LibGuides: Art History and Visual Culture Subject Guide: Online library support

Library Essentials @ Exeter

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Subjects: Archaeology, Art History and Visual Culture, Communications, Drama, Engineering, Film Studies, History, Modern Languages and Cultures

Online Tutorials

Click on the images to access the tutorials.

AHVC UG Dissertation Workbook

AHVC UG Dissertation Workbook

Where to start your search

Library Search

Search for print books, ebooks, journals, articles and more.

L ibrary Search LibGuide available for guidance.

For a full selection of databases and archives, use the A-Z Databases List.

Key databases

Research databases

Search these collections to find academic literature on art history and visual culture. These collections contain primarily secondary sources of information such as journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports and more.

Art & Architecture ePortal This link opens in a new window
Key monographs in the history of art and architecture, as well as exhibition catalogues and images from some of the world's finest publishers and museums.
Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window
This database features hundreds of titles covering art, architecture, design, history, philosophy, music, literature, theatre and cultural studies.

Gugenheim Museum art book collection
View more than 200 books about modern art available online. Not only can you read them online, but you can download them in PDF or ePub formats at the Internet Archive.

Humanities Index This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly literature across the Humanities.
Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly literature in the Humanities from around the world.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to scholarly book, journal and primary sources via an easy to use search interface. Search the collection for information relating to art history and visual culture.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Subject index to scholarly publications in the fields of modern languages, literatures, linguistics, drama, and folklore literature. Also covers ethnomusicology.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
A database of art reference works with regularly updated peer-reviewed content and a substantial digital image collection.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Project Muse provides access to scholarly book, journal and primary sources via an easy to use search interface.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science is a vast database spanning a wide range of subjects, including art history and visual culture. It is an index, so does not contain full text, but individual search results should link to full text sources, where we subscribe.

Image databases

Primary source collections of searchable images.
A full list of image databases can be found here in the A to Z database list.

Art & Architecture ePortal This link opens in a new window
Search for art and architecture images from the world's greatest musuems and publishers.
Artcyclopedia This link opens in a new window
An index of online museums and images. Use to view artistic works.
Artstor This link opens in a new window
Images from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists. Subjects include the visual arts, the performing arts, architecture, maps, manuscripts, science, technology and industry.
Art UK This link opens in a new window
Searchable online showcase for public art collections in the UK.
British Cartoon Archive This link opens in a new window
A national collection of socio-political cartoons from British newspapers and magazines, plus comic strips, newspaper cuttings, books and magazines, from 1904 onwards.
Digital Bodleian This link opens in a new window
A collection of primary and contemporary material across a wide range of subjects, with scanned images of the Bodleian Libraries special collections, including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.
Gallica - The BnF Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). This vast digital library collection includes more than 70,000 volumes of digitised texts, 80,000 still images, and 30 hours of sound recordings.
Grand Tour This link opens in a new window
A collection of primary and secondary sources relating to the Grand Tour and travel from 1550 to 1850. The collection includes books, diaries, art, photography and maps.
Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
Image based collection of Christian, Jewish, Islamic and secular art produced between late Antiquity and the 16th century.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Database of art reference works. Useful for researching artists and art movements.
Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource This link opens in a new window
Digitised collection of Pre-Raphaelite art from Birmingham Museums and Art galleries, including paintings, tapestries, drawings, prints, illustrated books, watercolours and archive material.
Underground and Independent Comics: Volume I and II This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, primary-source database focused on adult comic books and graphic novels. Works of artists both celebrated and overlooked, alongside interviews, criticism, and journal articles documenting this artform.
Visual Arts Data Service This link opens in a new window
An art and design collection of copyright cleared images for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK.

There are lots of museum and gallery websites such as the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate Galleries, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery etc. that have quality images of their collections.

However, copyright restrictions apply to the use of images, and this will vary depending on who owns the copyright and how you want to use the image. Check the licence details on the website if in doubt. See our Using Images LibGuide for more information.

These are just a few of the audio-visual databases that we subscribe to. You can see a fuller list in the A to Z database list here.

Bloomsbury Video Library This link opens in a new window
An international range of content across the visual arts and performing arts, film, history, and more, this collection features exclusive indie films and shorts, avant-garde performances, interviews with renowned writers, artists, choreographers, performers and practitioners, documentaries on an international range of themes, traditions, and historical figures, and much more.
BFI Player This link opens in a new window
On demand service streaming acclaimed, landmark and archive films from across Britain and the world. The collection focuses on British and European independent films, as well as international releases. First time users need to sign up to access all subscription content for free. Returning users need to sign-in. See More.
To sign up
1. Go to https://player.bfi.org.uk/academic/subscribe and create an account OR sign in if you already have one by selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in'
2. Select university from the dropdown list
3. Authenticate subscription using your university credentials

