er_online_resourc.asp).
Art history: a guide to basic research resources
Ching-Jung Chen
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Volume 28 · Number 3 · 2009 · 122–125
124

4. 3 Bénézit (2006), Thieme (1907). Thieme-Becker is being
supplemented by Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon
Internationale Künstlerdatenbank (1992-).
4 For practical guidelines on navigating the internet, see UC
Berkeley Library, “Evaluating Web Pages”, and Havard
College Library, “A Scholarly Guide to Google”.
5 In addition to JSTOR and Art Index, highly motivated
students can also look up Bibliography of the History of
Art, Academic Search Premier, or Project Muse.
6 Noll, H.M. (2008). For the adoption of Google Scholar
within academia, see Neuhaus et al. (2008).
7 Art images are easily available online through Google
Images. However, they are as likely to turn up as
somebody’s vacation photos in image search engines.
Therefore, students should try ARTstor first. Web Gallery
of Art is an useful resource if ARTstor is not available.
References
Beaudoin, J. (2005), “Image and text: a review of the
literature concerning the information needs and research
behaviors of art historians”, Art Documentation, Vol. 24,
pp. 34-7.
Bénézit, E. (2006), Dictionary of Artists, Gründ, Paris.
Elam, B. (2007), “Readiness or avoidance: e-resources and
the art historian”, Collection Building, Vol. 26, pp. 4-6.
Likness, C.S. (1993), “Can we talk? Or, what do art history
undergraduates really need to know about the library”, Art
Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 29-36.
(The) Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.), Heilbrunn Timeline
of Art History, available at: www.metmuseum.org/toah
Munsterberg, M. (2008), Writing About Art, available at www.
writingaboutart.org/
Museum of Art, Collection Database (n.d.), The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Collection Database, available at: www.
metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/
Neuhaus, C., Neuhaus, E. and Asher, A. (2008), “Google
scholar goes to school: the presence of Google Scholar on
college and university web sites”, The Journal of Academic
Librarianship, Vol. 34, pp. 39-51.
Noll, H.M. (2008), “Where Google stands on art: an
evaluation of content coverage in online databases”,
Master’s thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, NC.
Rose, T. (2002), “Technology’s impact on the information-
seeking behavior of art historians”, Art Documentation,
Vol. 21, pp. 35-42.
Thieme, U. (1907), Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler,
Engelmann, Leipzig.
van Jacob, S.J. (1993), “Integrating library instruction into an
undergraduate art historical methods course”, Art Reference
Services Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 53-64.
Witcombe, C. (2009), Art History Resources on the Web,
available at: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
Further reading
(The) Getty Research Institute (n.d.), ULAN, The Union
List of Artist Names, available at: www.getty.edu/research/
conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/
Harvard College Library (n.d.), “A Scholarly Guide to
Google”, available at: http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/
guides/google
(The) Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.), “Online
resources”, available at: www.metmuseum.org/education/
er_online_ resourc.asp
UC Berkeley Library (n.d.), “Evaluating web pages”,
available at: www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/
Internet/Evaluate.html
Wayne, K. (2009), “Key resources for art historical research-a
brief guide”, available at: www.lib.berkeley.edu/ARTH/
researchresources.html
Web Gallery of Art (n.d.), Web Gallery of Art, available at:
www.wga.hu
Yale University Library (n.d.), “Art history research guide”,
available at: www.library.yale.edu/art/subjectguides/arthist/
art.hist.guide_frontpg.htm
Corresponding author
Ching-Jung Chen can be contacted at: cchen@ccny.cuny.edu
Art history: a guide to basic research resources
Ching-Jung Chen
Collection Building
Volume 28 · Number 3 · 2009 · 122–125
125
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