A Library Pathfinder

This Pathfinder provides information on how to locate Allegany College of Maryland Library resources on general topics relating to the visual arts and artists, art history and art criticism. 

To Browse   

To browse the book shelves for Art books: 

See books with call numbers beginning with N.  

To Find Books and Nonprint Materials 

These  are listed in the ACM Library Online Catalog:

Go to the ACM Library Main Page:    http://www.allegany.edu/library/  then click on the box “Library Online Catalog”

You can then choose to search a particular campus collection, e.g., “Bedford County Campus" or “Complete online catalog” or just the "Nonprint collection.”

Note: You may borrow books from any of the campuses.

Subject headings:

Browse

To browse art related subject headings, go to the online library catalog and click on the browse searching box on the left margin, then type “art” (no quote marks needed ) into the search box and scroll down to “subjects” in the menu on the box to the right             

You will get a list of subject headings that you can browse to see the various subjects of books in our library.  Pay attention to any notes e.g. “See also narrower term….”  You can click on any of the headings and get a list of materials that are cataloged under that heading.

Search:

Or, you can search by keyword for specific subjects, such as specific artist’s names (Picasso) or concepts (Impressionism) or (women artists), etc.  Tip:  Be careful using keywords…you can miss some important items by not using the appropriate terms or misspelling a name! Spend some time thinking of alternate keywords that might describe your topic as well as using the Help feature.

Obtaining books from other campuses:

If you located a book from another campus and would like it to be sent to you, follow these steps:

Go to the Library's Online Database page:  http://www.allegany.edu/library/databases.shtml

Scroll down and click on the blue link "Instructions for ordering books through Interlibrary Loan. "  Complete the online form and you will be notified when the book is delivered to your local campus library. 

Some Encyclopedias and Reference Books 

Online:

An encyclopedia is a good place to start a research topic. Encyclopedia Britannica…go to ACM library main page, click on “Britannica Online” box.  You may enter a specific word or words to search in the search box, or scroll down to browse in the A-Z Browse or Subject Browse sections. 

Note:  access to the Online Encyclopedia Britannica is available only using on-campus computers.

Reference Books:

Everett Library (Bedford County Campus):

The Oxford Companion to Art / Ref. N33 .O9 1970

The Oxford Companion to Western Art / Ref. N33 .O923 2001

History of Art : the Western Tradition /  Ref. N5300 .J3 2004

Somerset Campus Library:

The Oxford Companion to Art / Ref. N33 .O9 1970

The Oxford Companion to Western Art / Ref. N33 .O923 2001

Encyclopedia of World Art. Ref. N31 .E4833 v.1+

Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists. Ref. N6536 .C8 1988

Main Library (Cumberland campus):

The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art. Ref. N6505 .B73

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art. Ref. N33 .M23 v.1+

Encyclopaedia of the Arts / Ref.  N31 .E54

The Book of Art; a Pictorial Encyclopedia of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture.   Ref.  N31.B6 v.1+

The Praeger Picture Encyclopedia of Art: a Comprehensive Survey of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Crafts, their Methods, Styles and Technical Terms, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.  Ref. N5300 .P773

Everyman's Dictionary of Pictorial Art.  Ref. N31 .G3 v.1+

Dictionary of Art and Artists    Ref. N31 .M8 1966

The Oxford Dictionary of Art  Ref.  N33 .O93 1997

The Oxford Companion to Western Art  Ref. N33 .O923 2001

The Dictionary of Art  Ref. N31 .D5 1996 v.1+

       Nonprint Sources:

Since nonprint resources (videos, slides, etc.)  are important materials in the visual arts, here are some which you might find useful:

Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting:  Videotape ND50 .S57 1997 v.1+

Note:  Nonprint sources  can be found in the library's online catalog. If you wish to search for only nonprint items, click on the separate databases in the library online catalog for "Nonprint Collection" and/or "Video Collection."    If you wish to browse the shelves, art videos and other nonprint items  will have call numbers beginning with N.

