Related Research Guides:

• Ceramics
• Fashion and Textiles
• Jewelry & Metals
• Papermaking and Paper Sculpture

Evaluating Information

Tisch Library's guides to evaluating information. This guide includes helpful tips for evaluating articles, books, websites, and any other type of information no matter where you find it.

• Evaluating Articles
• Evaluating Books
• Evaluating Resources on the Web
• How to Evaluate Videos

Bear in mind: research is NOT a linear process; it takes lots of going back and forth between sources and ideas.

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1. Background & Context

• Oxford Art Online
  Sources included in this set can provide concise introductions to a wide range of art historical topics; essays and brief entries on art movements, artists’ biographies, and countries. Articles are signed, include brief bibliographies, and images.

• CREDO Reference

  This resources provides access to background content on a wide variety of topics. Use to focus your topic, find keywords and people, and discover more in-depth books and articles.

• Oxford Reference

  This resource provides access to dictionaries, companions, and encyclopedias from Oxford University Press, spanning a variety of subject areas.

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2a. Journal Articles 

• JSTOR (all subjects)
• In EBSCOhost databases, you can select to search across the following subject-specific databases, among others:
• America: History & Life
• Art & Architecture Source
• Historical Abstracts (World history and culture)
• Women's Studies International

• Design & Applied Arts Index (DAAI)

2b. Newspaper Articles 

• Access World News (rich regional news)
• Factiva (more international newspapers)

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3a. Books

• JumboSearch for Books

Some keywords to try out in your search for books: "handicraft political aspects" "activist crafting" craftivism "community art" "political art" Samples search results: Craft (edited by Tanya Harrod, documenting major themes and ideas in contemporary art.)  Introduction.(on craftivism) Fabricating Activism: Craft-Work, Popular Culture, Gender “Old Time Mem’ry”: Contemporary Urban Craftivism and the Politics of Doing-It-Yourself in Postindustrial America Pricked: extreme embroidery Extra/ordinary: craft and contemporary art Thinking through craft

3b. Additional Sources for Books

• Check the Boston Public Library's catalog for eBooks (and  sign up for a BPL eCard , Tufts students and faculty eligible)
• "Digital books" on Internet Archive

   

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4. Images Sources and Web Sites       

• ARTstor (2.5+ million images)
      Decorative Arts
      Fashion and Costume
      More
• Digital Public Library of America
• New York Public Library Picture Collection   |  Digital Collections
• Smithsonian Collection
• Archives of American Art
• The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture