MARITIME HISTORY ON T H E INTERNET
Academic Library 'Pathfinders'-Art and Art History by Peter M cCracken ne of the best ways to fig ure out how to start research in a specific subject is to explore rhe hel p pages on a universiry library web site. In colleges and universities, librarians often create guides, generally called "pathfinders," to help students who are just starting to do research in a particular subj ect area. If yo u are not affiliated with the institu tion, yo u will nor be able to access fro m yo ur home computer many of the databases they offer, bur you can read rhe path fi nders and learn more about what and how to search. Th en, on ca mpus, yo u should be able to use these databases and save rime by kn owing where yo u want to search. Public libraries may provide access to som e of these databases, bur they rarely offer path fi nders. D on't hesitate to co ntact th e library that created the path finder; they'll most likely be glad to offer assistance. Similarly, yo u can often use the institution's electro nic resources when you visit in person. Let's rake a look at th ese guides in art and art histo ry as examples, bur yo u will fi nd guides in m any othe r areas, as well. As an exampl e, at http://lib.washington.edu/subject/, yo u'll find nearly 100 di ffere nt subject-specific research guides. Mos t co lleges and unive rsities offer a similar selection. (See, for example, http://www.library.yale.edu/guides/, http://www.conncoll.edu/ is/info-resources/subject-guides/ , or http://www.lib.unc.edu/ guides/ fo r so me other sites. Subj ect-specific databases provide information that wo uld never be fo und through Google. Hundreds of specialized data bases exist; p athfinders and librarians will help you find the ones yo u need. The library's web sire will like ly indi cate which databases their patrons and visitors can access. In art, examples include Art Full Text, Art Index Retrospective, ARTBibliographies Modern, and Bibliography of the History of Art (and its predecessors, RAA and RILA). O ne special as pect of art research is searching fo r specifi c images. Several image collections are worth explorin g if yo u're seeking a speci fi c wo rk, or wo rks by a particular artist. ARTstor (at http://www.artstor.org) is a fairly new project that contains nearly
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a half-million images from collections and museums aro und the wo rld. You need to use the resource from within a subscribing orga ni za tio n, bu t their site lists over 500 current subscribers th ro ughout the US and Canada, organized by state; yo u're bound to fi nd one in yo ur area. Art Museum Image Gallery is another commercial database, containing images from over rwe nry major collectio ns. A nice feature of Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective is that images in gallery advertisements are indexed, which greatly expands the images that are tracked in these databases. ArtNet, at http://www.artnet.com, lists galleries, artists, prices, and much mo re. Other general art history reso urces include the Artcyclopedia at http://www.artcyclopedia.com/ and Prof. C hristo ph er Witcombe's comprehensive list of links, organized by subject, at http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html. You'll find a collectio n of links to marine art sites and a bibliography of print resources at The Marine Art Information Center at http://www. marineart.com/, created by a marine art gall ery. The National Gallery of Art in Washingto n, D C, posts a worthy essay at http://www.nga.gov/education/american/marine. shtm, including discussion of specific marine works in its collectio n. As would be expected, the National Maritime Museum in the UK has a truly imp ressive online presence. You can ex pl ore their collection at http://www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/, where they offer artists' biographies, essays, and more. To learn about co ntemporary anists, consider inves tigating one of the marine art societies, such as the American Society of Marine Artists at http://americansocietyofmarineartists.com/, the Canadian Society of Marine Artists at http://www.ultramarine.ca/, or the International Society of Marine Painters at http://www.ismpart.com/. Suggestio ns for other sites wo rth mentioning are welcome at shipindex@yahoo.com. See http: //www.shipindex.o rg fo r a co mpilation of over 100,000 ship names from indexes to dozens of books and journals. 1,
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SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006
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