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VAHI 100: Introduction to Visual Arts (Trafton)

Library Catalogs

Use the Library Catalog to search for books (including e-books) and print journals related to your topic. The catalog will search for print books and journals that we own in the library in addition to e-books that can be accessed online. The default search will search for keywords, but you can also search by title, author, subject, or call number. Learn more about call numbers here.

Access the Library Catalog search through the library home page (https://www.holycross.edu/library). Above the search bar, select "Library Catalog."

Screenshot of the library catalog search

CrossSearch (also known as EBSCO Discovery Service) is a one-stop search tool that enables users to simultaneously search most of the informational resources available through the library, including:

  • Books, ebooks, archival materials, media and music scores owned by the Holy Cross Libraries.
  • Research databases like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, ARTstor and ProQuest Central.
  • E-journal collections like JSTOR and ScienceDirect.
  • The Holy Cross digital repository CrossWorks.
  • Open Access collections such as HaithiTrust Digital Library

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).

Screenshot of CrossSearch on the Holy Cross Libraries home page. It is a search box with a purple background.

Using CrossSearch

By default, CrossSearch retrieves items in the Holy Cross Libraries' collections that match your search terms. To expand your results, uncheck "Catalog & Full Text Only" on the results screen. If you discover an item we do not have access to, you may need to place an interlibrary loan request.  

More Resources

Not everything owned by the Holy Cross Libraries is included in CrossSearch. You may wish to search individual research databases using our Research Databases list.  

CrossSearch Demonstration

Finding Books: Dinand and WAM

The Visual Arts Wing is located in the Dinand Library on the same floor as the Reading Room.  It contains all art and photography books -- call numbers that begin with N or TR, respectively -- as well as current print magazines and journals related to art and photography.

The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) Library is a close partner of the Holy Cross Libraries and all members of the campus community have access to its resources. Their books are listed in our catalog and you can request them to be picked up in Dinand.

When to locate a book in the catalog, be sure to note the Location as well as the Call Number. Oversize books are shelved separately. You will see a plus sign (+) in the call number if a book is oversize. Because of the nature of arts publications, many books in the Visual Arts Wing are oversize.

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.

Reading Call Numbers

  1. The first thing you'll see is the location. This is specific to Holy Cross and will tell you what library a book is in. Nevins Collection items will say Nevins.
  2. Look at the letters first. Books are arranged alphabetically by the first letter or letters: N comes before P, PL comes before PN. 
  3. Once you’re in the correct letter area, look at the numbers after the letter. These are treated as whole numbers (so if you see the number 102 - think of it as one hundred two, not one zero two): PN 108 comes before PN 1008.
  4. After the number, you’ll see a decimal followed by a letter. These go in alphabetical order, then number order by the number after the decimal.
  5. Sometimes you’ll see the publication year at the end of the call number. Read these in chronological order.

Call Number Example

Research Databases and Guides

Interlibrary Loan

Art Ebooks

Citing Sources - Chicago Manual of Style


*These examples are in the Notes-Bibliography style*

Book with a single author or editor 

Footnote: Susan Walker, ed., Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt (New York: Routledge, 2000), 10. 

Bibliography: Walker, Susan, ed. Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. New York: Routledge, 2000. 

Journal article from an online database

Footnote: Dominic Montserrat, "The Representation of Young Males in 'Fayum Portraits,'" The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 79 (1993): 220, https://doi.org/10.2307/3822166.

Bibliography: Montserrat, Dominic. "The Representation of Young Males in 'Fayum Portraits.'" The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 79 (1993): 215-25. https://doi.org/10.2307/3822166.

Newspaper article from an online database

Footnote: Alan Riding, "Under the Probing Gaze of the Egyptian Dead," New York Times, April 26,1997, ProQuest New York Times Historical.

Bibliography: Riding, Alan. "Under the Probing Gaze of the Egyptian Dead." New York Times, April 26, 1997. ProQuest New York Times Historical.

Page from a website

Footnote: Rachel Sabino, "Gilding the Dead: Mummy Portraits in Roman Egypt," Art Institute Chicago, last modified October 23, 2019, https://www.artic.edu/articles/767/gilding-the-dead-mummy-portraits-in-roman-egypt.

Bibliography: Sabino, Rachel. "Gilding the Dead: Mummy Portraits in Roman Egypt." Art Institute Chicago. Last modified October 23, 2019. https://www.artic.edu/articles/767/gilding-the-dead-mummy-portraits-in-roman-egypt.