Subject guides: Art History: Databases

Art and Architecture Archive content: front cover of British Journal of Photography, front cover of Apollo, and front cover of Eye

As a result of heavy usage during the library’s innovative ProQuest trial of primary resources which ran for the course of the last academic year to support researchers in the Humanities, the Library has now purchased Art and Architecture Archive.

This major research resource incorporates the digitized back-files of many of the foremost art and architecture magazines of the twentieth century. Offering full text and high resolution access to the archives of key consumer and trade publications, it comprises an invaluable collection of essential primary sources for studying the history of these disciplines. In addition to two key architectural periodicals, The Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal, the collections encompass a wide portfolio of material across the fine and applied arts. Access to the likes of periodicals such as Apollo (1925-2005) and Art Monthly (1976-2005) not only provides ‘feature’ pieces, but also an opportunity to investigate the contemporary reception of specific works and exhibitions, whilst a number of regularly published trade ‘survey’ titles also offer an insight into past perspectives on and developments in field including photography, graphics and craft.

The ability to cross-search these periodicals within a single database allows researchers to readily locate a comprehensive body of primary source material relating to particular individuals, topics and movements, across a variety of publications and document types. A single search may therefore return industry news items, interviews with major artists, and features about technological developments, as well as high-quality photographs / illustrations, architectural plans, statistics, and reviews, so providing a straightforward ‘first step’ for independent research. To further facilitate discovery all periodical titles in the collection are also now individually indexed on Library Search.

The Harper's Bazaar Archive

The Harper’s Bazaar Archive significantly enhances the University’s existing holdings of one of the world’s most influential fashion and lifestyle magazines. Providing access to over 500,000 pages of content, coverage extends back to the first issues of both the US (1867-present, with subsequent issues added on an ongoing basis), and UK (1930-2015) editions, both of which are seamlessly cross-searchable.

The resource is fully indexed, and content is discoverable to either article level or, in the case of advertisements, by brand or company name. The highly visual content is presented in the original magazine layout, providing both context and opportunity for comparative studies of both the US and UK editions. The database also complements the University’s recent acquisitions in general interest magazines, notably those available on EBSCOhost Reseach Databases.

This powerful lens into American, British and International fashion is essential to students and researchers in Fashion, Business and Technology, with cross-searching facilitated between both Women's Wear Daily and The Vogue Archive by their shared ProQuest platform. However, whilst synonymous with designers and illustrators, Harper’s also showcased the work of acclaimed authors such as John Steinbeck and Virginia Woolf and photographers including Diane Arbus and Man Ray. Its diverse cultural range offers rich primary source material for the Departments of American Studies, English Literature and Creative Writing, Film Studies, History, and Sociology, as well as interdisciplinary research groupings across the Humanities including CIDRAL and the Institute for Cultural Practices.

Library Stack

Library Stack is a unique archive and lending library with digital collections relating to art, design, film, architecture, experimental sound and critical theory. By working directly with a variety of publishers, firms, artists, and academics, Library Stack provides access to a diverse array of born-digital resources ranging from articles, eBooks and zines to podcasts, music and films.

In addition to providing digital publications from established commercial publishers including Aperture, Sternberg and MACK, Library Stack’s ongoing collaboration with small independent presses, companies, and individuals means that users can access resources that exist outside of mainstream academic and commercial publishing.

The content on offer will be of interest to students across a wide variety of courses here at the University and represents a rich and varied range of innovative formats that extend beyond traditional outputs such as articles and books - including software, sound recordings, and artworks.

Students and staff from the University of Manchester should register using their University email address in order to gain access to both the Open Access and reserved circulation items. By creating an account, you can also make use of the ‘Bookshelf’ feature which allows you to borrow reserved circulation items and save, organise and annotate items, creating your own collections based on your research interests.

Art & Architecture Archive

As a result of heavy usage during the library’s innovative ProQuest trial of primary resources which ran for the course of the last academic year to support researchers in the Humanities, the Library has now purchased Art and Architecture Archive.

This major research resource incorporates the digitized back-files of many of the foremost art and architecture magazines of the twentieth century. Offering full text and high resolution access to the archives of key consumer and trade publications, it comprises an invaluable collection of essential primary sources for studying the history of these disciplines. In addition to two key architectural periodicals, The Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal, the collections encompass a wide portfolio of material across the fine and applied arts. Access to the likes of periodicals such as Apollo (1925-2005) and Art Monthly (1976-2005) not only provides ‘feature’ pieces, but also an opportunity to investigate the contemporary reception of specific works and exhibitions, whilst a number of regularly published trade ‘survey’ titles also offer an insight into past perspectives on and developments in field including photography, graphics and craft.

