Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary - good for nearly all subjects. Scholarly and trade journals, popular magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, book reviews, and more.
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Index to research on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexes articles and book reviews from more than 1,700 journals published in more than 40 languages. Dates of Coverage: 1964 to date
- Art Full Text (1984 to date) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 350 art magazines and journals covering pre-historic to contemporary art. Some full text from 1995-date. For earlier dates search its companion database the Art Index Retrospective. Searching both databases simultaneously for publications dated 1929 to the present. Both databases index the Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin.
- Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 350 art magazines and journals covering pre-history to contemporary art. Indexes the Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin.
- Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) (1975-2007) This link opens in a new window
Index to 1,200+ North American and European Journals covering Western Art from ca. 300 CE to present.
- International Bibliography of Art (2008 to date) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 500 journals covering European art since antiquity, American art sincle the colonial period, and Global art since 1945. Preceded by OpenBibArt.
- Design & Applied Arts Index This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, news items, and reviews. Broad range of materials are covered, from textiles and ceramics to glass, wood, and metal. Topics include jewelry, furniture, fashion, typography, landscape architecture, web and computer-aided design, computer graphics, and animation, plus business-oriented subjects such as advertising, packaging, and industrial design. Dates of coverage: 1973 to date
Searching OBIS
OBIS -- Start your search in OBIS. The concepts below transfer to all the other databases on this tab.
Each database on this tab has their own, unique, set of subject headings and can be searched by subject or keyword.
Subject headings are created by librarians to organize and increase the relevance of search results, as illustrated by these two examples: Women's clothing Men's clothing
Browse subjects for relevant material (the highlighted subjects below link to OBIS searches)
| Clothing (specific) | Visual Culture (broad) | Period (century, decade, etc.) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawls | Social Life and Customs | 19th century [or 18th century, 17th century, etc.] | Beijing |
| Buttons | Pictorial works | Harlem Renaissance | China |
| Shoes | Peasants | nineteenth century [or eighteenth century, seventeenth century, etc.] | Haiti |
| Saris | Children | Medieval | New York city |
| Jewelry | Anthropology | Renaissance | Southeast Asia |
| Costume | 1950's or nineteen fifties |
Keyword searches work best when combining broad concepts (like those listed above):
Searching Google
When searching Google, keep the following in mind:
- Google cannot be searched for a range of dates (ex: 1950's, 1650-1700, 18th century).
- It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between authentic historic costumes and modern interpretations.
Here are some tips for searching Google
- Find a relevant image and use Google's Image search to for visual matches.
-
Search for a famous person or event to locate images from the correct period, then scan the results for those showing people in dress of the time.