As you search for art materials in the Library Catalog, you might see some results with locations at the Worcester Art Museum (WAM). The WAM Library is part of the Holy Cross Libraries, and Holy Cross students, faculty, and staff can borrow materials from that library.
If an item is listed at the Worcester Art Museum, you can request for it to be delivered to campus for you to pick up at Dinand Library. On the catalog page, you will see a link that says "Request this item" below the call number. Click that link, log in with your Holy Cross account when prompted, and select your preferred pick up location. You will receive an email when the item is available for you to pick up.
Did you find an article, book chapter, or book that you want to read, but Holy Cross doesn't have access to it? Use Interlibrary Loan to request any materials not owned by Holy Cross and the Library will try to get what you need.
If you find an article in a Library database, use the purple "Check For Full Text" button to start an Interlibrary Loan request. You can also log in to your Interlibrary Loan account (linked below) to enter a request for the item you need. That account is also where you can view the status of your request, request renewals, and download your electronic materials. Articles and book chapters are typically delivered electronically. Print books will be delivered to the campus library of your choice. You will get an email when your item is ready.
Plan ahead: Interlibrary Loan can take time to process. Journal articles are usually available in less than a week, and print books may take longer if they are shipping from far away.
You can find books, journals, and magazines related to the visual arts in the Visual Arts Wing of Dinand Library. This wing is located on the main floor of Dinand. If you are facing the circulation desk, the Visual Arts Wing is to your left by the Hogan entrance to the building. If you have trouble finding it, ask for help at the desk!
At Holy Cross, print books are organized using a system called the Library of Congress Classification or LCC. In this system, books are assigned a call number based on their subject. Books are arranged on the shelves by their call number, which acts like an address for the book. Materials related to Fine Arts are assigned call numbers that start with the letter N. Most call numbers then have a second letter to give a more specific subject:
N -- Visual arts | ND -- Painting |
NA -- Architecture | NE -- Print Media |
NB -- Sculpture | NK -- Decorative Arts |
NC -- Drawing. Design. Illustration | NX -- Arts in General |
Photography: The Library of Congress Classification system puts photography under the subject technology, not fine arts. Therefore, books about photography have a different call number than other fine arts. The call number for photography is TR. You can find TR books in the Visual Arts Wing.
Use the Library Catalog to find print books, print journals, and ebooks in the library's collection. Access the Library Catalog search through the library home page (https://www.holycross.edu/library) or at the link below. The Library Catalog will also show items available in the Worcester Art Museum Library.
CrossSearch is a one-stop search tool that lets you search most of the informational resources available through the library, including:
As you can see, CrossSearch looks in many different places and for many different types of sources. In one search, you might see results for academic journal articles, books in the library’s collection, films, newspaper articles, and more. This can be a good place to start if you want to see a broad scope of the resources available on your topic. However, because CrossSearch includes so many types of resources, you might find you need to filter these results more than you would in a more specific database.
CrossSearch is best accessed through the library home page (https://www.holycross.edu/library).
Below are some suggested online resources and databases related to the visual arts.
Journal articles, magazines, and book chapters about art, art history, architecture, and design.
Now part of JSTOR. Library of images relating to art and architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
Citations and summaries for journal articles, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and exhibit catalogs about art, published 1975-2007.
A collection of important reference works in the visual arts, including The Concise Dictionary of Oxford Art Terms, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Oxford Companion to Western Art.
Journal articles in almost every subject area, including some historical articles back to the 17th century.
Art and architecture encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference books, published by Oxford University Press.
A world-wide catalog of books, journals, audiovisual materials, and other sources available in libraries worldwide. Includes direct links to request items on Interlibrary Loan.
This list includes ebooks related to the visual arts. Some are available for free online. If you find an ebook you are interested in and it requires paid access, you can submit an Interlibrary Loan request for Holy Cross to borrow the book on your behalf.