Introduction
This subject guide highlights some key discipline resources to get you started with study and research.
- Refer to the New Students Library Guide for everything you need to know about Library services and resources.
- Build your researching, reading and writing skills with the Research Essentials Library Guide.
- Streamline your access to online resources with the Library's quick access tools.
Books
To find books on a particular subject, do a keyword search in the Library Catalogue. Alternatively you can search by title, author, etc.
You can also find books on similar topics through the subject headings in item records. Click on these headings to find related subjects and titles.
Looking for a book we don't have or is not on our shelves?
Inter-Library Loans
University of Melbourne staff and students can request resources through the Library’s Inter-Library Loans service. For more information visit the ILL web page, or you can access the request forms.
A CAVAL card allows you to borrow from other universities and TAFEs. Visit the CAVAL website to find out how to sign up for a CAVAL card.
You can then use the Trove website to see which library has the book you want.
Recommended books
Conservation Skills: Judgement, Method, and Decision Making by ISBN: 9781134659449Publication Date: 2012eBook
Materiality and Popular Culture : The Popular Life of Things by ISBN: 9781317219132Publication Date: 2016eBook
Values in heritage management: Emerging approaches and research directionsPublication Date: 2019eBook (open access)
Material characterization tests for objects of art and archaeology by Call Number: Baillieu High Use 620.110287 ODEGISBN: 1873132123Publication Date: 2000
Science for Conservators volume 1: An introduction to materials by ISBN: 0415071674Publication Date: 1992eBook
Science for Conservators volume 3: Adhesives and Coatings by ISBN: 0415071631Publication Date: 1992eBook
Analytical Techniques in Materials Conservation by ISBN: 9780470012819Publication Date: 2007-03-19eBook
Cleaning Painted Surfaces by Call Number: Baillieu 751.62 WOLBISBN: 9781873132364Publication Date: 2000
Science and Art: the Painted Surface by Call Number: Baillieu 751.62 SCIEISBN: 9781849738187Publication Date: 2014
Animal/plant materials:
The Conservation of Artifacts Made from Plant Materials by ISBN: 0892361603Publication Date: 1991eBook
Ceramics:
Glass:
Metals:
Copper and Bronze in Art by Call Number: Baillieu 739.5110288 COPPISBN: 0892366389Publication Date: 2002
Iron and Steel in Art: corrosion, colorants, conservation by Call Number: Southbank 730.40288 SCOISBN: 9781904982050Publication Date: 2009
Make all sure: the conservation and restoration of arms and armour by Call Number: Baillieu 623.441 MAKEISBN: 0955162203Publication Date: 2006
Metals and corrosion : a handbook for the conservation professional by Call Number: Baillieu 669 SELWISBN: 0662379845Publication Date: 2002
Plastics:
Textiles:
Refashioning and Redress by Call Number: Baillieu 746.0432 REFAISBN: 9781606065112Publication Date: 2017
The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques by Call Number: Baillieu 751 MAYEISBN: 0670837016Publication Date: 1991
Papermaking by Call Number: Southbank 676.209 Hun /0001 acn:25163ISBN: 0486236196Publication Date: 1978
Climate for Collections by Call Number: Baillieu 069.29 CLIMISBN: 9781909492004Publication Date: 2013
Conservation Science 2002 by Call Number: Baillieu 069.53 CONSISBN: 1873132883Publication Date: 2007
Environmental Management for Collections by Call Number: Baillieu High Use 069.53 MAEKISBN: 9781606064344Publication Date: 2015
Historical Perspectives on Preventive Conservation by Call Number: Baillieu High Use 069.53 HISTISBN: 9781606061428Publication Date: 2013
Pollutants in the Museum Environment by Call Number: Baillieu 069.53 HATCISBN: 1873132964Publication Date: 2007
Databases and journals
Use databases to search across many academic resources (including peer-reviewed journals) at the same time.
Refer to the A-Z Ejournals and Databases page for a comprehensive list of available resources.
Core Arts and Humanities databases (try these first):
The selection of multidisciplinary databases below will retrieve results from different subject areas.
- Discovery (EBSCO)Use Discovery to look for books, ebooks, journal articles and more. It's a great place to start your search but does not give you everything the Library has. We highly recommend searching in at least one other database on this list as well as Discovery.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar is one of the most popular ways to find academic sources for study and research. Did you know you can use it to search for journal articles that the University of Melbourne has access to? You can do this through the link above or set up your Google Scholar preferences to include Library content.
