Research and Writing in the Disciplines
Research Sources for the Arts
General databases for the Arts
All of the Arts are reasonably well covered in the following databases:
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
(Ebsco) Periodical database. This multi-disciplinary database covers most disciplines taught at TCC. Most articles are scholarly. - ProQuest Periodical Databases This link opens in a new window
Multiple periodical databases providing coverage of a wide range of topics, with a mix of popular and scholarly sources. Particularly good for current events. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full text of a range of academic journal articles and primary sources. TCC's collection includes: "Archival Journal / Primary Source Collections." Good coverage of history, sociology, anthropology, literature, and economics.
Visual arts
- Artstor This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library provides more than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences.
Literary Criticism
- Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new window
Literary criticism and analyses of authors, works, themes, genres and literary topics.
Writing
The Arts include Literature, Fine Art, Creative Writing, Photography, Sculpture, Art History, Dance (and some others, I'm sure).
Professional and academic writing in the Arts should include:
- Lots of descriptive language. Artists want to visualize the piece through the writing and rely on the writer to provide a useful depiction through words.
- Analysis of symbolism, technique, organization, medium, theme and structure. These concepts hold a lot of meaning in the Arts and should be considered when appropriate.
- A sense of cultural relevance. You might need to provide evidence of the culture in which the piece was created to show how the piece reflects and/or affects the culture in which it was created.
- The beauty of language. In these disciplines the use of direct quotes is much more acceptable than in the Social Sciences.
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