Scholarly Articles

Search Strategies

Customize your search to improve results.
HINT: This is where brainstorming a list of keywords related to your topic comes in handy!

“ ” Group keywords with quotation marks to search as an exact phrase.
Example: “the night watchman”

* Use the asterisk if you want to search multiple iterations of a keyword.
Example: sculpt* = sculpture, sculptors, sculpted

& Use AND to combine several keywords or phrases.
Example: "Ai Wei Wei" AND installation

+ Use OR to search for information about one term, and also articles about another term.
Example: sustainable OR eco-friendly

- Use NOT to search for information about one term, while excluding another term
Example: Michaelangelo NOT turtle

Advanced Search features make it easy to narrow a large result list. For example:

Subject links limit results to a specific topic or discipline

Specify a publication date range

Search within the title of an article, the summary or the entire text

Library Catalog

Browsing for books and articles? Search Catalog+ to find a variety of resources all in one place:

Looking for a specific book title or author? Search the Classic Catalog below:

What makes an article scholarly?

It is written by an academic
It is published in an academic journal
It contains citations
It has been through Peer Review

Why use scholarly sources?

They are more credible than other sources
They have been thoroughly researched
The bibliographies lead to more sources

Recommended Databases

Use these databases to find scholarly articles on modern and contemporary art.

Art and Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
EBSCO database containing images in addition to full-text journals and books covering fine, decorative, and commercial art as well as architectural history and design from around the world.
Art and Architecture Source covers a broad range of related subjects from fine, decorative, and commercial art to various areas of architecture and architectural design. The database contains over 63,000 images dating back to 1914 and hundreds of full-text journals and books in various languages, including French and German. For help using EBSCO databases, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Database containing full-text articles from scholarly journals and images from institutions around the world covering a variety of subjects.
JSTOR includes digitized articles from back issues of academic journals as well as book chapters, ebooks, abstracts, and primary sources from the humanities and social sciences. For help using JSTOR, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
An encyclopedic resource covering the history of art with an emphasis on western art.
Oxford Art Online is comprised of the Oxford Dictionary of Art, the Grove Encyclopedia of Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Oxford Companion to Western Art and includes an image library. This database provides peer-reviewed articles written by experts in the field to introduce key topics, themes, figures, and movements in the history of art. For help using Oxford Art Online, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and RILA This link opens in a new window
BHA and RILA cover European and American visual arts material including articles from over 1,200 journals. These citation databases, searchable together, cover material published between 1975 and 2007.
Bibliography of the History of Art contains over 1,200 abstracts from European and America art literature from 1975 to 2007. For help using Getty Research Institute resources, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
Rhizome This link opens in a new window
Online archive of born-digital art and culture.
Rhizome, affiliated with the New Museum, includes ArtBase which documents new media artworks. The site also publishes blog posts, job announcements, and other opportunities to engage with new media art. For help using Rhizome, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
Smarthistory This link opens in a new window
Online art history textbook containing hundreds of videos, essays, and images of major periods, themes, and artists around the world from ancient to contemporary.
Heilbrunn Timeline This link opens in a new window
Interactive timeline of global art history illustrated by items in The Met's collection and accompanied by essays by experts.
The Metropolitan Museum of Arts Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History presents a thematic, chronological, and geographical exploration of global art history through The Met's collections. This platform is a reference, research, and teaching tool for students and scholars of art history. The timeline currently comprises more than 1,000 essays, 8,000 works of art, 300 chronologies, and 3,700 keywords. Essays focus on specific themes in art history, including artistic movements and artists; historical and archaeological sites; empires and civilizations; recurrent themes and concepts; and media and material. Works of art from around the world and from all eras are contextualized chronologically, geographically, and thematically. Chronologies provide a linear outline of art history by geographical region and each include representative works of art, a timeline, an overview, and key events. Keywordscategorized by art movement, style, creator, geography, time period, material and technique, object, and subject matterfurther connect chronologies, essays, and works of art.

Working From Off-Campus

You can use SCAD databases from any computer!

Select your database by clicking on its name

For ID Number, use the 9-digit number located on the front of your SCAD ID card

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