The principal collection for Fine Art and History of Art is in the Main Library (Wilkins Building)
in the South Junction reading rooms on the first floor. See separate pages for
maps and opening hours.
Books in the Main Library
A classmark (shelf location) beginning with the word ART refers to a book on the open shelves in the South Junction Art reading rooms.
The Art Collection comprises Fine Art and History of Art, broadly arranged as follows:
- Section A: art generally, including historiography, museology, curating and the art market
- Sections BA – BK: philosophy, aesthetics, criticism and cultural studies
- Sections C – M: topical, chronological and geographic sequences
- Sections P – PR: applied and performing arts, graphics, costume, theatre and vernacular
- Section Q – QN: film studies
- Section R: photography
- Section T: techniques, colour, materials, conservation
Click here for a detailed version of the classification scheme for Art.
Books in Stores
A
classmark beginning with the word STORE refers to a work housed
away from the UCL Main Library. For these items, you will need to make a request via the library catalogue or fill in the online
store request form. Most but not all items
in Store are borrowable and can usually be collected from the Science Library Assistance Desk from 3pm the following day.
See the special arrangements for obtaining materials held in Store.
Rare Art books
A classmark beginning with ART RARE refers to an item in Special Collections: these items are not
borrowable and are currently in temporary storage at the Library's Special Collections. See the Special Collections
website for details.
Other collections in the Main Library
Some of the other main sections of UCL Library Services you are likely to need are:
HISTORY (Main Library, 2nd floor): extensive coverage of European, Latin American and United States
social, political and economic history; a special collection on London History
BARTLETT (5th Floor, Wates House, 22 Gordon Street): architecture, interior and spatial design, and town planning
ARCHAEOLOGY (Institute of Archaeology, Gordon Square): ancient art, conservation, museum studies
PHILOSOPHY (Main Library, South Corridor): theory and criticism
ANTHROPOLOGY (Science Library, DMS Watson Building, 2nd Floor): film, gender studies, fashion, culture
Periodicals
The library subscribes to Art periodicals in both print and
electronic format. Copies of print periodicals which are not available
electronically are shelved in the South Junction reading rooms next to the book collection. All Art periodicals are for reference use only and cannot be removed from the library but articles may be photocopied, subject to copyright restrictions. Runs of some ceased titles and print periodicals which are also available electronically are kept in the closed access Stores. There are special arrangements for obtaining materials held in Store. The holdings record of each title on the library catalogue will tell you exactly where any volume is held.
Titles of journals (but not contents) can be searched on the library catalogue. Contents of journals can be searched by using one of several abstracting and indexing databases to which the Library provides access, or by accessing the electronic version of the journal where available (see below.)
There is also a Special Collection of Small Press materials, comprising Little Magazines, Alternative Presses, and the Poetry Store. These collections include a number of independently published artists' magazines and other avant-garde publications and are available to view by appointment only.
See below for information on electronic journals.
Audio Visual Collections
Feature films, documentary etc.
Feature films on DVD are shelved in the Main Library Issue Desk area and VHS tapes are kept in the Main Library Photocopying room. Titles can be located on the Library catalogue using the Audio Visual search option. These are available to borrow for either short (up to two days) or one week loan. Some DVDs are for reference only and must be used in the viewing room which is adjacent to the Main Library Reference Room (see below).
The feature films on DVD are arranged alphabetically by nationality of the director. For example:
DVD FRA:TRU (France : Truffaut)
DVD GBR:LOA (Great Britain : Loach)
DVD GER:HER (Germany : Herzog)
DVD SPA:ALM (Spain : Almodovar)
DVD USA:LYN (United States : Lynch)
Art audio-visual
Art related videos and DVDs are shelved in the South Junction reading rooms, adjacent to the Art periodicals. These include interviews with artists and examples of their work, and have the shelfmark ART AV. Note: the DVD cases on the shelves are empty and discs must be collected from the Issue Desk.
