ArtLex  (free online resource). Definitions for more than 3,600 terms used in discussing art / visual culture, along with thousands of supporting images, pronunciation notes, great quotations and cross-references

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms [electronic resource] / Michael Clarke and Deborah Clarke  Oxford University Press, c2003 Searchable database of over 1,800 terms used in the wide variety of visual media that makes up the art world

Contemporary Artists. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, eds. St. James Press, 2002. 

Main Level, Reference: R 709.22 C767C (2 volumes).

The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists [Oxford Reference Online]  Ann Lee Morgan Oxford University Press, 2007. Searchable online resource with 945 alphabetically-arranged entries offering an insightful and informative view of America's artistic heritage. This biographical and critical guide to American art from colonial times to contemporary postmodernism provides readers with a wealth of factual detail and perceptive analysis of America's leading painters. Prominent sculptors and photographers are also covered as well as contemporary installation artists. The dictionary also provides entries on notable American institutions, organizations, schools, techniques, styles, and movements, while examining important individuals connected to the art scene.--From title screen.

The Oxford Dictionary of Art [Oxford Reference Online].  Ian Chilvers.  Oxford University Press, 2004  3rd ed   Also available in print ; Library's copy is shelved in reference collection main floor R 703.21 Ox2O  This single-volume guide to the art of the Western world "provides a careful balance of fact and critical appraisal, ranging across painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts from classical times to the present." [from publisher's site]

The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists [Oxford Reference Online].  Oxford U. Press, 2009. 4th ed.  Covering Western art from the ancient Greeks to the present day, this best-selling and authoritative dictionary is more wide-ranging than any comparable reference work. It contains over 2,500 clear and concise entries on styles and movements, materials and techniques, and museums and galleries. It also includes biographical entries for artists, critics, collectors, dealers, and patrons, with places and full dates of birth and death (in many instances correcting misinformation that has found its way into other sources). For this new edition, entries have been thoroughly revised and updated, and more than fifty new entries have been added, for example Tracey Emin and Jack Vettriano. (from publisher)

The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists in the 20th Century.   Prestel Verlag Pub., 2000.  

Main Level, Reference:  R 709.04003 P926P

Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers.  Alan and Isabella Livingston. Thames & Hudson, c2003.  

Main Level, Reference: R 741.603 L762T

The Design Encyclopedia. Mel Byars  Wiley, c1994.  

Main Level, Reference: R 745.44403 B99D

A Dictionary of Modern Design [electronic resource] Jonathan M. Woodham.  Oxford University Press, 2004, c2005

Summary: From Art Nouveau to Postmodernism, Benetton to Frank Lloyd Wright, this fascinating dictionary covers the past 150 years of international design, with accessible and succinct entries on ceramics, furniture, graphics, industrial design, interiors, and fashion. Designers and manufacturers feature in a range of biographical entries, and the dictionary's international focus takes in major movements, key concepts, design terminology, and important design institutions, museums, and heritage sites. 

The Dictionary of Art (aka Grove Dictionary of Art). 34 volumes.  Jane Turner, editor.  Grove's Dictionaries, 1996.   Although titled "Dictionary," this 34-volume set is encyclopedic in scope.  

Main Level, Reference: R 703 D561D

The Encyclopedia of Visual Art.  Sir Lawrence Gowing, editor. Prentice-Hall, 1983 (2 volumes).

Main Level, Reference: R 709 En19E

The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art. edited by Gerald W.R. Ward. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.   

Main Level, Reference: R 702.8 G919G 

Art in the Modern Era: A Guide to Styles, Schools & Movements 1860 to the Present.  Amy Dempsey. Harry N. Abrams Pub., 2002.   Main Level, Reference: R 709.04003 D399A The Color Compendium. Augustine Hope and Margaret Walch. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990. Main Level, Reference: R 701.8 H771C The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Art. Harold Osborne. ed. Oxford University Press, 1984.   Main Level, Reference:  R 709.04 Ox2O Includes biographical entries as well as brief summaries of terms, concepts, movements.

The Oxford Companion to Western Art. [Oxford Reference Online]  Hugh Brigstocke, editor.  Oxford University Press, 2004. This online version provides in-depth coverage of Western art with entries on artists and their works, styles and movements, art forms and art terms, combined with more modern methodologies, focused on patronage, taste, theory, and criticism, and the scientific examination of materials and techniques. Critical appreciation and factual information on over 1700 artists from classical times to the 20th century are included with 49 feature articles covering a broad spectrum of topics from art history and its methods to wall painting.

