This research guide is intended as an overview of library resources and services of particular relevance for Professor Ami Kantawala’s Fall 2015 course A&HA 4085, Historical Foundations of Art Education. The resources, primarily electronic but also some print, have
been selected to support the objectives of the course, i.e., to introduce students to “the idea of ‘doing’ historical research and major historical events and underlying beliefs, values and practices that influence contemporary art education at all levels of instruction.” This guide also includes a section describing research consultation and assistance services and options for document retrieval and delivery available to all members of the Teachers College community.
Library Resources
Online Catalogs
Periodical Indexes
Federated Search Engines
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
E-Collections (Images, Text, Etc.)
Archives
Digital Archives
Handbooks of Research
Reviews of Research
Citation Indexes
Columbia University Libraries
Bibliography and Citation Management Programs
Library Services and Publications
All students, faculty, and researchers also have access to a number of important library services and publications provided to support and facilitate research and study in their particular programs and disciplines.
Online Catalogs
EDUCAT – The most definitive record of the holdings of the Gottesman Libraries at Teachers College, including books, e-books, journals, e-journals, dissertations, media, and other specialized collections of all kinds.
See our library’s video tutorial on searching EDUCAT.
CLIO – A union catalog of Columbia University Libraries (exclusive of the libraries of Teachers College, the Columbia Law School, and Jewish Theological Seminary), providing the most definitive record of individual libraries’ holdings of books, e-books, journals, e-journals, dissertations, media, and other specialized collections of all kinds.
WorldCat – A union catalog of the contents of over 10,000 libraries worldwide, providing the means to do exhaustive searching by author, title, subject, and numerous other criteria and to find locations for specific items in libraries nearby and elsewhere.
See our library’s video tutorial on searching WorldCat.
Library of Congress Subject Headings are the official subject terms prescribed by the Library of Congress for the cataloging of books and are in use in essentially all academic libraries. To find works pertaining to art, art education, and related topics, it may be useful to use some of the subject terms listed below when searching the online catalogs of libraries at Teachers College, Columbia University, and other institutions.
Aesthetics
Art
Art — Historiography
Art — History
Art — Research
Art — Study and teaching
Art — Study and teaching — History
Art, Comparative
Art in education
Art in universities and colleges
Art schools
Artists as teachers
Children’s art
Composition (Art)
Design
Design — Research
Drawing
Feminism and art
Graphic arts
Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
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Periodical Indexes
Academic Search Premier – A multidisciplinary database providing full text for more than 4,600 journals, including nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals. See also Academic Search Complete, a scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887.
America: History and Life – Index (with some abstracts) of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
Art Index Retrospective – Index to periodical literature in art published from 1929 to 1984.
Art Source – “Developed from a merger of high-quality databases from EBSCO Publishing and H.W. Wilson (Art Full Text, Art & Architecture Complete, Art Restrospective), this database covers a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design.”
ARTbibliographies Modern – Citations and abstracts for publications on modern and contemporary art (20th-21st centuries).
BHI: British Humanities Index – indexes over 320 international humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the UK and other English speaking countries, as well as quality newspapers published in the UK. Topics include architecture, archaeology, art, antiques, education, economics, foreign affairs, environment, cinema, current affairs, gender studies, history, language, law, linguistics, literature, music, painting, philosophy, poetry, political science, religion, and theatre.
BHA and RILA – A comprehensive bibliographical database of scholarly writing about the history of western art.
ERIC – Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related periodical literature, ERIC (which stands for Educational Resources Information Center) provides coverage of conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books, and monographs. In addition to this version, made available via the ProQuest platform, ERIC is also accessible via the U.S. government ERIC site and through Ebsco ERIC.
Descriptors (official subject terms) worth considering for an ERIC search:
Aesthetic Education
Aesthetics
Art
Art Activities
Art Education
Art History
Art Teachers
Childrens Art
Discipline Based Art Education
Educational History
Fine Arts
Historiography
Visual Arts
Visual Literacy
Education Full Text – Provides comprehensive coverage of an international range of English-language periodicals, monographs, and yearbooks. Indexing coverage begins June 1983; abstracts are included beginning spring 1994; full text of some journals is available beginning in January 1996.
Education Index Retrospective – Provides cover-to-cover indexing for an international range of English-language periodicals and yearbooks; coverage from 1929 through mid-1983.
Education Research Complete – Provides indexing and abstracts for more than 2,100 journals, as well as full text for more than 1,200 journals, and includes full text for nearly 500 books and monographs.
Historical Abstracts with Full Text – Provides citations and abstracts for publications related to world history, excluding the U.S. and Canada, from 1450 to the present.
Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective – Provides coverage of journal articles in the humanities and social sciences from 1907 through 1984.
Humanities Full Text – Abstracts, bibliographic indexing, and full text from scholarly sources and specialized magazines in the humanities. Indexing begins in 1984, full-text coverage in 1995.
Periodicals Archive Online – Archive of hundreds of digitized journals published in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Professional Development Collection – Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highly specialized collection of nearly 520 high-quality education journals, including more than 350 peer-reviewed titles. The database also contains more than 200 educational reports.
