Arts and Administration

Starting Your Research

These reference sources may provide an overview of a specific topic, define a term or concept, provide biographical information on an artist or data on a museum, or suggest books, articles and other materials that may be useful in your research. The entries in these resources range from brief descriptions to signed, scholarly articles.

Encyclopedias

• Grove Dictionary of Art Online is the most comprehensive reference source for the study of art history in English. Some articles have images, but most allow you to conect to a page of image linkes by clicking on "images" in the gray bar at the top of the page.
• Grove Music Online is the most comprehensive resource on music, musicians, instruments, festivals and all things related to music.
  
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Peformance is the consise, online version of the Oxford Companion to the Theatre (Knight Ref PN2035.H3 1983) covering all aspects of theatre, around the world and through the ages.
  
• Oxford Reference Premium is a suite of Oxford reference resources available online.  You may wish to use sources listed under Art & Architecture, Economics & Business, Politics & Social Sciences or Performing Arts to name a few likely areas of interdisciplinary interest.

• Encyclopedia of Community: from the village to the virtual world  Edited by Karen Christensen & David Levinson.  Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, 2003
• American Community Organizations: a historical dictionary
  New York : Greenwood Press, 1986.  Knight HN90 .C6 A69 1986
  
• Encyclopedia of Community Planning and Environmental Management by Marilyn Spigel Schultz
  New York : Facts on File, c1984.  DOCS REF HD 108.6 .S38 1984 
  

Directories

• Danilov, Victor J. University and College Museums, Galleries, and Related Facilities: a descriptive directory. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1996. A&AA Ref AM11.D35 1996
• Hudson, Kenneth and Ann Nicholls. The Cambridge Guide to the Museums of Europe. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1991. A&AA Ref AM40 .H83 1991
• The Official Museum Directory, 37th ed. Washington, DC : American Association of Museums, 2007. A&AA Ref AM10 .A2 2007
• The Official Museum Products and Services Directory. Washington, DC : American Association of Museums, 1992. A&AA Ref AM127 .O36 1992
• World Wide Arts Resources This is the only comprehensive registry of art information on the world wide web. Thousands of sites are registered and organized here.

Finding Articles

To find articels or essays in journals, art magazines and sometimes in museum catalogs, you will need to start with an index. Indexes allow you to search the content of art periodicals using keywords, author's names and titles among other search strategies. Use the Find Text button in the citation entry to locate the journal online, at the UO Libraries, or to request it through Interlibrary Loan.

For a list of indexes appropriate to various areas of research in Arts and Administration see the Search by Subject page for locating articles and select the Art and Art History link.  Arts and Administration has a special sub-category on this page that represents the broad and interdisciplinary nature of your research.

• Art Full Text
  This database indexes art periodicals dating back to 1984.  Art Index Retrospective, the companion database indexes art periodicals published between 1929 and 1983, where Art Full Text takes over.  These indexes are strongest for English language publications, and include many smaller or more regionally oriented U.S. publications that may not be indexed in other databases. Art Abstracts and Art Index Retrospective include citations to articles on all art forms from all periods in history, from all parts of the world and include many articles on art education, museology and other related fields.
• Sociological Abstracts Sociological Abstracts provides access to the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences
• ERIC  Journal and non-journal literature on all aspects of education.  Considered the primary source for information about education.
  
• PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service  PAIS International and Archive provide references to journal articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, government documents, and statistical directories in the area of public affairs. 

Other Useful Resources

Art Education

• Art Teacher on the Net is an award winning site featuring K-12 project ideas for a variety of circumstances.
• PBS TeacherSource provides a searchable directory of lesson and curriculum guides for art educators. Guides can be downloaded as PDF files, or email PBS to receive the complete color guides by postal service.

Museums

• American Association of Museums provides a wealth of helpful pages for museum professionals. The "information center" contains information about best practices, guidelines for creating a collection management policy and more.
• Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) promotes the role of art in society and acts as an advocate for member museums by establishing high standards of professional practice and by supporting the sharing of information. The Art Museum Network is a communication project of the AAMD and is an important online resource for art museum news and information.
• Association of Children's Museums "endeavors to expand the capacity and further the vision of children's museums around the world". The "all about ACM" page contains information about the mission of this organization.
• The Getty Provenance Index Databases
  
• The Smithsonian: Museum Studies provides links to many continuing education and training opportunities such as workshops and fellowships.
• Museum Computer Network (MCN) is a non-profit organization supporting the use of technology to achieve the cultural and educational aims of museums. Click on "Museum Sites Online" to find an extensive list of links to museum homepages from around the world.
• Museum Loan Network facilitates sharing and collaboration between museums and cultural institutes by funding the long-term loan of art and cultural objects. Several publications are available in their "Collection Sharing/ What's New section.
  

Other Professional Organizations

• Art Library Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) is the professional society of art, architecture and design libraries and librarians includes members from academic, museum and special research libraries.
• College Art Association. Among many services provided by the College Art Association, are advocasy for arts and humanities issues, the promotion of excellence in the teaching and criticism of art history and the visual arts, and the fostering of career development for artists, art historians and others associated with these fields.
• National Endowment for the Arts is an independant agency of the U.S. Federal government. Their mission is to support excellence in the arts through grants for artists and art organizations.