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Key Databases
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Art & Architecture Thesaurus®Discover terms and definitions affiliated with architecture.
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Avery Index to Architectural PeriodicalsRecognized as one of the world's leading databases of the architectural literature, this indexes more than 1,000 western language periodicals published worldwide on architecture, archaeology, decorative arts, environmental studies, furniture, historic preservation, landscape architecture, urban planning/city planning, interior design, and historic preservation.
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Compendex ArchiveNOTE: Select 'Ei Backfile' to search the content in the 'Compendex Archive'
Covers scholarly and technical periodicals, conference proceedings, and report literature from 1884-1968 in all engineering disciplines including applied physics, electronics, materials science, and related fields in science and management. Indexes nearly 3000 sources worldwide. -
Index to Nineteenth-Century American Art PeriodicalsFind articles on art, art history, popular culture and industry from the Nineteenth Century (e.g. 1801-1900) including artwork, images and photographs.
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ProQuest Art Design and Architecture CollectionA comprehensive survey of current publications in the fields of visual and applied arts. This collection includes the specialist indexes ARTbibliographies Modern (covering modern and contemporary art), Design and Applied Arts Index (for all aspects of design and crafts) and the International Bibliography of Art (covering scholarship on Western art history), together with a complementary collection of current full-text journals, Arts and Humanities Full Text.
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ArchDailyProvides online resources like interesting architecture projects, news, and building products. Intended to inspire, inform, and provide tools for architects.
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SAH ArchipediaA carefully selected subset from an encyclopedia of US architecture, containing peer-reviewed essays, photos, and maps for more than 4600 structures in 1802 cities and all 50 states
Books and Ebooks
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Libraries SearchSearch the University of Minnesota Libraries to find books, scholarly journal articles, news, magazines, media, and other items in the University's collection. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
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HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowHathiTrust provides access to millions of books and other materials. Full text searching of most books is available and books in the public domain (generally older books) can be freely viewed and/or downloaded. Books still in copyright have more limited access. Users with print-reading disabilities can apply for special access to digitized works by emailing wilsref@umn.edu.
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WorldCatFind books, journals, articles, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, theses/dissertations, machine-readable data files, and any other materials available in libraries worldwide. All subject areas are covered. Request items through Interlibrary Loan using the ILLiad link on each item's record. A mobile version of this database is available. Limited to 65 simultaneous users.
Primary Resources
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ArchiveGridIncludes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. Helps researchers locate primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
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Historical News SourcesGuide to getting articles from The New York Times, and other newspapers
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How to find primary sourcesWhat are primary resources and how to know what type of source to use.
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Primary Sources for the Arts, Humanities, and Social SciencesThis page lists online databases that search primary sources in arts, humanities, history, social sciences, etc. Most are large, licensed databases accessible by University of Minnesota students, staff and faculty, and are also accessible to visitors using computers in libraries on the Twin Cities campus. They include sources like newspapers, artifacts, art, songs, images and are often facsimiles or reproductions. To identify resources with specific subject coverage search this page using a single, broad keyword (Some examples: film, history, music, news, political, politics, women).
Local & National Archives
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Minnesota Historical SocietyThe Minnesota Historical Society preserves Minnesota's past through historic collections, exhibits, locations, events and more. It is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849.
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National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.
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Northwest Architectural Archives
The Northwest Architectural Archives is the repository for the records of architects, engineers, contractors, landscape architects, interior designers, and local professional societies from the Midwest region.
Also Check Out
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Academic Search PremierA great place to start your research on any topic, search multidisciplinary, scholarly research articles. This database provides access to scholarly and peer reviewed journals, popular magazines and other resources. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
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Art Full TextSearch for articles in fine, decorative and commercial art, as well as photography, film and architecture. Limited to 20 simultaneous users.
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Art Index RetrospectiveArt Index Retrospective covers 55 years (from 1929-1984) of art journalism and research from leading English-language sources, plus others published in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. Besides periodicals, resources include data from yearbooks and select museum bulletins.
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Oxford Art OnlineThe most comprehensive online resource for all visual arts worldwide from prehistory to the present day. Provides access to Grove Art Online, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Access is limited to 8 simultaneous users.
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JSTORFind full text articles in academic journals or books on the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR provides articles from the journal's first issue. In some cases the most recent 2-5 years may not be available. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
Images
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ARTstorA cross-disciplinary image database covering all aspects of art, architecture, and archeology. A few specific collections of images include the SAHARA collection, Art on File: Contemporary architecture, urban design and landscape architecture, and more.
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SAHARA (Society of Architectural Historians)Access is not completely free; however you can register for limited use. "SAHARA is a digital image archive developed over the past three years by the Society of Architectural Historians in collaboration with ARTstor. SAHARA now has nearly 30,000 images that were contributed by architects, scholars, photographers, graduate students, preservationists and others who share an interest in the built world."
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UMedia ArchiveUMedia searches digitized collections from the University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections.
Research and Writing Tools
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Citation Guides and Style ManualsA guide to different citation styles.
Last Updated: Jun 4, 2025 4:17 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/c.php?g=1084320