Search Tools
Looking for scholarly articles? Quality images by a specific artist? An exhibition? Primary sources? These resources – specially designed for artists and art research – will help.
Need help deciding? Open a chat or set up a research appointment.
Art Full Text
Indexes articles found in art journals and magazines. Covers the fine and decorative arts, architecture, photography, new media, etc. worldwide. Does not index books or exhibition catalogs, although book reviews and exhibition reviews are included. Full-text is available for almost 50% of the articles. For articles published before 1984 use Art Index Retrospective (1929 - 1984). Both Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective index the Bulletin – Allen Memorial Art Museum (1949-2003).
Searches can be filtered for “Scholarly (Peer reviewed) articles.” Search for artists with the “Artist & Work” field in the drop-down menu. Indexes art reproductions; select reproduction in the “Document Type”search box.
Indexes articles from almost 700 journals that cover art worldwide from prehistory to the 21st century.
BHA: Bibliography of Art (1975-2007)
BHA is a rich resource covering more than twice the journals indexed in IBA: International Bibliography of Art (IBA), its successor. BHA also uses many more subject headings. About half of the abstracts in IBA and BHA are in French. For articles published after 2007 use IBA.
BHA does not have a 360 Link to full text link. Use OBIS or the Journal Finder to find materials listed in BHA.
Covers North American and European art from 300 CE to the present in over 1,200 journals.
Databases A-Z
The Databases A-Z list provides a complete alphabetical list of searchable databases accessible to you through the Oberlin College Libraries. The databases range from those that cover multiple subject areas, e.g. JSTOR or Web of Science, to more narrow research topics, e.g. SOCIndex.
They contain both citations and full text for ebooks, peer reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines, data sets, images, music, primary documents, and more. You will want to use them for finding credible and scholarly materials required for your college research.
If you are unsure which databases are best for your research topic try using the subject and type filters, consult a subject or course guide, Ask a Librarian, or make a research appointment.
Searchable platforms of published, reliable articles, primary sources, books, videos, and audio, covering a wide variety of subject areas.
Journal Finder
The Journal Finder lists in one place every print and electronic journal, magazine, and newspaper available through both paid subscriptions and reputable open access platforms. Use the Journal Finder to see if Oberlin subscribes to these publications, to see if they're available online, or to compare coverage dates across databases or subscription services.
The Journal Finder will not allow you to search by article title to determine if Oberlin owns an item - you must search by publication title (e.g. Nature or The New York Times) and then navigate through the volume and issue and year provided by the citation. If you want to search by article title, search for the article from Summon.
The most authoritative, thorough, and complete list of full-text journals, magazines, and newspapers maintained by the Oberlin College Libraries.
OBIS Catalog
OBIS provides access to print and digital books, databases, audiovisual materials, journals, and course reserves. It is the best place to look up books, recordings, journals, and films by title to determine if you can access an item through Oberlin. To see if Oberlin has access to an individual article, use the journal list. OBIS makes it easier to search by subject heading than Summon does, but it does not index the full-text of any books.
In addition to books available at Oberlin through OBIS, patrons also have access to collections from a number of public, university, and college libraries in the state of Ohio through Oberlin College’s partnership with the OhioLink consortium and SearchOhio.
The online library catalog of all print and electronic materials held by the Oberlin College Libraries.
Indexes the literature on arts from Late Antiquity to the 2007, providing access to close to 1.2 million of bibliographic records of periodicals, books, exhibition and auction catalogues, published between 1910 and 2007.
ARTbibliographies MODERN (1969 to date)
Also indexes exhibition catalogs, books, and essays in books. Search results can be limited to “Peer reviewed.” Use the “Subject/Artist” field when searching for artists.
Warning: The 360 Link to full text link does not work for books or exhibition catalogs; search OBIS for the book title instead.
Indexes 300+ western European and North American art journals from the 19th century to present. Includes fine arts, photography, and new media.
JSTOR Images
Artstor Research Guide
The JSTOR images research guide includes helpful search tips and instructions for setting up groups.
Google vs. JSTOR Images
JSTOR Images (formerly known as ArtSTOR) provides straightforward access to curated images from reliable sources that have been rights-cleared for use in education and research — you are free to use them in papers, presentations, and other educational activities. And unlike results from Google or other search engines, our images come with high-quality metadata from the collection catalogers, curators, institutions, and artists themselves.
Images of objects created around the world from the ancient times to the 21st century. Over 2.5 million images grouped into over 300 collections. Previously called Artstor.
Grove Art Online
The most comprehensive visual arts encyclopedia available in English – covers all aspects of the visual arts worldwide. Nearly 7,000 international scholars have contributed 30,000 signed and peer-reviewed essays with bibliographies of key texts to begin research.
Grove Art covers artists, architects, craftsmen, patrons, movements, and periods for major cities, and every region, state/provenance, country, and continent.
Visual arts is broadly defined to include architecture, the fine arts (drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking) as well as the decorative arts (jewelry, furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, fashion, etc.), landscape architecture, photography, and new media (installation art, land art, performance art, video art, intermedia, etc.).
The most comprehensive encyclopedia of the visual arts in English. Useful for its scholarly overviews of key topics and excellent bibliographies.
IBA: International Bibliography of Art (2008 to date)
Use IBA when researching European art since antiquity, American art since the colonial period, and Global art after 1945. IBA indexes 500 core journals, with an emphasis on specialist and rare titles that are not covered by other indexes, plus detailed coverage of monographs, essay collections, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalogues.
About half of the abstracts in IBA and BHA are in French.
For articles published before 2008 use OpenBibArt (1910-2007).
Warning: The 360 Link to full text link only works for journal articles. To find books, conference proceedings, or exhibition catalogs search OBIS by title.
Covers decorative arts, antiques, museum studies, conservation, archaeology, material culture, folk art, and Architectural history.
Kubikat
Use Kubikat when researching Renaissance or Baroque art and architecture. It collects, in a single database, the catalogs of four important German art history research institutes. It lists books as well as journal articles and book chapters. Since Kubikat does not include full-text, search OBIS or the Journal Finder to locate materials found in Kubikat.
In 2020, Kubikat contained more than two million records including 990,000 articles in scholarly periodicals, conference papers, commemorative volumes (Festschriften), and exhibition catalogs.
Books and journal articles on Renaissance or Baroque art and architecture. Includes catalogs of four key German art history research institutes.