Research Guides: Art and Art History (UNH Durham): Reference Sources

Why Use Reference Sources?

Reference sources can provide background on your area of study, help you focus your topic, and serve as a springboard to other research.

In our collection you'll find print and electronic:

Check with your instructor to verify which reference sources may be cited in your project and which should be used for background research only.

Britannica Online Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Includes the complete encyclopedia, as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the Britannica Book of the Year, and an Internet directory that includes more than 130,000 links to Web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Online reference library that provides access to a selection of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri. The Advanced Search can identify art collections, including the Bridgeman Images collections.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Includes regularly updated art reference works, including the Grove Dictionary of Art, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd edition), The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.

Please use Ask A Librarian if you need further help finding individual or group biographies.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Profiles of deceased men and womenfrom all eras and walks of life whose lives have shaped the US. All articles originally included in ANB Online were on biographical subjects who died before the end of 1995. Articles on important figures who have died since 1995 are being added in quarterly updates, but coverage of people in this category is not yet complete. If you cannot find an article on a subject, he or she may have died after 1995, or may be living. Dates of coverage: 1600s-current
Gale In Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
Offers over 600,000 biographies spanning history and geography with new and/or updated biographies added annually.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
The national record of men and women who have shaped British history and culture worldwide, from Roman Britain to the present