There is also a closed access collection of rare artists' films at the Main Library Issue Desk. These have a catalogue location of ISSUE DESK AV REFERENCE. Readers wishing to view an item from this collection should request it at the Issue Desk.
Audio Cds
There is a collection of audio CDs which includes interviews with artists, recordings of performances and original soundworks. These are available in the Main Issue Desk area and have the shelfmark ISSUE DESK CD.
Main Library Viewing Room
The viewing room in the Main Library has 4 viewing stations:
1. DVD, VHS, audio CD
2. DVD, VHS, audio CD
3. DVD, Blu-ray, audio CD
4. DVD, Blu-ray, audio CD
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Electronic resources
Material held in electronic form is available to registered members of UCL: you will usually need your user ID/password from UCL Information Systems in order to gain access to them. Most of our electronic resources are available within our electronic gateway, Metalib. To use e-resources offsite, enter Metalib from UCL Library Services home page, and login. A leaflet on Metalib's facilities is available in print and electronically.
Databases
Indexes and Abstracts
Among the art related bibliographic databases offered by UCL Library Services are:
- ARTbibliographies Modern: full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogues, PhD dissertations, and
exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art from 1974 onwards.
- Art Full Text: index
of abstracts and selected full text of articles from art periodicals published throughout the world. Index
1984-, abstracts 1994-, full text 1997-.
- Art Retrospective: index of art periodicals published throughout the world, 1929-1984. See Art Full Text for subsequent abstracts and full texts from this index.
- Arts & Humanities Citation
Index: indexes over 1200 journals published in all areas of humanities since 1975. Part of the Web of Knowledge.
- Bibliography of the History of
Art: Covers scholarly literature on western art published 1990-2007. For 2008 onwards
see the International Bibliography of Art.
- British Humanities Index: Index of published literature in the humanities, 1962-, covering humanities journals
and weekly magazines, as well as quality newspapers published in the UK and the
United States.
- Index to 19th Century American
Art Periodicals: online index to 42 art periodicals published in the United States, 1840-1907. Entire journal contents indexed: articles, art notes, illustrations, stories, poems, and advertisements.
- International Bibliography of Art: Covers literature published from 2008 onwards on European art from late antiquity to the present, American art from the colonial era to the present, and global art since 1945. Succeeds the Bibliography of the History of Art (literature on western art published 1990-2007)
- RIBA British Architectural Library Catalogue:
index of the world's most respected architectural periodicals held in the RIBA Library. A catalogue of the books and audio visual materials acquired by the RIBA Library. A biographical database of architects.
- SCIPIO:
Details art auction and rare book catalogues for sales from the late sixteenth century to scheduled auctions not yet held. Records include the dates and places of sales, the auction houses, sellers, institutional holdings, and titles of works.
- SCOPUS: a wide ranging database covering the social sciences, arts & humanities and science.
- Social Sciences Citation Index:
indexes over 1400 journals in social and behavioural sciences from 1981 onwards. Useful for cultural and film studies.
There are many other databases that may be useful to you. Follow this link for a complete list of the databases available at UCL Library Services. As well as Art related databases, other subjects with relevant resources are Anthropology, Architecture, Film Studies, History, and Philosophy.
Full-text databases for Art
- Art Full Text: full text of selected articles from art periodicals published throughout the world. Index 1984-, abstracts 1994-, full text 1997-. Note: selected articles only in full text
- Oxford Art Online: a collection of full text resources consisting of:
- Grove Art Online: entire text of The Dictionary of Art, searchable with extensive image links.
- Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms: dictionary of around 1800 entries on art terms, critical periods, and styles in the visual arts.
- Encyclopedia of Aesthetics: interdisciplinary encyclopaedia of more than 600 articles on all aspects of aesthetics.
Image resources
- Art Museum Image Gallery: collection of digital art images and related multimedia gathered from the collections of distinguished museums around the world. Images are rights-cleared for educational use.
