Guides: African Art Research Guide: Background Info

Encyclopedias and Reference Tools

Grove Art Online
Use Grove before searching for articles. Example: If you're interested in the Igbo of Nigeria, Grove will provide information about the Ibgo peoples and regions, architecture, masks, etc. It's also useful for collecting terms for these items such as mbari, ikenga, obi, etc., which can be used to search for articles in the anthropology and art databases. Grove is part of Oxford Art Online. Limited to 8 simultaneous users.

Bibliography by Subject
A list of resources compiled by DePaul professor, Mark DeLancey.
Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online
Free and open-access online platform of digital resources dedicated to the study of Islamic art, architecture, and visual culture. Created at the University of Michigan, this resource provides original multimedia talks on various topics, terms, concepts, and themes developed by scholars from across the field of Islamic art, bringing a multiplicity of voices and perspectives into real and virtual classrooms.
Encyclopedia of African Religion
Assembles ideas, concepts, discourses, and extensive essays on African religion and provides the primary material necessary for further research, analysis, and exposition of the beliefs of African people.
Encyclopedia of Islam
This 2nd edition is the standard scholarly work in the field. Print Source.
Arts of Africa: An Annotated Bibliography
A list of resources derived from the monthly library acquisitions lists issued by the National Museum of African Art Branch Library, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.Print Source.
Critical Terms for Art History
An introductory guide to theoretical issues in art history published by University of Chicago Press.
African Studies Thesaurus
A structured vocabulary of more than 12500 English terms in the field of African studies. Developed and maintained by staff at the library of the African Studies Centre Leiden.

SAGE Knowledge
Cross-searchable collection of more than 100 encyclopedias and handbooks from SAGE.
EBooks (Gale)
Cross-searchable collection of over two thousand reference titles from Gale. Previously known as Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists
The Benezit Dictionary of Artists contains almost 170,000 entries on artists from antiquity to the present day and it also has thousands of auction records, museum holdings, and bibliographies. Two notable strengths are its coverage of obscure artists and its inclusion of images of artists? signatures, monograms, and stamps.
Access note: Limited to 3 simultaneous users.