MHC Library Guides: Art and Art History: Web Resources

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Recommended Websites

There are excellent web resources for art and art history research and study.

AccessCeramics
Excellent image database developed by staff at the Watzek Library at Lewis & Clark College in Portland focuses on contemporary ceramic work. Search by method, material, artist name, object type, and even temperature! This is a beautiful site with great inspiration for ceramic artists
Artcyclopedia: the Fine Art Search Engine
A guide to museum-quality fine art on the Internet.
Art History Resources on the Web
Links to sites featuring many different periods and styles of art.
CCCA Canadian Art Database
Significant online resource for teaching and research on Canadian art, including over 62,000 images & media files, over 3,000 tests and several projects documenting artist groups, art organizations and events.
Google Art Project
A unique collaboration of over 150 acclaimed art museums in 40 countries. The search capabilities are very clunky and it is recommended to use the Search by Museum category to browse. Create and share your own "collections."
Metropolitan Museum of Art -- Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Outstanding resource for research on many art historical periods including ancient Egypt artifacts, Greek and Roman art, Byzantine, Renaissance, Asian and Central Asian art, 19th Century art movements, fashion, weaponry, and many other topics up to the early 20th century.
Mother of All Art and Art History Links
Developed by the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Mother of All is an extensive set of links to research resources, image collections, online digital art, art schools, art departments, and art museums.
Museum of Modern Art Online Learning
Outstanding resource for research on modern art and its influences worldwide, up to the present.
The New Museum
Excellent resource on contemporary art, artists, and cutting-edge thematic exhibits.
Smarthistory
Smarthistory.org is a free and open, not-for-profit, art history textbook using multimedia to deliver unscripted conversations between art historians about the history of art.

Evaluating Web Resources

Find an interesting website using Google or another browser? Not sure if you can use it for academic research? It is not always easy to determine if information on the World Wide Web is credible. However, the guidelines below will help you understand clues about the reliability of web resources.

Authority

Who is the author of this page?
What are their credentials?
Are they affiliated with an institution?
Does the site display this information?

Objectivity

What is the purpose of this page?
Does the author state the goals for this site?
Does the content inform, educate, persuade, or rant?
If the author is affiliated with an institution (government, university, business, etc.), does this affiliation bias the information presented?

Accuracy

Does the site have sloppy page layout, include misspellings or typos?
It's always a good idea to cross-reference information no matter where you find it.
Do graphics add or detract from the content? Is there inflammatory content?
Is the information complete or fragmented?

Currency

When was this page created? Is there a revision/creation date?
Do the links work?
Is the page maintained and up-to-date?

For more in-depth information on evaluating websites, see: Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask from UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops