This guide is intended to help students with their BFA thesis research. Please use this guide as a refresher for library skills shared during class, as well as for additional research guidance. Remember, if you need more help, you can always contact Karen -- see the right sidebar.
As you're moving toward graduate-level studies, it's helpful to start learning about what kinds of information tend to be found in which sources. Here's a crash course, based on your BFA Thesis class.
Background or a broad view of your topic: Usually found in books. (Sample question: What is Impressionism?)
Definitions of art terms; background; artists' biographies: (Sample questions: What is the Heidelberg School? Where did Ronald Chee grow up?)
Includes Grove Art Online (a comprehensive online encyclopedia of the visual arts including articles, biographies, and images), Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Oxford Art Online contains many images of art that are not available freely online. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Scholarly/peer-reviewed articles on your topic: (Sample question: Do experts believe that Van Gogh's work was influenced by the Italian Masters?)
A large collection of full-text interdisciplinary scholarly journals and books, with journal content, often extending to the first volume of a periodical. Auraria Library supplies access to these JSTOR collections: Arts & Sciences; Life Sciences, Biological Sciences; and the Health & General Sciences Collection.
Commentary from art critics: (Sample question: What did the New York Times' art critic think of Ronald Chee's latest gallery show?)
High-resolution images of art, along with basic information on the pieces shown:
