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Summer 2009
MON–THURS 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
FRIDAY 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
SATURDAY CLOSED
SUNDAY CLOSED

Exceptions:
Closed July 3


500 Seventeenth Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

For more information call (202) 478-1544 or email library@corcoran.org

The Corcoran Library makes available resources to assist Corcoran students in their academic studies, art history research, studio learning, and intellectual development. The Library provides members of the faculty the resources to enhance their teaching and their educational process and scholarship. The Library also offers support for museum programs and services. As a result, the library is a shared meeting ground for research in the Corcoran community.


The Corcoran Library is open to all current Corcoran College of Art and Design faculty, staff, and students as well as the Corcoran Museum of Art staff. Alumni of the College (paying members, Board of Trustee Members, and Museum Members have access, however, they must call ahead (202) 478-1544) to make an appointment. The Library encourages members of the public to send their reference questions by mail to: Library Director, Corcoran Library, 500 Seventeenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006 Or email: library@corcoran.org The Library does allow members of the public access to the library if they have a valid research need and have made an appointment with the Library Director (202) 478-1544.


Submittal instructions >



Forms
Reserve Material Request Form
Library Materials Request Form

All Forms are in PDF format.



All online resources (except the online catalog) are for the use of Corcoran students, faculty, and staff only.

LIBRARY CATALOGS

Corcoran Library Online Catalog >
The Corcoran Library Online Catalog allows library users to search Corcoran Library's book and serials collection. Library users can also search the Library's artists' book collection. Corcoran students, faculty, and staff may place holds on books, see what books they have checked out, and renew their books online.

Other Libraries' Online Catalogs

District of Columbia Public Library >
The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) Online Catalog allows library users to search the library's collections available at all 25 of its branches. Library Users must apply for a library card to borrow materials. Don't have a DCPL card? Apply for one now .

Library of Congress Online Catalog >
The Library of Congress Online Catalog contains approximately 14 million records representing books, serials, computer files, manuscripts, cartographic materials, music, sound recordings, and visual materials.

National Gallery of Art (NGA) Library Catalog >
Search the Library's comprehensive collection of more than 300,000 books, periodicals, and documents on the history, theory, and criticism of art and architecture. The emphasis is on Western art from the Middle Ages to the present (particularly Italian, Dutch, Flemish, German, French, Spanish, and British schools) and American art from the colonial era to the present.

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) >
Library users can use SIRIS to search the Smithsonian’s archival, library and specialized research collections. With over 1,700,000 records, SIRIS covers a wide variety of topical subjects from Art & Design, to History & Culture, to Science & Technology. Entries in the SIRIS online catalog are often accompanied by digitized images and finding aids.

WorldCat >
WorldCat lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world. WorldCat grows every day thanks to the efforts of librarians and other information professionals. You can search for popular books, music CDs and videos—all of the physical items you're used to getting from libraries. You can also discover many new kinds of digital content, such as downloadable audiobooks. You may also find article citations with links to their full text; authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public. Because WorldCat libraries serve diverse communities in dozens of countries, resources are available in many languages.

RESEARCH DATABASES [back to top]

Academic Search Complete >
Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 6,100 full-text periodicals, including more than 5,100 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 10,100 journals and a total of more than 10,600 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 journals.

American National Biography >
The American National Biography provides biographies of over 17,400 men and women whose lives have shaped the United States. It features thousands of illustrations, more than 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references and links to select web sites.

Art Full Text and Art Retrospective >
Art Full Text provides indexing and abstracting of articles from art related periodicals from 1984 to present. It also provides full text articles from 111 art related periodicals as far back as 1997. Art Retrospective provides indexing of articles from art related periodicals from 1929-1984.

ARTbibliographies Modern >
(available on campus only) ARTbibliographies Modern indexes and abstracts articles from art related periodicals from 1974 to present. It covers mostly contemporary art and graphic design.

AskART >
AskART is one of the most comprehensive websites on both historical and contemporary American artists, containing biographies, auction records, images, museum holdings, and bibliographies.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals >
The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals database offers a comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design from 1934–present, including bibliographic descriptions on subjects such as the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design and decoration. The index also contains references to more than thirteen thousand obituary citations for architects.”

Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) >
(available on campus only) The Design and Applied Arts Index indexes and abstracts more than 500 design and craft journals and newspapers published from 1973 to present. It also contains information on over 50,000 designers, craftspeople, studios, workshops, firms, and design schools.