ProQuest – Provides broad multidisciplinary coverage of scholarly journals, newspapers, dissertations, and other types of publications; for international coverage and access to full texts of dissertations only, search Digital Dissertations, a subset of ProQuest.
PsycINFO – Covers the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences.
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Federated Search Engines
Google Scholar – Provides the means to search for scholarly research across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites.
See our library’s Google Scholar video tutorial.
Quicksearch (via Columbia University Libraries) – To search the catalog, multiple periodical indexes, and other web resources simultaneously within a variety of subjects and disciplinary subcategories.
Super Search (via Gottesman Libraries) – To search some or all of our periodical indexes, plus EDUCAT and CLIO, simultaneously for books, journal articles, reports, dissertations, etc.
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Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Print Resources
Encyclopedia of Educational Research, 6th Edition (1992)
E-Resources
Encyclopedia of Education (2nd Edition) – The 2003 version of the classic resource in education and related fields.
Oxford Art Online (formerly Grove Art Online) – Searchable database of biographies, bibliographies, and image resources from Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
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E-Collections (Images, Text, Etc.)
Alexander Street Press Databases – Themed collections of print documents, video, and recorded sound across disciplines; notable databases include Alexander Street Literature (cross-searchable collections covering the literatures of place, race, and gender), American Film Scripts Online (a searchable full-text database of screenplays and shooting scripts), Dance in Video (streaming video files of dance productions and documentaries by influential performers and companies of the 20th century), North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories (personal views of what it meant to immigrate to the United States and Canada between 1880 and 1950), Opera in Video (streaming video database containing important opera performances), Theatre in Video (containing performances of the world’s leading plays and film documentaries in streaming video), and many others.
American Memory – A rich collection of images and full-text documents relating to U.S. history and culture from the Library of Congress.
ARTstor – Digital images of architecture, painting, photography, sculpture, decorative arts, design and material culture.
CAMIO – Catalog of Art Museum Images Online is a growing collection documenting works of art from around the world, representing the collections of prominent museums.
Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections – digitized versions of diverse Columbia University Libraries collections, including a number of important art and image collections across cultures and historical periods.
Ebrary – Online books across a range of subject areas; searchable by Education; Fine Arts; History; Language and Literature; Social Sciences, etc., and various sub-topics, and by author, title, and other criteria.
JSTOR – An online archive of over 1,200 leading scholarly journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. Journals are always included from volume 1, issue 1 and include previous and related titles. Tthe most recently published issues (the past 3-5 years) are generally not available through JSTOR, though they usually are through other e-sources.
New York Public Library Digital Gallery – Images from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library.
Teachers College Art Collections – With over 1,000 digital images, this online resource represents the library’s entire collection of art. These images are a resource for both teaching and research, as well as a historical representation of the College’s dedication to art and art education.
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Archives (prepared by Lea Lange)
Locating physical archives
There are several ways to locate primary resources that may be of interest to you. These include searching online catalogs, national or institutional archival databases, or inquiring directly at individual institutions.
Any institution could potentially have an archive, from a small theater to governmental agencies or corporations. If you have an interest in a particular institution, you should contact that institution directly to inquire if they have an archive and whether you may access it.
Here is a very small selection of some of New York City’s largest institutions with physical archives:
Columbia University’s Archival Collections Portal
New York Public Library Archival Materials
Finding Aids Portal for New York University’s Fales Library & Special Collections, The Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University Archives, and the New York Historical Society.
New York City Board of Education Records, 1842-2002 – Records of the Board of Education, from its creation in 1842 to its replacement by a mayoral Department of Education in 2002. Also included are records of the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn from 1853 to 1897. These records document aspects of educational policy-making and school-system administration.
If you are curious to see where else in the world collections on an individual or group may be held, you can search WorldCat (short for “world catalog”). To do this, use the advanced search, select “archival material” as the format, and search by keyword. Once you locate a collection of interest, you can inquire at the individual institution to get access.
A few additional archival catalogs:
Access to Archival Databases (AAD) System – Index to records for files from the National Archives.
Accessible Archives – Searchable collection of U.S. history resources, including the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Civil War coverage of three newspapers, Godey’s Lady’s Book, a group of African-American and abolitionist newspapers, and selections from several 19th century Delaware Valley newspapers.
ArchiveGrid – Archival finding aids and citations for thousands of libraries, museums, and archives.
Guides to Microforms: Primary Sources in U.S. History – Guides to microform sets in American history, foreign relations, women’s studies published by University Publications of America.
National Archives – Produced by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), an independent agency of the United States government, which is officially responsible for maintaining and publishing the legally authentic and authoritative copies of acts of Congress, presidential proclamations and executive orders, federal regulations, and a wealth of other historical documents and records.
Using a Finding Aid
Finding aids are the documents created by archivists to describe and give context to collections and help users identify what parts of the collection are of interest to them. They usually consist of the following sections, which may vary in title:
Title and years of coverage: The title is usually the name of the person who collected the documents. While the collection will be most closely related to this person, it may hold contents of interest on other individuals. Be sure the years match those you are interested in.
