- Library PerksVanderbilt Libraries offers a variety of resources and services for research and scholarship. Make sure you don't miss out on any of these library perks for Vanderbilt affiliates.
Need help making sense of the Call # you found in Library Catalog? or where to find the book in the library?
Library Catalog
Keyword vs. Subject Searching
Step 1: Start your search process with a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question.
Step 2: Use these keywords for your initial searches.
Step 3: Use the Subject Heading links in the Library Catalog record to refine your search.
EXAMPLE
*Library book record, note the hyperlinked subjects
Vanderbilt University Library Search
Selecting the best search scope for your research needs:
Everything vs. Library Catalog vs. Articles
| Search Scope | What is included? | When should I use it? |
| Everything |
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| Library Catalog |
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| Articles |
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For a more detailed explanation of your search scope options consult What am I searching?
The following databases will help you find articles on your topic:
- Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive resource for art literature: articles, indexing and abstracting of journals, and art dissertations; covering fine, decorative, and commercial art, folk art, photography, film, and architecture. Includes indexing of publications, and citations of book reviews. Indexing of art reproductions provides examples of styles and art movements, including works by emerging artists.
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive American guide to the current literature of architecture and design. Index of international, scholarly and popular periodical literature, including publications of professional associations; US state and regional periodicals; and major serial publications in the architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia.
- BHA and RILA This link opens in a new windowCurrent literature of European and North and South American art. Traditional fine arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing and prints), decorative and applied arts, industrial design, popular and folk art, photography, and contemporary new media. Citations from publications on the performing arts (costumes and scenography) and related titles from music, history and literature. BHA incorporates the complete contents of International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA) and Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie (RAA).
- Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus® OnlineIncludes the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT); Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA); Union List of Artist Names (ULAN); and more.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Index of academic historical journals on the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, etc.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowLarge and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.
- New Pauly This link opens in a new window
Encyclopaedic coverage of the second millennium BCE to early medieval Europe; with special emphasis on the interaction between Greco-Roman culture and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Also includes the aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of ancient heritage, and the history of classical scholarship.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford’s art reference works: Grove Art Online, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
- Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new windowLiterary guide to significant sources on a variety of subjects. Works as an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.
- Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Reference sources published by Oxford University Press. Dictionaries, subject reference works, language reference sources and key titles in the Oxford Companion series. Some examples are: the Oxford-Duden German dictionaries, A Dictionary of Psychology, A Dictionary of Zoology, The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works, Oxford Companion to Western Art, Oxford Companion to U.S.History, Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Companion to Philosophy, and The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, etc.
- ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Search all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
What is 
?
FindIt@VU provides direct links from a database citation to the fulltext of the article (if available) and other supporting resources.
You'll also see FindIt@VU buttons in Library Catalog.