Dictionary of Art Historians >
A biographical dictionary of historic scholars, museum professionals, and academic historians of art. Sponsored by Duke University.

Discovering American Women’s History Online >
Provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. Developed and maintained by Ken Middleton, reference librarian at Middle Tennessee State University Library.

Education Research Complete >
Education Research Complete is the definitive online resource for education research. Topics covered include all levels of education from early childhood to higher education, and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, and testing. Education Research Complete provides indexing and abstracts for more than 1,870 journals, as well as full text for more than 1,060 journals, and includes full text for more than 133 books and monographs, and for numerous education-related conference papers.

ERIC >
ERIC, the Education Resource Information Center, contains more than 1,282,000 records and links to more than 314,000 full-text documents from ERIC.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online >
(available on campus only) Encyclopedia Britannica Online is the online version of the full-length print Encyclopedia Britannica. This resource also provides access to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Encyclopedia Mythica >
An internet encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and religion.

JSTOR >
The JSTOR archive holds the complete digitized back runs of 150 core scholarly Humanities journals. The database provides page images of back issues from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. Users may browse by journal title or discipline, or may search the full-text or citations/abstracts. New issues of existing titles are added on an ongoing basis.

Kunstpedia >
A knowledge-base of fine and decorative arts, with the exception of contemporary art. Articles are in English and Dutch. Many articles contain high-resolution images.

Newspaper Source Plus >
Newspaper Source Plus includes 1,570 full-text newspapers, providing more than 27 million full-text articles. In addition, the database features more than 583,100 television and radio news transcripts, videos & podcasts.

Oxford Art Online (including Grove Art Online) >
Grove Art Online is a comprehensive art encyclopedia covering all aspects of Western and non-Western visual art, including art movements, artist biographies, and bibliographies. It includes images as well as links to additional images. Oxford Art Online also includes access to the Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Articles are added and updated regularly.

smARThistory >
A free, multi-media webbook designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook. Includes audio, videos, text, and still images of works of art found in standard art history survey texts, organized stylistically and chronologically. Edited by Dr. Beth Harris, Director of Digital Learning at the Museum of Modern Art, and Dr. Steven Zucker, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology and former Chair of the Art History Department at The School of Visual Arts, Hunter College.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) >
SEP is a comprehensive online scholarly (refereed) encyclopedia of philosophy. SEP contains over 1,000 article entries, including bibliographies.

UbuWeb
A free online resource dedicated to all strains of the avant-garde, ethnopoetics, and outsider art. Includes films, mp3s, and academic papers available for noncommercial and educational use. 

Who’s Who in American Art >
Who’s Who in American Art online contains over 11,000 biographies of those who have made their mark in the visual arts in the United States, including artists, critics, curators, administrators, librarians, historians, collectors, educators, and dealers.

IMAGE DATABASES [back to top]

Art cyclopedia: The Fine Art Search Engine >
Index of artist represented in hundreds of online museums, image archives, and other online resources.

Art Images for College Teaching (AICT) >
Royalty-free image exchange resource for the educational community. Arranged by geography and period.

Art Museum Image Gallery >
The Art Museum Image Gallery is a rich digital resource of over 96,000 high-quality art images and related multimedia gathered from the collections of distinguished museums around the world.

ARTstor >
ARTstor contains over 700,000 images documenting artistic traditions across many times and cultures and includes architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture.

Associated Press (AP) Images >
AP Images is one of the world’s largest collections of historical and contemporary imagery. It is updated throughout the day and includes news, entertainment, and fashion coverage from The Associated Press. AP Images also includes graphics (charts, tables, maps, graphs, timelines, and logos) and audio clips.

Google Image Search >
Google’s Image Search is a free, comprehensive image database with billions of images indexed and available for viewing.

New York Public Library (NYPL) Digital Library >
Access to over 600,000 digitized primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of NYPL. Includes illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints & photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

Oxford Art Online - Image Search >
Over 5400 images from Oxford Art Online.

To access these databases outside the Corcoran, please contact the Library to obtain a username and password. For more information on these resources, please see handouts available in the Library.


The Corcoran College of Art + Design gratefully acknowledges Design Within Reach for their generous in-kind donation of furniture. Donated in fall 2005, the furniture outfits the Library and provides a comfortable and inspiring environment for the Corcoran's student body.