Tips for finding articles
Online Databases:
- Discovery cross-searches a large number of databases. Use the Advanced Search for the best results.
- Proquest Central is similar to Discovery, searching across multiple databases.
- Google Scholar is a convenient search tool but you need to set up your Google Scholar preferences to search effectively. When linked, Google Scholar will display Find It@UniMelb links next to articles that are available online.
The most relevant subject-specific databases and journals are listed below.
- Online version not available? Print journals are listed in the Library Catalogue.
- If you know the name of the database or journal you want, you can search directly in individual databases or journals.
- Staff and students may request document delivery through interlibrary loans.
Use the BrowZine app to follow journals and get notifications on new issues and published articles.
Art Databases
- Art & Architecture Complete (EBSCO)Art & Architecture Complete provides full-text coverage of 380 periodicals and more than 220 books. In addition, this database offers cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 780 academic journals, magazines and trade publications, plus over 230 books. The database also provides selective coverage for 70 additional publications and an Image Collection of over 63,000 images provided by Picture Desk and others.
- ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) (ProQuest)ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) provides full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art, with approximately 12-13,000 new entries being added each year. Entries date back as far as the late 1960s. ABM contains information on modern and contemporary arts dating from the late 19th century onwards, plus photography since its invention and includes abstracts of English and foreign-language material on famous and lesser-known artists, movements, and trends.
- Art Index Retrospective (H.W. Wilson)Art Index Retrospective™: 1929 -1984 provides users access to over half a century of art literature covering fine, decorative, and commercial art. Content includes high-quality indexing of nearly 600 publications, many of which are peer-reviewed, and citations of over 25,000 book reviews.
- ARTstor Digital LibraryThe ARTstor Digital Library is a nonprofit resource that provides more than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. ARTstor's community-built collections comprise contributions from outstanding international museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists and artists' estates.
- Design and Applied Arts Index : DAAI (ProQuest)This database is the premier source of information for all aspects of design and crafts, from textiles and ceramics to vehicle design, advertising and sustainability. Covers journal articles, exhibition reviews and news items from 1973 to the present.
- Index of Medieval ArtThe Index of Medieval Art, earlier known as the Index of Christian Art, is a thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects begun at Princeton University in 1917. The Index records works of art produced without geographical limitations from early apostolic times up to A.D. 1550. The database contains thousands of work of art records, most of which have an accompanying image. Many of these images have never before been digitized and are published here for the first time. The database also offers the ability to search using the ICONCLASS classification system on a limited basis. Nearly all of the subject terms have now been paralleled with ICONCLASS notations.
- International Bibliography of Art (ProQuest)The definitive resource for scholarly literature on Western art, IBA is the successor to the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA), and retains the editorial policies which made BHA one of the most trusted and frequently consulted sources in the field. Publications covered include at least 500 core journals, with an emphasis on specialist and rare titles that are not covered by other indexes, plus detailed coverage of monographs, essay collections, conference proceedings and exhibition catalogues.
- Underground & Independent Comics, Comix & Graphic NovelsUnderground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels is the first ever scholarly, primary-source database focused on adult comic books and graphic novels. Here are the works of artists both celebrated and overlooked, alongside interviews, criticism, and journal articles that document the continual growth and evolution of this artform. The Library has access to volumes I & II of Underground & Independent Comics.
- Design & Art Australia OnlineThis is an open source, freely accessible scholarly e-Research tool that presents biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators
Using Advanced Google Search
Use the site or domain limiter in Google Advanced Search to quickly find information on websites and online publications.
For example:
Limit search results to only show results from e-flux by including site:e-flux.com or Frieze using site:frieze.com in your search.
Art Research Journals
- Journal for Artistic Research (JAR)The Journal for Artistic Research (JAR) is an international, online, Open Access and peer-reviewed journal for the identification, publication and dissemination of artistic research and its methodologies, from all arts disciplines.
- Journal of Writing in Creative PracticePublishes articles on writing, ethics and practice, as well as writing as, for, and in art, craft and designing.
- PAJ : a Journal of Performance and ArtIntegrates theatre and the visual arts in charting the directions of new work in performance, video, film and music. Featured in the issues are artists' writings, critical commentary, interviews and dialogues, historical documents, critical commentary, performance texts and plays.
ArtsHub & ScreenHub
- ArtsHubThe Library's institutional subscription does not give access to all functions on the ArtsHub site. Library users cannot upload a resume or curriculum vitae or cover letter to use when submitting job applications from within ArtsHub. These features are restricted to personal subscribers.
- ScreenHubScreen Hub is the daily email News and Jobs service for people working in the Australian film and television industries.
Multidisciplinary databases
- Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)Academic Search™ Complete is a multidisciplinary full-text database, providing access to more than 8,600 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,500 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text it offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
- APA-FT - Australian Public Affairs - Full Text (Informit)APA-FT provides full text coverage of selected scholarly articles on current affairs, economics, humanities, law, literature, politics and social sciences and is produced by the National Library of Australia.
- Humanities Index (ProQuest)This database is an international abstracting and indexing tool for research in the humanities. BHI indexes almost 400 internationally respected humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the UK and other English speaking countries, as well as quality newspapers published in the UK.
- Current Contents Connect (ISI)This database provides complete tables of contents and bibliographic information from the world's leading scholarly journals and books; also includes relevant, evaluated web sites and documents. Current Contents Connect is comprised of subject editions and collections: Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences (ABES); Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS); Clinical Medicine (CM); Life Sciences (LS); Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences (PCES); Engineering, Computing & Technology (ECT); Arts & Humanities (AH); Business Collection (BC); Electronics & Telecommunications Collection (EC).
- JSTORJSTOR is a digital library of thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources from a wide range academic publishers and university presses. Titles span across disciplines, including core areas such as business & economics, social sciences, education, history, language & literature and science. Current journals are linked and cross-searchable with archival journals and ebooks on JSTOR, helping patrons discover, use, and build upon a constantly expanding range of academic content.
- Project Muse Journal CollectionProject MUSE offers full-text current and archival articles from 500+ scholarly journals from major university presses covering literature and criticism, history, performing arts, cultural studies, education, philosophy, political science, gender studies, and more. Updated continually.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses GlobalThis database is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997.
- Social TheorySocial Theory offers documents that explore the complexities and interpret the nature of social behavior and organization. Includes major theorists such as Theodor Adorno, Jean Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Émile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Robert Merton, Dorothy E. Smith, and Talcott Parsons.
- TVNews (Informit)TVNews indexes Australian television news, current affairs and selected documentaries from the free-to-air networks with links to the digitised video content in a compressed format. All individual stories from a particular broadcast are indexed with a detailed synopsis. TVNews is updated daily, with stories appearing on an evening news broadcast generally being available for access the next morning. Key titles include: Australian Story, Catalyst, Current Affair, Dateline, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, Insiders, Insight, Landline, Lateline, Meet the Press, Q and A, Today Tonight, World News Australia, and many more. Coverage commences with September 2007 and is updated daily.
- Web of Science
Web of Science Core Collection provides quick, powerful access to the world's leading citation databases. Authoritative, multidisciplinary content covers over 12,000 of the highest impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and over 150,000 conference proceedings. You'll find current and retrospective coverage in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with coverage to 1900.
Article Requests
Found an article that looks great? Can't find it online? It's not available in print at the Southbank Library? It is available in print at another branch library? You can request a scanned copy via:
- Intercampus Copying RequestsRequest a copy of an article or book chapter held at another University of Melbourne campus.
Post-graduate students and staff are also eligible to request resources via Interlibrary Loans