Once you've set up your subscription, you can simply login on BFI Player for the remainder of this academic year.
Bloomsbury Screen Studies This link opens in a new window
Screen Studies is a dynamic digital platform taking users from script to screen and beyond – offering a broad range of content from Bloomsbury, Faber & Faber and the British Film Institute to support moving-image studies. This resource includes a wide selection of works on film history, theory and practice
Box of Broadcasts This link opens in a new window
An online service for off-air recording, media streaming and archiving of TV and radio programmes from all scheduled free to air broadcast channels. BoB provides a facility for recording, creating clips and playlists of programmes.
British Council Film Collection This link opens in a new window
Short documentary films made by the British Council during the 1940s, designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played.
British Pathe This link opens in a new window
Archive of vintage film footage from 1897-1970 covering domestic and worldwide themes, events and news.
ERA Video Streaming Platform This link opens in a new window
Curated clips from BBC TV and Radio archive. Browse by subject or search for clips across the archive. UK Usage only
You will need to register for an ERA account using your @exeter.ac.uk email address. You will also need a free personal BBC account to access some materials. Follow the onscreen prompts to set up accounts.
FedFlix This link opens in a new window
Historic American Government produced films covering information, news, public affairs and training.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Online video streaming platform. Includes critically-acclaimed movies, inspiring documentaries, award-winning foreign films and more. Films are discoverable via Library Search.

Sound collections

BBC Sound Effects This link opens in a new window
Over 16,000 sound effects available for personal, educational or research purposes.
British Library Sounds This link opens in a new window
Sound recordings from the British Library collections. Recordings include music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds as well as an interactive sound map of regional accents and dialect.
Ethnographic Sound Archives Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together previously unpublished historic audio recordings and their supporting field materials, opening new paths for the study of music in its cultural context. The collection brings together 2,000 hours of audio recordings from field expeditions around the world, particularly from the 1960s through the 1980s—the dawn of ethnomusicology as a codified discipline.

Use the A-Z Database List to access the full list of databases the library subscribes to.

You can browse by subject e.g. Art History and Visual Culture or type (e.g.maps, news, images etc.) or search to find your required resource.

Allied subjects include Classics, Drama, Film Studies, History, Philosophy and Sociology. You will also find LibGuides available for these and other subject disciplines.

Explore the full A to Z Database list:

Explore research materials available elsewhere

Library Hub Discover - Search the catalogues of over 100 major UK and Irish national, academic and specialist libraries to find books, journals and other materials
WorldCAT - Search the collections of over 10,000 worldwide libraries
The European Library - Access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.
The Library of Congress - Catalogue records of the print and digital resources held in the Library of Congress collections (USA)
LibWeb - Find online library catalogues worldwide
CORE - Search the world's largest collection of open access research papers

Key journals and magazines

Magazine archives

Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Archive of US and UK trade magazines from 1880-2015, covering film, music, broadcasting and theatre, together with film fan magazines and music press titles.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Digitised full text access and images from the newspaper archive spanning from 1842-2003.
London Life, 1965-1966 This link opens in a new window
Launched in 1965 and owned by Illustrated London News, this magazine title succeeded The Tatler and aimed to capture 'all aspects of life in London'. All issues are included here in full facsimile pages.
Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938–1957 This link opens in a new window
Complete archive of the popular magazine Picture Post. It provides a visual snap-shot of British life from 1930 to the end of the 1950s, and covers major social and political issues of the time through the use of photojournalism.
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
Archive of the magazine American Vogue. Includes all editions from 1892 to the present. The collection provides an insight into US fashion, culture and society.
Interwar Culture This link opens in a new window
Interwar Culture showcases popular and lesser-known periodicals published during the interwar period (1919-1940) in Britain, the US, France and Australia. Articles cover culture, entertainment, fashion, home and family life, world current affairs, class, social and welfare issues.
Underground and Independent Comics: Volume I and II This link opens in a new window
Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels is the first ever scholarly, primary-source database focused on adult comic books and graphic novels. Here are the works of artists both celebrated and overlooked, alongside interviews, criticism, and journal articles that document the continual growth and evolution of this artform.

Digital Bodleian This link opens in a new window
A collection of primary and contemporary material across a wide range of subjects, with scanned images of the Bodleian Libraries special collections, including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.
Gallica - The BnF Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). This vast digital library collection includes more than 70,000 volumes of digitised texts, 80,000 still images, and 30 hours of sound recordings.

Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the world's premier art museums with collections spanning over 5,000 years of art from around the globe.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Digitalised collection of modern and contemporary art from one of the world’s greatest art museums
National Gallery
The National Gallery, London, houses one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Explore 895,963 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections. This site is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
Tate (Digtal Archive)
Digitised archive of the history of fine art practice in the UK. The collection includes letters, writings, sketchbooks, audio-visual material, photographs, ephemera, press cuttings and objects.
Victoria & Albert Museum
From ancient Chinese ceramics to Alexander McQueen evening dresses, take an incredible journey through 5000 years of human creativity with our online collections.

