Reference Databases
Credo Reference Alkek reference source for ideas on keywords and background information. Has images and concept map too. See the tutorial below and more info about Credo Reference below.
E-Reference Sources at Alkek Library full list of our e-reference resources: full-text subject encyclopedias and dictionaries
Oxford Reference Alkek reference source for ideas on keywords and background information
Image Databases
Check the Image Databases for a complete listing of Alkek Library's holdings.
- Ad*Access This link opens in a new window
Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian magazine and newspaper advertisements in five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda. 1911-1955.
- AP Newsroom This link opens in a new window
Current and historical photographs, audio clips, & news from the Associated Press. Licensed for educational use. 1826 - present
- Art Images for College Teaching This link opens in a new windowImages of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance European art & architecture that can be used in any application that is both educational and non-commercial.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new window
The ARTstor platform will be retired on August 1, 2024. All existing and new content has been moved toJSTOR
High-quality image and media from some of the world's top photo archives, museums, libraries, scholars, and artists, including rare materials not available anywhere else. - Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 This link opens in a new windowOver 9,000 images that illustrate the rise of consumer culture, especially after the American Civil War, and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States.
- Grove encyclopedia of classical art and architecture This link opens in a new windowEssays on ceramics, metalwork, mosaics, painting and sculpture, art forms, artists, rulers, philosophers, architecture, archaeological sites and stylistic developments. 2000 BC to present.
- Pop Culture Universe This link opens in a new window
American and world popular culture, past and present. Decade overviews from 1920s to 2000s.
Finding Images in old Magazines & Newspapers
Do we own it?
Search by Magazine name: Check the Periodical List (see link below) for electronic content or Library Catalog for print content to see if we have the magazine you want.
Search by Topic: Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (1982-present) and Readers Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) is a good source for searching Popular Magazines by topic.
Newspapers: Check online collections or search 3rd floor Microfilm shelves by Newspaper Title.
Print/Microfilm Collections
Microfilm, microfiche, and print journals and magazines published after 1980 are located on the 3rd floor.
Print Journals and magazines published before 1980 are shelved by call number on floors 5-7.
Related Guides & Resources
Visit the Art & Design guide for more resources on finding images and content in our library.
Also, Primary Source Historical databases may be a good place to find inspiration in old newspapers, diaries, photography, and other content.
Openly Licensed & Copyrighted Creative Content For Your Scholarly Works - includes basic copyright info, how to find and use images and other creative content, how to give attribution,
Drama & Theatre Guide - includes info about finding resources for accents and dialects and costume design & fashion history
You can also look at the Interior Design Research Guide
Finding & Using Open Access Images, Video, Music, and Other Content
Use the Finding & Using Images, Video, Music and Other Copyrighted & Open Access Content guide to learn how to find open access, Creative Commons, public domain, out of copyright images to use in your papers, projects,presentations, creations, and publications.
You can use Creative Commons images and media without having to worry about copyright restrictions as long as you follow the license terms.
Attribution = to give credit or attribution to a creative work or idea. Attribution vs. Citation from the Gettysburg College Digital Humanities Toolkit.
Public Domain = A work that is out of copyright and free to use. Works in the public domain may not need to be cited or given attribution, but the ethical thing to do is to cite and give attribution to another's work. "Information that is unrestricted and accessible by the general public - program which is in the public domain a program which is not copyrighted" - public domain. (2006). In P. H. Collin (Ed.), Dictionary of publishing and printing (3rd ed.). A&C Black. Credo Reference: http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/acbpublishing/public_domain/0?institutionId=1143
Openly licensed images or other creative content that have alternative terms to copyright can be used freely as long as any terms given are followed. See more about Open Content in this entry from the The international encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. Haßler, B., & Mays, T. (2015). Open content. In R. Mansell, & P. H. Ang (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. Wiley. Credo Reference: http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileydcas/open_content/0?institutionId=1143
Browsing Guide
| Subject | Call Number |
| Advertising | HF 5801-6182 |
| Aesthetics | BH |
| Architecture | NA |
| Art Encyclopedias | N1-9165 |
| Art General | NX |
| Decorative Arts | NK |
| Drawing & Illustration | NC |
| Graphic Arts & Computer Graphics | TR, NC, Z200 |
| Jewelry Making | TS, TT |
| Music | M |
| Painters & Painting | ND |
| Photography | TR |
| Printmaking | NE |
| Sculpture & Sculptors | NB |
| Costume design & History | TT, GT500-2370 |
Finding Images in Books
Finding illustrations or photos of objects, people, paintings, prints, etc.
Also know that "pictorial works," "pictures," "illustration" or “___ in art” are legitimate subject headings that can be combined with any number of keywords to find pictures or illustrations. For example, “flowers in art” is a subject heading, or “birds—pictorial works,” or look at “Pictorial works” as a subject heading alone. It tells you: Search also: subdivision Pictorial works under names of countries, cities, etc., individual persons, families, corporate bodies, and under classes of persons, ethnic groups, and topical headings.
We do own the Illustration Index, Sculpture Index, and Havlice's World Painting Index (tells you what book has a reproduction or illustration of known works by known artists) and Martha Moss's Photography Books Index, volumes I and II, a subject guide to photo anthologies. If you do a keyword search under “catalogue raisonne” you will get all the books of the complete works (catalogue raisonne) of particular artists.