Magazines/Periodicals  

Browsing current periodicals is an excellent way to keep current in a subject area…or a way for you to “be inspired” on a topic for a paper or a  project.

Journals/Periodicals held in Main Library:

Note: Individual issues (except for the current issue) can be borrowed

                                        American Artist

                                American Craft

                                Art in America

                                American Photo

                                Petersen’s Photographic

                                Popular Photography

Specific articles and other types of literature:

To find specific articles from magazines, newspapers and other publications, go to the library website and click on the box “Online Databases”; then you will have a choice. 

 For general articles about a current art exhibition, artist or event, (for example, articles in Time or Newsweek), try searching the Maryland Digital Library.  Click on that, then click on login, (ask  for assistance if you are not sure how to do this!), then select the database Academic Search Premier and use keywords to search for your topic. 

Another source of magazine articles would be the SIRS Knowledge Source.  Click on that box on the Online Databases Webpage and then choose the Sirs Researcher.  If you are not sure how to search, browse the subject headings first, by typing in a term and keeping the “subject” flagged.    If you want to search by keyword, be sure to click on the small circle before  the phrase  “ keyword/natural language”.  (Ask for help if you are not sure how to do this!) 

Important Tip:  In all of these databases, the list of results you get will be lists of citations or references to articles in magazines and other periodicals.  Full-text articles (i.e., copies of the entire originals), may or may not be included with your results.   If the full-text is not available, you can request an interlibrary loan of the article by following the instructions provided on the Online Databases page:  http://www.allegany.edu/library/databases.shtml

Then, scroll down to below the purple boxes and click on the blue  link that has instructions for requesting interlibrary loans for articles.  Follow the instructions to submit your request. (Often, the article  can be photocopied and sent to you via inter-campus courier.)   This may  take some time (ranging from a day or two to several weeks)  …so always allow plenty of time  to gather your research!

Photos and Audio sources:

Are you interested in searching for photos or images on a certain topic?  The Multimedia Archive is a source that might be of help to you.  Click on the box on the Online Databases Webpage.  Be sure to click on the Take a Guided Tour link if it is the first time you are using this source.

Newspapers:

If you are interested in finding newspaper articles about the visual arts, e.g., information on artists, shows, exhibits, etc., try searching the Proquest Newspapers database. This includes the full text of major newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.  Click on the box on the Online Databases Webpage and use keywords to search. 

              Some Web Sites            

Here are a few web sites you might want to browse on this subject.  Click on the links.

    Metropolitan Museum of Art:       http://www.metmuseum.org/

    The Louvre:     http://mistral.culture.fr/louvre/louvrea.htm

     The Web Museum:  http://sunsite.unc.edu/wm/

    The National Gallery of Art:  http://www.nga.gov/

    The National Musuem of Women in the Arts:  http://www.nmwa.org/

    The Baltimore Museum of Art:  http://artbma.org/home.html

    The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden:  http://hirshhorn.si.edu/

    The Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh):  http://www.cmoa.org/

    The Renwick Gallery:  http://americanart.si.edu/

    The National Gallery, London (UK):  http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

    The Prado (Spain; English version website): http://museoprado.mcu.es/ihome.html

Also: check the list of websites on Art listed on the ACM Library website.  From the ACM library main page, click on the box “Websites for Students”, then click on Art for a list of major websites of use to students.

 Another list of resources on the Arts in Maryland can be found by clicking on the "Maryland’s Sailor Information Network" box.  Then click on “Arts”.

Ask for assistance if you need it!

         Searching for these items for the first time can be somewhat confusing,

so don’t hesitate to ask for aid!

Allegany College of Maryland Library

Bedford County Campus (Everett): 814-652-9528 ext. 6206

Somerset County Campus:  814-445-9848 ext/ 6118

Main Library, Cumberland, 301-784-5138

Compiled by C. Prezlock, M.L.S.
ACM, Library, Everett
cprezlock@allegany.edu
6/04 13:01