Here you can find a selection of databases available through the library that are relevant to Art History and related disciplines.

Art History:

• All databases
• Bibliographies
• Biographies
• Catalogues
• Encyclopedias 
• Reference works
• New arrivals (books)

Related disciplines:

• Archaeology
• Byzantine Studies
• Cultural Studies
• Media Studies
• Musicology
• Theatre Studies

All disciplines - databases by type: 

• Bibliographies
• Biographies
• Book collections
• Catalogues
• Encyclopedias
• Newspapers
• Reference works
• Primary sources
• Journals (search by title or ISSN)
• Journal collections
• Dictionaries

The Art History collection can be found at the University Library Singel. 

Description

The UvA library holds a lot of material relevant to Art History and they can be found across several locations. Many parts of this collection are of such a magnitude that they qualify as research collections. With hundreds of new books annually the Art History source material is continuously expanding. Furthermore, the library offers access to countless full text scientific articles, relevant databases, and electronic journals. The library also still holds subscriptions to approximately 100 print journals.

Focus

Art History examines many different subjects within western art history. Areas of focus include: West-European and Italian visual arts and architecture; manuscript illumination; 19^th and 20^th century urban development; the institution of collecting-, museums-, and exhibitions; and modern art. A few of the areas that the library has been collecting literature on include: historiography, methods, and art criticism. Within the collection the focus has shifted to include more non-western art and examine the technical aspects of art objects.

Electronic sources

The library offers access to electronic sources relevant to Art History. These include millions of articles, a growing number of e-books, journals, and discipline specific files. The source materials can be found by searching in CataloguePlus, through the Database-selector, or via the tab ‘E-journals’. If an electronic publication is available within the UvA one is usually only a few clicks away from the full text.

Open shelving system

The literature in the open shelving system has been organised according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC). 
Some of the categories important to Art History include:

The LCC outline for Art History offers a comprehensive overview.

Noor Breuning offers both research and course support for Art History. Please contact her for:

Forming the Collection

To ensure excellent literature resources the Art History collection is formed based on the input of staff who, according to their specific areas of expertise, list the relevant monographs, journal subscriptions, and databases. They are involved in evaluating nearly every aspect of (forming) the collection including the collection profile, the running journals, databases, and the printed collection.

Research Support

Apart from ensuring the Art History source collection is comprehensive there are other matters in which Noor offers support. The electronic materials are offered in a class specific appropriate manner, the programmes are notified of new sources, trainings are held to efficiently search for sources, and one can get help in finding specific titles. Noor also has a referral / supporting role for several services such as Research Data Management and concerning copyrights.

Course Support

Noor provides instructions and seminar material for Art History’s first year courses. Furthermore, she can offer, per request, instructions for the remaining BA module or the MA module and occasionally she will tutor a literature research.

Digital data

Information about art objects can often be found online (e.g. in Europeana) and institutions like the Rijksmuseum stimulate the use of their data. As a researcher, you therefore have access to texts, reproductions, technical recordings, audio, video and sometimes even geographical data. However, you can also create your own digital data, such as recordings, interviews and data derived from analogue equipment.

Managing digital data

Research data management (RDM) ensures that digital data can be found, accessed and understood both during and after the research. Additionally, you provide documentation about e.g. how the data have been cleaned, enriched or otherwise altered in order for the data to be analysed and you explain the used metadata, analytic tools and/or theories. And presentation tools, because the result of your research is not always a book or an article. It may also be a visualisation, a model or a database like Ecartico. RDM done well facilitates the means to check the research and is thus conducive to the integrity and the impact of the research. The Faculty of Humanities has its own Research Data Management Protocol.

Metadata

An important element in RDM are the metadata. These are indispensable for describing and managing data and data files, and for how they are interpreted within the research. It is best to use the standards in the subject area for these, such as ICONCLASS or the  Art & Architecture Thesaurus.

Data management plan

A prominent part of the handling of research data is the data management plan (DMP). A DMP outlines all aspects of data management during and after the research project. Institutions such as KNAW, NWO and ERC also have specific requirements regarding data management and provide their own DMP. Not everything that is part of the research process will be laid down in the DMP. Especially if more persons collect and process the research data, (new) guidelines about the workflow will have to be made.

Storage

Once everything is running smoothly, you will perhaps be looking for storage capacity. From September 28, 2017, all researchers at UvA and AUAS have access to UvA/AUAS figshare, which you can use to safely store your DMP, planning, (processed) data, used tools and corresponding documentation. Each faculty has appointed a data steward for support. 

You can also store your data elsewhere. Multiple UvA communities, including the Amsterdam Centre for the Study of the Golden Age, provide storage space and SURF offers storage space called SURFdrive.

Archiving

Once you have concluded your research, you can archive your data (files), or a representative selection, in a repository. This has certain advantages: the data may be made available for reuse, educational purposes and peer review, although this is not yet common practice in our subject field.

To find closed datasets, you can consult DANS Easy, the most important data archive for the Dutch humanities. Other data archives may be found via Archiving.