Subject Guides: Art & Architectural History: Reference Books and Tools

Library of Congress Subject Call Number Guide

Visual Arts N

Architecture NA

Sculpture NB

Drawing, Design, Illustration NC

Painting ND

Print media NE

Decorative Arts NK

Arts in General NX

Photography TR

Costume, Dress, Fashion GT500

Dance GV1580

Library of Congress Classification-Class N
A detailed list of what you will find under all Fine Art Class "N" subjects. Example: "ND1380-1383 Animals. Birds"

Research Tips

To find a complete list of an artist's body of work, search in Find It! for (Catalogues Raisonnés) AND (the artist's name). For example: [Catalogues Raisonnés and Picasso]

Art History Reference Books

Below are just some of the many useful encyclopedias and general art books that you can find in the Reference section or the Fine Arts Collection of the Bartle Library. These books provide an overview of artworks, artists, art movements, and authoritative bibliographies on many art historical topics.

Encyclopedia of World Art by Bernard Samuel Myers 1908-
Call Number: Bartle Library Reference -- N31 .E56 -- NON-CIRCULATING
Publication Date: 1959-c1987
Benezit Dictionary of Artists by Editions Grund (Editor)
Call Number: Bartle Library Reference -- N40 .D5213 2006 -- NON-CIRCULATING
Publication Date: 2006-06-01

Online Reference

Getty Vocabularies
The Getty Vocabularies are considered one of the international standards for Art Terminology. They include: The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), The Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA), The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN). Look here for the correct name and a short bio of a material, a museum, an artist, or an art movement.

Finding Books

Find It!
Searches the Libraries' catalog and article databases at the same time. To narrow down search results, use the Refine My Results links at the left side of the screen.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
Millions of records cataloged by libraries around the world.
Includes manuscripts written as early as the 11th century. Materials also include books, websites and internet resources, maps, computer programs, musical scores, films and slides, newspaper titles, journal and magazine titles, sound recordings, videotapes, and more.

artdiscovery.net – Virtual Catalogue for Art History
Virtual Catalogue for Art History, an international specialized meta catalogue of art books and related materials.
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Currently, artdiscovery.net gives access to ca. 13 million records (as of September 2012, not counting the targets Google Books and HathiTrust), including a high percentage of records for articles in periodicals, conference papers, festschriften, exhibition catalogues and exhibition books, etc., and an increasing percentage of records for archival and photographic materials as well as for online resources.
Europeana
This online portal offers access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.
Finding and Using E-books
How to use and download ebooks from the Libraries.

Art & Art History Organizations

Get involved with Professional Organizations in your field or interest group. Receive information on conferences, funding, fellowships, and events on the local and national level.

Art History + Museum Professionals:

CAA - College Art Association

SAH - Society of Architectural Historians

ICMA - International Center of Medieval Art

ICOM - International Council of Museums

ARLIS - Art Libraries Society of North America

Artist Organizations + Arts Advocacy Groups:

NEA - National Endowment for the Arts

NYFA - New York Foundation for the Arts

NYSCA - New York State Council on the Arts

AIGA - American Institute of Graphic Arts