The ability to cross-search these periodicals within a single database allows researchers to readily locate a comprehensive body of primary source material relating to particular individuals, topics and movements, across a variety of publications and document types. A single search may therefore return industry news items, interviews with major artists, and features about technological developments, as well as high-quality photographs / illustrations, architectural plans, statistics, and reviews, so providing a straightforward ‘first step’ for independent research. To further facilitate discovery all periodical titles in the collection are also now individually indexed on Library Search.

The Harper's Bazaar Archive

The Harper’s Bazaar Archive significantly enhances the University’s existing holdings of one of the world’s most influential fashion and lifestyle magazines. Providing access to over 500,000 pages of content, coverage extends back to the first issues of both the US (1867-present, with subsequent issues added on an ongoing basis), and UK (1930-2015) editions, both of which are seamlessly cross-searchable.

The resource is fully indexed, and content is discoverable to either article level or, in the case of advertisements, by brand or company name. The highly visual content is presented in the original magazine layout, providing both context and opportunity for comparative studies of both the US and UK editions. The database also complements the University’s recent acquisitions in general interest magazines, notably those available on EBSCOhost Reseach Databases.

This powerful lens into American, British and International fashion is essential to students and researchers in Fashion, Business and Technology, with cross-searching facilitated between both Women's Wear Daily and The Vogue Archive by their shared ProQuest platform. However, whilst synonymous with designers and illustrators, Harper’s also showcased the work of acclaimed authors such as John Steinbeck and Virginia Woolf and photographers including Diane Arbus and Man Ray. Its diverse cultural range offers rich primary source material for the Departments of American Studies, English Literature and Creative Writing, Film Studies, History, and Sociology, as well as interdisciplinary research groupings across the Humanities including CIDRAL and the Institute for Cultural Practices.

Library Stack

Library Stack is a unique archive and lending library with digital collections relating to art, design, film, architecture, experimental sound and critical theory. By working directly with a variety of publishers, firms, artists, and academics, Library Stack provides access to a diverse array of born-digital resources ranging from articles, eBooks and zines to podcasts, music and films.

In addition to providing digital publications from established commercial publishers including Aperture, Sternberg and MACK, Library Stack’s ongoing collaboration with small independent presses, companies, and individuals means that users can access resources that exist outside of mainstream academic and commercial publishing.

The content on offer will be of interest to students across a wide variety of courses here at the University and represents a rich and varied range of innovative formats that extend beyond traditional outputs such as articles and books - including software, sound recordings, and artworks.

Students and staff from the University of Manchester should register using their University email address in order to gain access to both the Open Access and reserved circulation items. By creating an account, you can also make use of the ‘Bookshelf’ feature which allows you to borrow reserved circulation items and save, organise and annotate items, creating your own collections based on your research interests.

Art & Architecture Archive

As a result of heavy usage during the library’s innovative ProQuest trial of primary resources which ran for the course of the last academic year to support researchers in the Humanities, the Library has now purchased Art and Architecture Archive.

This major research resource incorporates the digitized back-files of many of the foremost art and architecture magazines of the twentieth century. Offering full text and high resolution access to the archives of key consumer and trade publications, it comprises an invaluable collection of essential primary sources for studying the history of these disciplines. In addition to two key architectural periodicals, The Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal, the collections encompass a wide portfolio of material across the fine and applied arts. Access to the likes of periodicals such as Apollo (1925-2005) and Art Monthly (1976-2005) not only provides ‘feature’ pieces, but also an opportunity to investigate the contemporary reception of specific works and exhibitions, whilst a number of regularly published trade ‘survey’ titles also offer an insight into past perspectives on and developments in field including photography, graphics and craft.

The ability to cross-search these periodicals within a single database allows researchers to readily locate a comprehensive body of primary source material relating to particular individuals, topics and movements, across a variety of publications and document types. A single search may therefore return industry news items, interviews with major artists, and features about technological developments, as well as high-quality photographs / illustrations, architectural plans, statistics, and reviews, so providing a straightforward ‘first step’ for independent research. To further facilitate discovery all periodical titles in the collection are also now individually indexed on Library Search.

Art History: Databases

Databases provide access to high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, dissertations and many other resources.

These databases have been especially selected for this subject area. When carrying out your research for a piece of work, you will need to search more than one database to find all of the journal articles relevant to your topic, as each database covers different journal titles.

Database Spotlight

Essential databases

Key database categories

Database Directory

Research at the University of Manchester