Overview: provides the size of the collection (usually in linear feet or number of boxes), its creator, and a brief abstract.
Administrative information: details guidelines for citation and any access restrictions.
Historical or biographical note: summarizes the life of an individual or the history of an institution and can serve as a starting point for further biographical research.
Scope and content note: describes the content of the collection including topics, types of materials, and years covered.
Arrangement: lists the hierarchical order of the collection as it has been arranged in the archive.
Box and folder list: details the box and/or folder numbers of the collection and their contents.
Knowing these essential parts of a finding aid can help you decide if a collection is relevant and which boxes or folders to request when onsite. It is important to note that access policies vary by institution and by collection, so you should make sure you are able to access a collection before visiting the institution.
This is an example of a typical finding aid.
For further guidance on finding aids, see San Diego State University’s online tutorial on using finding aids.
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Digital Archives
Academic Commons – Columbia University’s online repository, where current faculty, students, and staff can deposit the results of their scholarly work and research.
PocketKnowledge – The social archive of Teachers College, including unpublished manuscripts and archives from the library’s collections, documents from other departments and administrative offices College-wide, and the work of TC students, faculty, and researchers.
See also various image databases listed under E-Collections (Images, Text, Etc.) above.
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Handbooks of Research
Print Resources
The Art Teacher’s Desktop Reference (1994)
Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education (2004)
Handbook of Research on Curriculum (1992)
Handbook of Research on New Literacies (2009)
Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts, 3rd Edition (2008) (see also e-version below)
Handbook of Research on Teaching, 4th Edition (2001)
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual Arts (1997) (see also e-version below).
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual Arts, Volume 2 (2008)
Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children, 2nd Edition (2006)
Research in Art and Design Education: Issues and Examplars (2008)
Research Methods and Methodologies for Art Education (1997)
Visual Arts Research: A Handbook (1986)
E-Resources
Handbook of Research on Teachers Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts – “This Third Edition aims to stimulate a broad conversation about foundational issues; bring multiple perspectives to bear, including historical perspectives; provide new specificity to topics that have been undifferentiated in the past; and include diverse voices in the conversation.”
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts – This handbook brings together state-of-the-art research and practice on the evolving view of literacy as encompassing not only reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but also the multiple ways through which learners gain access to knowledge and skills.
Blackwell Reference Online – Provides full-text access to reference works in the humanities, social sciences, and business and management, see research handbooks and companions in Art, Literature, and other subject areas.
Visualizing Research: A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design – This book aims to guide postgraduate students in art and design through the research process. The book describes and evaluates appropriate strategies for undertaking research in art and design, and it may help to embed research experience into contemporary practice.
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Reviews of Research
Review of Educational Research – A publication of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the RER publishes quarterly critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education, including conceptualizations, interpretations, and syntheses of scholarly work.
Review of Research in Education – A publication of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the RRE provides an annual overview and descriptive analysis of selected topics of relevant research literature through critical and synthesizing essays.
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Citation Indexes
Google Scholar – Provides the means to search by author or publication title, and indicates and provides links to works that have cited the documents retrieved.
Scopus – Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources with smart tools to track, analyze, and visualize research.
Web of Science – Comprising the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, the Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Science Citation Index Expanded, this database supports searching by topic, author, or publication name, and is also a major means for doing cited reference searching, to find articles that cite a person’s work.
See also our library’s Citation Indexes video tutorial on citation searching via the Web of Science and Google Scholar.
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Columbia University Libraries
You will find a complete alphabetical listing of Columbia University Libraries collections and services by clicking on the LOCATIONS tab on the top page of the Columbia University Libraries website. You may want to explore the websites of individual Columbia libraries for descriptions of distinctive collections, subject and research guides, and other valuable information and resources readily available online. Columbia University libraries you may find of special value to you include the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the Barnard College Library, the Lehman Social Sciences Library, and Butler Library, the main humanities and history library, but we recommend scanning the full list of arts and humanities, social sciences, and science libraries in the Columbia system for other collections of possible interest to you.
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Bibliography and Citation Management Programs
Citation Management Software – An extensive description of and guide to the use of BibDesk, EndNote, Papers, Mendeley, and Zotero, including a comparison of their relative merits, produced by the Columbia University Libraries’ Digital Science Center.
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Library Services and Publications
Ask a Librarian a Question – To explore a variety of kinds of research support: submit an email reference query to librarians onsite; request a research consultation with a Gottesman librarian; review frequently asked questions via the library’s Knowledge Database.
E-Reserves – Provides online access to digital course readings, including e-journal articles and book chapters, as well as call numbers for physical course reserves materials (books, DVDs, videos, etc.).
Document Delivery – The means to recommend items for purchase and/or to request from other libraries materials (dissertations, book chapters, journal articles, etc.) not available through the Gottesman or Columbia University Libraries.
Learning at the Library – The Gottesman Libraries’ blog via the Pressible platform, including content in many topical areas contributed by library staff members.
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