Biography Resource Center [Gale/Cengage Learning]. Full-text access to biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries, including Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vols. 7-77. Detroit: Gale, 1992-2008;  Contemporary Artists. 5th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 2001; Contemporary Designers. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999. Contemporary Women Artists. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.; International Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 1990; St. James Guide to Black Artists. Thomas Riggs, editor  St. James Press, 1997.

Also available in PRINT at: Main Level, Reference:  R 709.22 Sa22S ) .

Contemporary Artists.  Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, eds. St. James Press, 2002 
(2 volumes).  

Main Level, Reference:  R 709.22 C767C

The Dictionary of Art. Jane Turner, editor. Grove's Dictionaries, 1996. 34 volumes.

Main Level, Reference: R 703 D561D

Dictionary of Women Artists.  Delia Gaze, ed. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997 (2 volumes) Main Level, Reference: R 709.22 D561D

North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century : A Biographical Dictionary.  Jules Heller and Nancy G. Heller, eds.   Garland, 1995  Garland, 1995.

Main Level, Reference:  R 709.22 N811N

St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists: Profiles of Latino and Latin American Artists. Thomas Riggs, ed.   St. James Press, c2002.  

Main Level, Reference: R 704.0368 Sa22S

World Artists, 1950-1980. Claude Marks.  H.W. Wilson Co., 1984.
Main Level, Reference:R 709.22 M342W

Use the online catalog to locate books in Thomason Library. You can search by author, title, keyword, or subject.

• Search for a person, as AUTHOR or SUBJECT, with last name, first name.
  NOTE: Thomcat records for exhibition catalogs will usually list artist in "author" field.         

• SUBJECT searching requires use of Library of Congress subject headings. The terms below are examples of subject headings related to two dimensional design.
             

Subject searching is an effective and precise method of searching the catalog, however, KEYWORD searching has benefits, also.

• Try a KEYWORD search if you are unsure of the exact title or the correct subject heading to use. Search using two or three of the most significant words from the title or subject you are trying to find. Place phrases in "quotation marks."
  
  
• Connect words with AND, OR, NOT to focus your search.

• Try truncation at the end of a word stem to retrieve singular, plural, and other variations of the word.  Use an asterisk (*) to truncate from 1 to 5 characters. Use a double asterisk (**) to include word endings with an unlimited number of characters.

PASCAL Catalog

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If you need books in addition to those found at Thomason Library, search here for books in other academic libraries in SC. Through PASCAL Delivers, you can order books online for delivery within 3-4 working days. This service for current PC students, faculty, and staff is a project of PASCAL- Partnership Among SC Academic Libraries. Borrowers will be notified by e-mail when requested items arrive at Thomason Library. Click here for searching and ordering tips.

A catalog of books and other materials at libraries worldwide. Try searching here to find all books available on a topic. Materials available at Thomason Library are highlighted and others can be borrowed through ILL or searched in PASCALCAT.

Interlibrary Loan - ILL is available to PC students, faculty and staff in order to share resources between libraries.  Use this service to borrow books and to request copies of journal articles not available through our collections. Check link for instructions.

The following journal databases are available to PC students, faculty, and staff from on- and off-campus locations.  When passworded from off campus locations, supply your PC e-mail account username [i.e. tinman] and password.  Search databases using terms dealing with your topic.

Academic Search Premier [EBSCOhost]

EBSCOhost's journal and magazine articles from all academic disciplines.
Academic OneFile [Thomson Gale]
Journal database covering a wide range of disciplines. Includes indexing with abstracts, full-text articles and linked full-text articles.

JSTOR
Arts & Sciences Collections I, II, & III contain an archive of over 350 full-text journals which are searchable through JSTOR or accessible through Journal Finder, which provides full-text articles in Thomason Library's electronic databases. The collections include journals in art, architecture, economics, film, folklore, history, performing arts, political science, religion, sociology, humanities, mathematics, and statistics. JSTOR is a journal archive with complete runs of journals up to three years ago. Current issues are not available in JSTOR, but may be in other databases.

Project MUSE Basic Undergraduate Collection  Current and recent volumes of 111 core journals in the humanities and social sciences.

Browse Journal Finder by title or subject. When browsing or searching, you can read articles from any journal that is available in the Full-text resources online group of results. Choose a database in this group based on the dates available and the time frame in which you are interested.

Library article databases are inter-connected by Journal Finder, which will lead you to the full-text of an article when available.

ARTstor