Reference Resources
Start here to expand keywords, and to find basic information (about artists and movements) as well as images, photographs, and sketches.
- Encyclopedia of MexicoHistory, society, and culture.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library Encyclopedias and Reference sources.
- Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts Over 3,000 entries covering thousands of years of decorative arts.
- Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art Information on all aspects of the visual arts.
- Historical Dictionary of ancient MesoamericaInformation on civilizations, archaeological sites, material culture, social and economic organization, religion and belief systems, and social history.
- Oxford Dictionary of Art
- Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures From the Oxford University Press Digital Reference Shelf collection.
- The ancient AmericansA reference guide to the art, culture, and history of pre-Columbian North and South America.
- The Cambridge dictionary of the native peoples of the AmericasVolume 2, Part 1 contains chapters that survey the major ethnic groups of ancient Mesoamerica. The survey is broadly divided into the cultures of the Mesoamerican Highlands and Lowlands
Books and the Catalog
The catalog provides resources with specific content and contextual information. Use keywords here - with quotes to search for something specific. Look at the entire record - not just the call number - for additional information (i.e. notes, subject headings, etc.).
If something is not available in our catalog, check WorldCat to see where it is available and to request it via InterLibrary Loan.
Here are a few books to get you started:
Databases
Find articles here. Atkins Library subscribes to over 300 databases and indices. Many of these are full text but not all.
If you do not see full text (HTML or PDF) available, click the 
icon within the record for additional information.
Sample keyword searches: mesoamerica*, precolumbian, "ritual calendar", "manuscrito de chichicastenango", teotihuacan
- Academic Search Complete Multi-disciplinary database.
- America: History and Life References to journal articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations related to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
- Art Abstracts (H.W. Wilson) Indexing and abstracts for more than 450 international art publications.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials The American Theological Association's ATLA Religion Database. Covering such topics as Biblical studies, world religions, Church history and religious perspectives on social issues. Indexing period from 1949 to the present.
- Google Scholar Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.
- Historical Abstracts References to journal articles and articles in collections, citations to abstracts of dissertations, and citations to books on the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
- JSTOR Full text issues of scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities, and general sciences, some journals have coverage back to the 1600s. Key word and natural language searching only.
- MLA International Bibliography The database consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.
- Project Muse Scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics.
arts + architecture librarian |
 lareese hall  |
Images
ARTstor is a great place to find images, expand keywords, and explore artists. To access ARTstor tutorial videos, visit the ARTstor YouTube channel by clicking here. ARTstor also has subject guides for a variety of general subjects - with keyword suggestions, search tips, and collection contents.
CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online) Catalog of Art Museum Images Online is a growing online collection documenting works of art from around the world. Images, text and multimedia represent a broad range of works of art from prehistoric to contemporary times from the collections of prominent museums.
VADS (Visual Arts Data Service) Online resource of freely available images in art and design (based in the UK). A alternative to ARTstor.
Wikimedia is an open source repository of images.
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