- JSTORJSTOR is one of the largest databases the Library has access to. It is a multidisciplinary database so it looks in thousands of journals in over a hundred subjects - many of them related to arts and humanities. Highly recommended as your first or second place to search.
- Scopus (Elsevier)Scopus is another large, multidisciplinary database. It looks through journals, books, and conference papers. It has some advanced tools that can help you discover new research quickly - the 'times cited' and 'related articles' links are great time-savers. While it doesn't always have full-text PDFs it is still an excellent place to look for your research.
- Web of ScienceWeb of Science is a massive, multidisciplinary database which includes a large amount of humanities and social sciences material from as far back as 1900. Like Scopus it has some advanced features that allows you to quickly link to related research.
- ProQuest CentralCovering more than 160 subjects areas, ProQuest Central is the largest aggregated database of periodical content. This award-winning online reference resource features a highly-respected, diversified mix of content including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos.
Cultural Materials Conservation-specific databases:
For more focused results try searching in one of these subject-specific databases.
- AATA (Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts) OnlineCompiled by the Getty Conservation Institute with the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, AATA Online includes more than 100,000 abstracts of international literature relating to the preservation and conservation of cultural material.
- BCIN (Bibliographic database of the Conservation Information Network)More than 190,000 bibliographic citations for conservation literature (no full text), including citations from Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (prior to 1998), technical reports, conference proceedings, journal articles, books and audiovisual and unpublished materials.
- International Bibliography of Art (ProQuest)Large database that covers literature on Western art, including monographs, essay collections, conference proceedings and exhibition catalogues.
- ScienceDirect Journals (Elsevier)A large database covering scientific, technical, and medical research.
Encyclopedias
Art and material culture:
- CAMEO: Conservation & Art Material Encyclopedia OnlineCAMEO is a searchable information resource developed by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Materials database contains chemical, physical, visual, and analytical information on historic and contemporary materials used in the production and conservation of artistic, architectural, archaeological, and anthropological materials.
- Concise Oxford Dictionary of Arts TermsThis dictionary covers a wide range of terms from the visual art world, including materials, techniques, and important styles and periods.
- Oxford Dictionary of Art and ArtistsThis dictionary contains over 2,500 clear and concise entries on styles and movements, materials and techniques, and museums and galleries.
- A dictionary of modern and contemporary artThis reference work boasts worldwide coverage of modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present day. It features A to Z entries on movements, styles, techniques, artists, critics, schools, and galleries. A valuable resource for artists, art students, and art lovers, it gives indication of public collections and publicly sited works as well as suggestions for further reading within entries.
Science:
- Reaxys (Elsevier)Reaxys is a web-based search and retrieval system for chemical compounds, bibliographic data and chemical reactions, with chemical data, citations and abstracts as far back as 1823. It is built to support chemists in their daily work with focussed and relevant information in chemistry. Reaxys incorporates three databases, Crossfire Beilstein (organic chemistry), Crossfire Gmelin (inorganic chemistry) and Patent Chemistry, to form a single, fully integrated chemical workflow solution.
- Oxford Dictionary of ChemistryWith over 4,700 entries this dictionary covers all aspects of chemistry and also includes material on metallurgy, materials science, and geology.
- ChemSpider"ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing fast text and structure search access to over 67 million structures from hundreds of data sources."
Theses
Websites
You can find relevant information and resources for your research on the websites of professional organisations and bodies, institutes, NGOs, government departments, etc.
This guide gives a few suggestions to get you started and to give you an idea what to look for. It is by no means comprehensive. If you are a coursework student, check your LMS to see if your lecturer has provided website recommendations.
Tip: if you want to limit your Google search results to organisational, governmental, or educational websites, use Google's advanced search option to limit the site or domains to .org, .gov, .edu.
Some website suggestions to get you started:
- Conservation OnLineFull text library of conservation information maintained by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation.
- Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes"CCI Notes deal with topics of interest to those who care for cultural objects. Intended for a broad audience, the Notes offer practical advice about issues and questions related to the care, handling and storage of cultural objects."
Referencing and citing
Referencing advice for Cultural Materials Conservation students
The Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation uses the AICCM Instructions for Authors and the AICCM Reference Manual, based on the Harvard (Author/Date) Style. You can access the manual from the Conservation Resources or Subject Guidelines on your LMS.
Learn how reference management software can help you with referencing
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