VISC-1001 Library Guide: Research Your Theme Using Encyclopedias (Oxford Art Online)

This short guide will demonstrate how to research your chosen object using Oxford Art Online.

Transcript

1. VISC-1001 Library Guide: Research Your Object Using Encyclopedias: Oxford Art Online This short guide will demonstrate how to research your chosen object using Oxford Art Online.
2. Oxford Art Online is a reference tool that searches articles from Grove Dictionary of Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics and other art and design reference resources – all citable for your paper.
3. To get to Oxford Art Online, start from the Library page at ocadu.ca/library.htm and click the Databases A-Z tab.
4. Either type “Oxford Art Online” into the search bar or browse from the alphabetical list of databases by clicking Databases A – Z list.
5. Then click to enter Oxford Art Online.
6. Your object may not have an entry of its own but you can still search its geographic area or culture. For the Memorial Head we are going to search “Akan” the culture associated with the object.
7. From the results there may be one or more relevant entries. If there were no entries for Akan I might broaden my search to “Ghana” or “Ivory Coast.” Try not to despair if your first search is unsuccessful.
8. Now we have a better idea of our object’s original purpose. As we do this background reading we should note keywords for future use. "Akan" and "terracotta" are a good start.
9. Searching by geography, in this case the Republic of Ghana, provides us with an easily accessible contents menu covering the history of architecture, painting, and sculpture in the region.
10. Click the “pencil” icon on the top right corner to generate a formatted citation.
11. Still having trouble finding information about your object? Ask a librarian in person, by email libraryresearch@ocadu.ca, chat ocad.ask.ca.libraryh3lp.com Or by phone 416.977.6000 x 334.