InfoGuides: PHAR 211/212: History and Aesthetics of Photography: Databases: Finding articles, images, and encyclopedias

Last Updated: Feb 5, 2025 11:06 AM

Databases - Best Bets

Databases help you locate a variety of information sources -- basic introductory information on a topic (dictionary/encyclopedias), specific/in depth journal articles, high quality images. Below are selected key databases to assist you with your discovery and research in art history.

Some tips to keep in mind:

Often, you can search multiple databases at once
Think creatively about terms and try different permutations (e.g., some articles/databases might refer to "advertising photography" while some might use “commercial photography”)
Keep a list where you document what terms you searched and where (in which database, catalog, website, etc.) you searched them
Use Boolean operators to construct a powerful search

Smart Searching: Boolean Search
All Library Databases
Not finding what you need in the databases below? Browse this listing of all 200+ library databases to discover somewhere new to search!

Image Databases

Artstor on JSTOR
Artstor includes over 2 million images covering art, architecture, archaeology, and photography; all available for use in research and teaching. Images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, and artists themselves. Please note: As of August 1, 2024, Artstor's content, key resources, and functionality are available exclusively on JSTOR. The stand-alone Artstor website is retired. Please update your bookmarks. DONATED: From the C. B. Neblette Collection on Photography and Reprography and a gift from Harold R. and Marian Condit.
Oxford Art Online
Contains the full text of the entire Dictionary of Art, from prehistory to present. Includes many images.

Museum websites are also a great source for images! Many major museums have options to search their collections online.

News and Newspapers

All News Databases
All news databases available at RIT Libraries

Dictionaries/Encyclopedias

Benezit Dictionary of Artists Online
With nearly 170,000 entries on artists from antiquity to the present day and featuring regular updates, Benezit is one of the most comprehensive and definitive resources on artists.
Oxford Art Online
Contains the full text of the entire Dictionary of Art, from prehistory to present. Includes many images.

Scholarly Article Databases

Remember, not everything in these databases will be scholarly and/or peer-reviewed. Magazine articles and other sources can also be helpful, but be sure to pay attention to the type of information you're examining!

Art & Architecture Source
Art & Architecture Source is the largest full-text art research database covering fine, decorative and commercial art, as well as architecture and architectural design. With strong international coverage, it offers hundreds of full-text art journals, magazines and books, plus detailed indexing and abstracts and thousands of images.
ARTbibliographies Modern
Identifies articles, books, dissertations and exhibition catalogs on modern and contemporary arts dating from the late 19th century to the present.
Arts & Humanities Database
This database has hundreds of titles on art, architecture, design, history, philosophy, music, literature, theater and cultural studies. It has been designed to complement the following bibliographic databases: ABM, Avery, BHA, BHI, DAAI, Index Islamicus, MLA, Philosopher's Index and RILM.
International Bibliography of Art
The Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) is the world's most comprehensive bibliography of scholarly writing about the history of western art. BHA includes articles from over 1,200 journals.
Art and Architecture Archive
A full-text archive of magazines comprising key research material in the fields of art and architecture, dating from the late-nineteenth century to the twenty-first. Subjects covered include fine art, decorative arts, architecture, interior design, industrial design, and photography. Visit this guide for more information.
JSTOR
Features full-text articles (backfiles) of more than 2,800 academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Access includes content from the primary sources collections, multidisciplinary collections, and discipline specific collections. JSTOR also features multimedia content and includes Artstor, a cross-disciplinary collection of over 2 million images for use in research and teaching.
Project MUSE
Full-text access to over 600 high quality, peer reviewed journals from leading scholarly publishers primarily in the humanities and social sciences. We subscribe to the premium collection.

Can't find the full text?

Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan can be used to request a variety of materials including journal articles, physical books, book chapters, conference papers, media, patents, reports, theses and standards documents from RIT Libraries' Offsite Collections and from other libraries worldwide. You can go directly to the website to place your request or click on the [MORE!] button while searching the library databases for an item. Electronic items are delivered in PDF format.