For a good "quick-start" guide to library research, you can also refer to our section on Painless Library Research, which will guide you through the process of locating books, periodicals, web sources, and more (like citing sources).

Books:

Reference Books are a great way to start any research. Warren Wilson College has a good collection of reference books on art. These are all in the 700's area behind the Reference Desk on the main floor of the library. Here is a list of selected Reference Books.

Reference books, as well as all of our other books (and videos, DVDs, and CDs) can also be found through our Online Catalog.
A large collection of over 50,000 full-text electronic books can be found at NetLibrary. We also have other collections of E-Books.

To find books in other libraries:
Other Library Catalogs -- ABLS, UNCA, UNC-CH, etc.
WorldCat -- Searches the collections of libraries all over the world and indexes books, audiovisuals, & archival and manuscript materials.

To get materials from other libraries, request them through Interlibrary Loan.

Periodicals (Magazines & Journals):

We have over 10,000 periodical subscriptions online.

• JSTOR

• Proquest Research Library

• Academic Search Premier

• MasterFILE Premier

• The New York Times -- The leading national newspaper, with full coverage from 1999 to the present.

• The New York Times Historical -- Full coverage from 1851 to 1999. A good place to look for both biographical and critical info.

• groveart.com  This is the online version of the Grove Dictionary of Art, located in our Reference Collection, call # R 703 D554 1996 (34 v.)

• Encyclopaedia Britannica Online  We also have this in the paper edition on the reference shelves (Call # R 030 B862). It's another good place to look early on in your research.

• Humanities Index--citations to articles in many of the world's leading arts and humanities journals.

• Arts & Humanities Search--yet another index of articles in arts and humanities journals.

• American National Biography A great biographical resource (only includes deceased figures). Includes linked cross-references, bibliographies, and links to selected web sites.

• Biography Resource Center  This will help you find brief and scholarly information about well known artists.

• Art Index  This is a PAPER index for the arts that we have in our Reference Collection for the years 1965-1985 (call # is INDEX TABLE R 050 A784). Like in the old days, you will have to look at each individual volume to see if there was anything written on your topic in a particular year. You can also use the online Art Abstracts at the UNCA Library.

• ARTstor  A repository of approximately 300,000 images covering art, architecture and archeology.

• CAMIO Art Images   Another large database of art images.

• Artchive -- see the section of "Theory & Criticism"

• Artcyclopedia

• Our library's links to a variety of art-related sites