- ARTstor: see below
- VADS: The Visual Arts Data Service online image collections
Audio visual resources for Art
- BFI Screenonline : encyclopedia of British film and television, including clips from the BFI National Archive, supplemented by contextual material from expert writers.
- British Library Archival Sound Recordings: a range of recordings from the British Library's audio archives which can be downloaded or streamed, including art & design interviews and soundscapes.
- Film & Sound Online: a collection of film archives, mainly documentary material and public information films. Contains several
hundred hours of high-quality material which can be downloaded.
- NewsFilm Online: over 3,000 hours of downloadable television news and cinema newsreels, selected
from the ITN/Reuters television archives.
- Arts on Film Archive: a large range of films on art produced in the United Kingdom since the
1950s. Accessible only from an ac.uk domain.
See also Senate House Library's databases especially:
- ARTstor: a collection of nearly 500,000 digital images covering architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as
well as many other forms of visual and material culture. You must be a member of Senate House Library to access this database.
Electronic journals
A range of electronic journals are available and these can be searched by title or browsed by subject.
Titles can can also be searched using the library catalogue. Always check the holdings statement to see which issues are available electronically.
E-journal collections useful for Art are:
- JSTOR: full text archive of important scholarly journals, including over 100 art titles.
- IngentaConnect: full text of thousands of online journals. Covers science, social science, and arts and humanities.
- Project Muse: full text of journals, mainly in the humanities and social sciences.
Exam papers
Copies of some UCL examination papers for History
of Art are now available online from 2000 onwards.
Printed copies of UCL exam papers for History of Art are held in the Main Library.
Other Web resources
Internet resources of academic quality can be accessed using subject gateways or directories. These
gateways are often compiled by subject specialists and can therefore provide a quick and reliable way
of finding material of academic quality on the Web.
Gateways specific to History of Art and Fine Art include:
- Internet Resources for Art History: a comprehensive list maintained by the University of Delaware.
- Ubuweb: an 'independent resource dedicated to all strains of the avant-garde, ethnopoetics,
and outsider arts' which includes a vast selection of avant-garde texts and conceptual writing, sound and video files.
The best Internet search engine is generally Google,
and this is a very useful means of accessing information about artists and images, museums, galleries
etc. and finding institutional websites.
Visit the blog Library news for artists to keep up to date with new resources.
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All students registered at UCL are entitled to obtain a borrowing card for the
Senate House Library, which has a specific Art collection as well
as material on mediaeval illuminated manuscripts, Latin American and American art. Reference access to
other University of London Libraries is available to students registered at UCL.
London is rich in Art libraries; however, you should be aware that many academic and specialist
libraries have strict admissions criteria. For information on opening hours and access to other Art
libraries in London, see the guide to
London Art libraries produced by the Library Committee on the History of Art.
There are several online catalogues to help you locate books and periodicals not held by UCL, including:
- COPAC: an online catalogue with records of the holdings of
26 of the top research libraries in the country. You can obtain books found on COPAC via inter-library
loan, at a charge of £3 per item.
- M25 Union List of Serials: a catalogue of periodicals
holdings in academic libraries in the London area.
- arlis.net: a database for locating art, architecture and design periodicals in UK libraries, and a related directory of art library resources in general. Produced by the UK & Ireland Art Libraries Society and hosted by the National Art Library at the V&A.
- artlibraries.net: Virtual Catalogue for Art History, which provides the ability to cross-search the catalogues of many major art
libraries simultaneously. Institutions include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Documenta Archive in Kassel.
- SUNCAT: Serials Union Catalogue for the UK. Search for periodicals held by contributing libraries, including the British Film Institute, the National Art Library, the Tate Library, and the University of the Arts London.
More information is available about the use
of other libraries.
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If you have any problems in using the Library, go to the Enquiry Desk, or ask the Subject Librarian
for Art:
Liz Lawes
E-mail: e.lawes@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: internal: 32594; external: 020 7679 2594
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