Research Guides: Studio Art Library Resources: Citation Only Databases

Other Citation-Only Resources

ABIA: South and Southeast Asian Art & Archaeology Index
Coverage of southeast Asian art as well as Afghanistan, South China, and Tibet.
American Art Periodicals
Indexes 19th century American art journals, including illustrations.
ArchiveGrid
Indexes finding aids and other collection descriptions from participating museums and archives worldwide.
Art Sales Catalogues Online
Images of historical art catalogs.
Art Sales Index
Search auction lots by artist name, medium, price, year, and more.
Design & Applied Arts Index
Indexes mostly early 20th century design and craft journals and newspapers.
Dyabola
Search the subject catalogs of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, the Bibliography of Iberian Archaeology from the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid, and the Archaeology of Roman Provinces from RGK Frankfurt.
Film Index International
Indexes films from 170 countries.
The Getty Provenance Databases
Databases for provenance research--archival documents, sale catalogs, and public collections.
Index to Film Periodicals
Indexes film journals and periodicals; has abstracts.
KRPIA
Information on art and architecture of Korea, among other subjects.
SCIPIO: Art & Rare Books Sales Catalogs
Records of art and rare book sales from the 16th century to the present.
Urban Studies Abstracts
Urban affairs, community development, urban history, and more.

Major Resources--Citation

These databases are citation only, which means that when you search for articles or books, the result will be a bibliographic citation of the work and will not link directly to a full-text representation. However, these databases often include a link that will tell you whether or not Princeton has a physical copy in one of the campus libraries. It may seem like more work, but there are lots of great art resources that aren't available online yet! (For searching tips, click on little i next to each link.)

Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
(1973-2009) BHA is the most scholarly art database Princeton owns. It includes records for books and articles and indexes multiple languages. BHA only encompasses Western art, and it also exists in a printed format at Marquand (Z5937.R4).
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Tips on searching the BHA:

1. If you are looking for information on a specific artist or artwork, try using the "Subject" option. When you type in something, like "Picasso," as a "Subject" search, you'll get a list of official BHA headings to choose from, like "Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973." Just click on the one you want and sort the results or search within them!

2. Can't figure out from the title if an article will be useful? Every record on BHA has an abstract giving an overview of the item. Click on the title on the search results page and you'll be taken to the full record of the item.

3. If you click on "Advanced Search," you'll have additional options for searching that include publisher's name, date published, and series name.
Avery Index
(1930s-present) A collection of journal articles dealing with architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation.
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Tips for searching Avery:

1. In addition to journal articles, Avery indexes tons of obituaries of architects, architectural historians, and researchers. These are great sources of information about the lives and work of architects! Try adding "obituary" to the end of your search term.

2. When you search for a term, notice that on the results page to the right of each record is a link called "Discovery Links." If you click on this, the database will provide you with images that relate to your query from ARTstor. Handy!

3. Also notice the "Find it at PUL" buttons next to each record. If you click on one of these, you will have the option to look for the resource in Princeton's main catalog.
ARTbibliographies Modern
(1974-present) Focuses on modern and contemporary art and includes full abstracts. It includes journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews.
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Tips on searching ARTbibliographies Modern:

1. This database is searchable by language! Go to the advanced search page and click on the box that says "Anywhere" for that option.

2. The advanced search option allows field searching, meaning that you can search the different fields or sections of the record: title, author, abstract. If you want a book that is mainly about Vuillard but mentions the Nabis, you could search "Vuillard" as a title but "Nabis" in the abstract.

3. There are some other cool options in the advanced search. You can search by the accession number (the number museums give to works of art) or the gallery name, for instance.
RIBA British Architectural Library Catalog Online
Indexes the architecture periodicals held by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Go to their catalog to view RIBA's books and A/V holdings.
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Tips on searching RIBA:

1. There's an affiliated database called RIBApix. Try this for images of architecture.

2. On the advanced search screen, you can choose to search by collection--including photographs, archives, and drawings.

3. You can also check out the link "E-journals" under "E-Library" to see if you might want to search any of RIBA's journals that are available online.

But Wait, There's More...

PUL has many more databases. If you want to try others, why not check out one of these? And don't forget, if you want to look through a physical copy of a journal, just type it into Princeton's catalog to find out where it is.