Looking for other subject encyclopedias?
The Gale Reference Library brings together a huge collection of reference sources.
You can also do an advanced search in the Cornell University Library catalog using one or more of these terms:
encyclopedia | guide | handbook
in combination with a broad subject term.
Examples:
- Encyclopedias about textiles
- Encyclopedias about Haudenosaunee Culture and History
- Encyclopedias about Chinese ceramics
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Why use background or tertiary resources?
- It's a quick overview of a theme, work, author, or other topic, which can save you time!
- Learn important terms for searching, identify notable scholars and/or works, and get more information about a topic.
- Bibliographies for further reading in the works cited sections can lead you to secondary sources you can use in the next phase of your research.
Oxford Art
Oxford Art Online is the access point for Grove Art Online, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Oxford Companion to Western Art, and Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships and a digital image search.
Oxford Bibliographies
Bibliographies on many, many topics (a few pertinent individual titles listed below). Provides introductions to each topic area, and includes guides to introductory works, textbooks, guidebooks, journals, reference works etc., and links to useful websites.
Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on specific topics in a growing range of subject areas. There are at least 50 specific topical bibliographies in each subject area. Each of these features an introduction to the topic. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.
Help from Oxford: Anatomy of an Article
Other References
The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts by Call Number: Fine Arts Library Reference (Non-Circulating) NK28 .G76 2006 v.1-2 and onlineISBN: 9780195189483Publication Date: 2006-11-09Covers thousands of years of decorative arts production throughout western and non-western culture. Over 1,000 entries, as well as hundreds drawn from the Dictionary of Art; a valuable resource on the history, practice, and mechanics of the decorative arts. Hundreds of entries on artists and craftsmen, the qualities and historic uses of materials, as well as concise definitions on art forms and style. Explore the works of Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, and the Wiener Wekstatte, or delve into the history of Navajo blankets and wing chairs in thousands of entries on artists, craftsmen, designers, workshops, and decorative art forms.
The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9780195309911Publication Date: 2009-03-23The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture is the most comprehensive reference work in this complex and diverse area of art history. Built on the acclaimed scholarship of the Grove Dictionary of Art, this work offers over 1,600 up-to-date entries on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe and spans over a thousand years of history. Recent changes in Islamic art in areas such as Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq are elucidated here by distinguished scholars. Entries provide in-depth art historical and cultural information about dynasties, art forms, artists, architecture, rulers, monuments, archaeological sites and stylistic developments. In addition, over 500 illustrations of sculpture, mosaic, painting, ceramics, architecture, metalwork and calligraphy illuminate the rich artistic tradition of the Islamic world. With the fundamental understanding that Islamic art is not limited to a particular region, or to a defined period of time, The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture offers pathways into Islamic culture through its art.
Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art by Call Number: Fine Arts Library (Rand Hall) E98.A7 W49x 2000 and via the HathiTrust ETASISBN: 0826411568Publication Date: 2000-06-01This comprehensive reference text covers the often misunderstood area of aesthetics, anthropology and mythology within tribal or indigenous non-Western art. Including hundreds of entries and illustrations, it includes art from the cultures and tribal kingdoms of: Nigeria, Australia, Indonesia and Polynesia, Western and Central Africa, Canada and Alaska, and the continental United States.
The Encyclopedia of Sculpture by Call Number: Fine Arts Library Reference (Non-Circulating) NB198 .E53 2004 v.1-3 and via the HathiTrust ETASISBN: 1579582486Publication Date: 2003-10-31With an international scope, this fully illustrated reference spans the entire history of sculpture, from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century. While devoting significant attention to individual artists and their works, the Encyclopediaalso explores sculpture from the vantage points of history, criticism, theory, aesthetics, production, training, and presentation, making this the most comprehensive, in-depth source on the subject ever published.
