Oxford Art Online - Resource for Writers
Art, Aesthetics and a Good Dictionary of Art Terms Available Online
Oxford Art Online is the portal to a number of searchable resources. This unique gateway, developed by Oxford University Press, uses the latest technology and provides an exciting search opportunity. Through it, researchers at any level, adults and children, can explore four major reference works:
Grove Art Online
Grove contains the full text of The Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner, (1996, 34 volumes). Updated regularly, it covers all aspects of Western and non-Western visual art. All new content is written and peer reviewed by accredited art historians.
This facility provides access to 21,000 biographies and 500,000 bibliographic citations. It also offers 25,000 subject entries plus timelines of world art. A search on "Emin" will produce a list of nine items including a biography plus several other entries that include "Emin" in the body of the text. Refine the search further, say: "Emin, Tracey" or "Tracey Emin" and the list will be refined still further.
The Oxford Companion to Western Art
The Oxford Companion (ed. Hugh Brigstocke, 2001) features more than 2,600 entries relating to art movements, theory and criticism. The search facility turns up some interesting entries. For example, a search on "Madrid" will provide a list of the city's galleries and museums.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
This Dictionary offers 1,800 entries relating to art terms, both English and foreign. Entries cover the Classical era to Postmodernism plus every form of visual media, methodologies, techniques, materials, as well as technical, foreign and philosophical terms.
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics
This is an important English-language reference work devoted solely to the exploration of aesthetics. More than 600 articles, by recognised art historians, theorists and philosophers, explore every aspect of aesthetics from the Classical era to the present day.
Art Images
As part of the search experience Oxford Art Online also provides access to 5,000 images contained within all four resources. In addition, OUP has also developed strong relationships with a number of world-wide art institutions such as the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA), Art Images for College Teaching (AICT), ARTstor and Art Resource and through these links OUP offers access to a further 40,000 art images, maps and line drawings.
Good Search and Browse Facility
When searching the database users can display results from any of the four resources. On the main search page the user can specify precisely what information they wish to receive by selecting from biographies, subject entries or images. On the Advanced Search page the search can be refined further and an extensive list of useful tips helps the research process.
Ease of Navigation
A guided tour provides a good starting point but since the site is so user friendly a child could use it with little or no introduction. Furthermore, throughout the site extensive help pages have been provided to guide researchers and help navigate the content.
Conclusion
Oxford Art Online is probably the most extensive and informative art resource currently available online which is suitable for adults and children. This resource is available free of charge through some British public libraries or by subscription. The monthly subscription charge of $29.95 ($295.00 annually) may seem expensive but in reality is a small price to pay for such useful and informative resource.
- Source: Oxford Art Online
