Finding & Using Images and Media

You can use the Start Your Research tool It searches multiple databases for articles and the library catalog for books and other materials. This tool can be good if your topic is cross-disciplinary and you are looking for different types of materials.

Art and Design Databases

These resources can be found on the Library Home Page through the Databases link and then under the Art & Design. Most of these are for finding articles. Also refer to the Library's Image Collections resources. If you are not in the library you will be prompted for your Texas State username and password. Use the Images tab on this guide for more about finding images.

Other Useful Databases for Art & Design

Do we own it?

Search by Magazine name: Check the Periodical List (online content)  or Library Catalog (print or microfilm content) to see if we have the magazine you want.

Search by Topic: Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (1983-present) and Readers Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) is a good source for searching Popular Magazines by topic.

Newspapers: Check online collections 

• You can also check the library catalog for art books with images. Just use the keyword for the type of image you want and an abbreviation like ill or illus for illustration. Example: birds and ill or type in birds and illus. Other words for finding images that you can use in catalog searches are pictoral works, illustration, or "___ in art", for example "flowers in art".
• 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.
• For visual communication, “mass communication,” “advertising,” and “marketing” are subject headings that can have image books. For example, if you do a keyword search using "advertising and annual” you will see all the titles we have that are advertising awarded images and campaigns (Annual Clio, National Addy, Graphis, Art Director's Annual, Photo Annual, Major marketing campaigns annual). If you look under the subject heading “Advertising Campaign – Periodicals”, you will see others.

All exhibition catalogs are not kept in one place on any floor.  

Try a search in the library catalog for the topic word, such as music, art, an artist's name, photography, history or a historical or cultural event with the word "and" and the word "exhibition". You don’t need the word “catalog” unless you really want to limit the results because there are some items with “catalog” in the subject heading. Using just the word “exhibition” will get you a lot more results as it is a more common subject heading with another subject.  For example, searching the library catalog for "music and exhibition" will get you over 100 results which you could narrow down to just under 100 and only books that you can check out by limiting to Alkek General Collection. If you add the word "catalog" it narrows it down to under 30 so you may be missing some good ones by addiing the word "catalog".

 If you have any questions please contact the Art & Design Librarian Tara Smith.

Below is a browsing map with different areas of inerest highlighted in yellow to use when you are looking for any image related subject, topic, or medium. Click the image to download a printable PDF version of it and to see it better. :)