Primary Sources

The University has access to an extensive range of online primary source materials. These contain digitised copies of documents, letters, books, photographs and other primary sources.

The Primary Sources Libguide will help you identify the best databases for your research. The collections have been categorised by Country, Time Period and Theme so that you can quickly find the most relevant collections for your research.

Our comprehensive online news collections range from local news to news publications from around the world and span a wide range of dates.

Find out more on the Archival News LibGuide

The Library's Special Collections department houses primary sources in many formats including letters, diaries, manuscripts and photos, which can be accessed via their dedicated reading room in the Research Commons, Old Library.

Visit the Archives and Special Collections LibGuide for more information.

Find out how to search the archives for rare books and materials here.

Use the Archive Catalogue Search to find out what is available.

Devon & Cornwall have a number of local archives that you can use when searching for primary sources. Find out more here.

These databases are nationally significant archives of the UK, covering many different themes, subjects and sources.

Archives Hub This link opens in a new window
A gateway to archive collections held in UK universities. Subject coverage includes the arts, humanities, social science, sciences and health, and source materials include personal writings, documentation, images and ephemera.
British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue This link opens in a new window
Search for information about the British
Library’s rich and unique archive and manuscript collections.
The catalogue contains descriptions of the majority of the British Library's manuscripts,
paper-based archives, photographs and an increasing number of digital archives.
The Library's sound archive collections and moving image collections are not included and Asian and African manuscripts are only partially represented.
British Library Digitised Manuscripts This link opens in a new window
A collection of digitised manuscripts and archives in the British Library’s collections.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text UK and Irish national, regional and local newspapers from the mid 18th to the mid 20th century. Cross searchable with other newspaper archives via Gale NewsVault. We have access to the full collection (parts 1-6).
View more info about the collections
British Library Sounds This link opens in a new window
Sound recordings from the British Library collections. Recordings include music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds as well as an interactive sound map of regional accents and dialect.
Digital Bodleian This link opens in a new window
A collection of primary and contemporary material across a wide range of subjects, with scanned images of the Bodleian Libraries special collections, including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.
Discovery, the National Archives Catalogue This link opens in a new window
Full catalogue of the holdings of the National Archives and thousands of other archives in the UK. The National Archives is home to millions of historical documents, which were created and collected by UK central government departments and major courts of law. Wide subject coverage.

National Register of Archives for Scotland
The NRAS provides details of papers of historical significance in private hands in Scotland. The Register now contains over 4,200 surveys of private papers including the records of landed estates, private individuals, businesses, law firms and societies.

UK Government Web Archive This link opens in a new window
Archive of UK government information published on the web, from official documents, policy and acts, to a twitter archive.

Effective Searching & Referencing

It is important to plan your search strategy, and manage your search results so that you get the most from your online searching.

Keep a record of all the material you need to cite in your assignments, papers, projects etc.

Use the Search Techniques and Referencing guidance to assist you.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of information available to you.

Invest time in planning an effective online search strategy so that you can quickly and easily discover relevant and high quality information.

Use the Search Techniques LibGuides for lots of hints and tips on successful online searching

As you search you need to keep track of all the material you will be using in your academic work so that you can cite and reference it appropriately.

Top Tip

Always check your module handbook for specific departmental guidance on the style required for your assessed works and dissertations. Check with your personal tutor or dissertation supervisor if you need clarification.

For more guidance take a look at:

Library's Referencing LibGuide: includes guidance on referencing styles and referencing software

Cite them right This link opens in a new window
Use this online referencing tool to create citations and reference lists . Cite Them Right provides comprehensive practical tips and examples on a wide range of referencing styles.

Academic Skills: Skills for Referencing online support

Find out more about the skills support available to help you develop a range of study skills including essay writing, referencing, critical reading and getting the most out of lectures.

Study Skills Support

SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window

Sage Research Methods Online (SRMO) is a great resource to use when you are planning and conducting your research.

It is targeted at social science researchers but is useful across all subject areas as it covers key research methodology topics that are applicable across the research spectrum.

Sage have produced a comprehensive LibGuide to help you get the best from the resource.

Dissertation students

If you are a dissertation student, at some point in your research, you may need to access resources held outside of the university library collections.

The library offers a number of services to help you access these materials. Find out more by exploring the guides below.

Inter-library loans and journal scans from other libraries

Make a book purchase suggestion

Become a SCONUL member to visit other libraries

Library and Archives Access Bursary
(Financial help to visit other libraries and archives)

Request books from your Library Champion