Books and other resources
- OneSearchOneSearch combines many initial searches into one interface: it includes print books from all CUNY libraries; Graduate Center ebooks; a massive index of articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers; Graduate Center course reserves; dissertations at CUNY and beyond; and unique digital content.
- ArcadeNew York Art Resources Consortium. This is the shared catalog of the libraries at the Frick Art Reference Library and the libraries of the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
- Art Discovery Group CatalogueThis group catalogue, launched in May 2014, offers an art-focused research experience within the WorldCat environment. The catalogues of many important art libraries worldwide are searchable alongside additional content from a multitude of additional sources, promising more precise and relevant comprehensive results in a global setting.
- WorldCat DiscoveryWorldCat Discovery is a catalog and discovery system containing millions of records for print and electronic holdings in thousands of libraries around the world.
- Oxford Art OnlineOxford Art Online is a platform for searching across the following art reference works listed below. Create an optional subscriber account to save searches.
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
- The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd ed.)
- The Oxford Companion to Western Art
- And the Grove Dictionary of Art, which can also be searched separately at Grove Art Online
- (CUNY does not subscribe to the Benezit Dictionary of Artists)
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
- College Art Association Monographs (via ACLS Humanities E-Book)The College Art Association Monographs began publication in 1944 and concluded in 1999. The series eventually issued 56 volumes with a variety of university presses and scholarly societies, including the Archaeological Institute of America, New York University Press, The Pennsylvania State University Press, and the University of Washington Press. The series published scholars who are among the most influential art historians of our time, and covers the history of art from Classical Antiquity into the early twentieth century, with most concentration in the Western tradition. In partnership with CAA, HEB now offers a range of titles from this distinguished series.
- Digital Dada ArchiveThe Digital Dada Library provides links to scanned images of original Dada-era publication in the International Dada Archive. These books, pamphlets, and periodicals are housed in the Special Collections Department of The University of Iowa Libraries.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryMillions of books digitized by a variety of major research institutions. See this post for more information about public domain items available to all via HathiTrust.
- Getty Publications Virtual LibraryFree digital backlist titles from the Getty Publications Archives.
- Getty Research PortalThe Getty Research Portal is an online platform providing global access to digitized art history texts. The Portal is comprised of catalog records that link to full, digitized texts hosted by the contributing institutions or their service providers. Search the database of over 20,000 books published prior to 1923 or housed in institutional repositories. This differs from the Getty Virtual Library in that it includes publications from outside of the Getty as well.
- Guggenheim PublicationsExhibition catalogs and essays, some available for online viewing and download.
- LACMA Reading RoomThe Reading Room is a special corner of lacma.org dedicated to catalogues and brochures of exhibitions past. These are out-of-print, hard-to-find publications available here in full for free. From a unique set of publications focused on the Southern California art scene to rare books about German Expressionism, modern art, Southeast Asian art, and more, the catalogues and brochures here reflect the depth and breadth of LACMA’s collection and exhibition history. We continue to add new publications on an ongoing basis.
- Met PublicationsNearly 650 titles published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art published from 1964 to the present. MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for most titles, as well as information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to related Met titles by author and by theme. Current book titles that are in-print may be previewed and fully searched online, with a link to purchase the book. The full contents of almost all other book titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF. Many of these out-of-print books will be available for purchase, when rights permit, through print-on-demand capabilities in association with Yale University Press. For the Met's Bulletin, all but the most recent issue can be downloaded as a PDF. For the Met's Journal, all individual articles and entire volumes can be downloaded as a PDF.
- Contemporary Artists IndexA great index of contemporary artists and the solo and group exhibition catalogs in which they appear.
- caa.reviewsNewly open access this reviews journal is published by CAA and covers a wide range of art related subject areas. Approximately 150 reviews are published annually.
Catalogue Raisonnés
- NYPL: What is a Catalogue Raisonné?Guide to Catalogue Raisonnés with a helpful resources and recommendations for searching NYPL collections.
- NYPL: Catalogues Raisonnés on How to Research an Artist guideGuide to Catalogue Raisonnés with a helpful resources and recommendations for searching NYPL collections.
- IFAR Catalogues RaisonnésCatalogues raisonnés — scholarly compilations of an artist's body of work — are critical tools for researching the provenance and attribution of artwork. The International Foundation for Art Research has developed two electronic resources — a database of published catalogues raisonnés and one of catalogues in preparation. They can be searched separately or together and will be updated regularly. See the Users' Guide for details.
Borrowing Beyond the Grad Center
- CUNY and SUNY CLICSRequest books from other CUNY and SUNY libraries to pick up at the Graduate Center Library. Full instructions can be found at the link.
For articles or book chapters, please submit an interlibrary loan request. - Interlibrary LoanSubmit an interlibrary loan request for books, book chapters, journal articles and more! If you have questions or need help placing your request, email ill@gc.cuny.edu
Visiting Other Libraries
- Other CUNY LibrariesAll CUNY students and faculty have access to all CUNY libraries and may check out books at all but CUNY Law. Reference books, special collections, audiovisual materials, and electronic resources may be used only within these libraries.
- Metro Referral CardsAsk at the reference desk on the second floor of the Graduate Center library for one-time-only passes to New York City area libraries, beyond CUNY.
If items are available at a CUNY library, you would use CLICs (Inter-library borrowing) or visit that library in person; Metro Cards are used for one-time to access beyond CUNY's collections. For longer access, see MaRLI above. - MaRLI (Manhattan Research Library Initiative)This research initiative allows selected researchers access and circulation privileges at Columbia University, New York University, and New York Public Library's research libraries.