BFA Research

Doing research for a studio art practice is expansive and non-linear. Academic library collections and resources are generally organized well for art history research topics, but less so for studio art research. This guide is meant to direct you to relevant resources in the EWU Library, as well as provide some suggestions for navigating resources for studio-based topics.

In order to assess credibility, ask yourself the following questions about the source you're evaluating:

1. Does the creator (author and/or publisher) have experience or expertise?
   • Experience (working as an artist)
   • Academic expertise
   • Curatorial expertise
2. What is the purpose or objective of the author and the publisher of the resource?

In addition to assessing credibility, also double-check that the resource is appropriate to the topic or assignment.  Does it meet requirements for currency (in other words, how old can an article be?) and for length (how long, in general, should the article be?).

Use the Find Books section of the Art Research Guide for links to the EWU Library catalog, information about where physical books are located in the EWU Library, etc.

Use the Find Articles section of the Art Research Guide for article database suggestions for art topics.

For non-art topic areas, use the Subject Guides list to identify the likely discipline area and review suggested databases and book collection call number ranges. For example, a research topic exploring trauma might benefit from reviewing materials on the Psychology subject guide.

Please reach out for assistance in identifying and using non-art subject resources.

Use the Image Resources section of the Art Research Guide for image resource suggestions.

Use same search techniques as databases

• Quotes for phrases
• Limit to specific domain or domain type using “site:gov” or “site:edu” or “site:org”
• Exclude words using minus sign (-) (similar to NOT)
• fluxus materials site:org OR site:edu –wikipedia
• Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odf81kzkYbM

Relevant and credible types of websites:

• Artist or gallery representing artist
• Museums and galleries

Use the Videos section of the Art Research Guide for video resource suggestions.

Use the Citations and Citation Management section of the Art Research Guide for links to information about citing print and image resources.