Art and Design Resources   Tags: architecture, art, artists, design, image, images, subject_guide  

Our library partner, the San Jose Public Library, offers a service called Discover and Go that allows you to download and print free or discount passes to several bay area museums, including the San Jose Museum of Art.  You will need to log in to this service with your SJPL library card number and PIN.  There are a reserved number of tickets available per day, so be sure to log in to the service before the day you wish to go to a venue. 

Books are key resources for Art and Design Research.  The Library Catalog will help you identify the location of books on your topic.  As you search, keep in mind that the catalog records for books are very brief.  If you are seeking books that will contain lots of images, look for titles with "exhibition catalogue" or catalogue raisonne" as part of the record.

You can search catalogs beyond the King Library database to find more books.  Link+ and WorldCAT will broaden your search to show you what other materials exist on the artist you are researching.  With Link+, you can initiate a request online to borrow items.  If you locate items of interest in WorldCAT, you will need to place a request through Interlibrary Services.

Link+ is a borrowing program among many California academic and public libraries — see Link+ Member Libraries. Link+ lets you request items from another library that are not available at the King Library or San José Public Library (SJPL) Branches.

WorldCAT  This is an international database that provides location information for books and serials. 

Greetings!  This guide will help you in choosing resources for researching topics in Art and Design.  Please also see the tabs in the line above for resources on more specific topics.

If you are searching for a topic or beginning to explore a new one, try this process:

Browse for ideas and background in Reference Sources like Oxford Art Online.  If you prefer browsing the physical texts, consult the Grove Dictionary of Art on the 2nd floor in the Reference Area at  N31 .D5 1996.  As you browse, create a list of terms that you find about the topics that interest you.

Search for books on your topic in the Library Catalog database.  If you get "no results" examine your list of possible terms and try expanding your search. 

Search for articles in the art and related databases, such as Art Full Text, Bibliography of the History of Art, and Academic Search Premiere.

All of the Library's databases are listed at this link:  http://libguides.sjsu.edu/a-z

If you would like additional recommendations, please call or e-mail me! 

These databases access the journal literature for Art and Design.

Additional databases for humanities topics:

Newspaper articles can be useful for locating reviews of exhibitions, artist interviews, and biographical information on artists.   You will need to use a variety of databases for complete coverage of newspaper articles.