This guide is for students taking the writing program course on Queer contemporary art. Art materials in Haverford College's Magill Library are located in numerous locations, including the ART section of the library (located under the bridge at the entrance to the Phillips Wing), the PHOTOGRAPHY section of the library (located in the Phillips Wing and around the corner in the Reference Room), and in the QUAKER AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. If you have any questions about finding materials, please feel free to ask Margaret or Anna!
A good place to start is to look at the following book (see link below), particularly pages 77-133. In it, you will find a selection of questions to ask yourself when analyzing artwork.
Using Google to find more information about artists, galleries, and museums can be helpful. Here are some tips for finding what you need:
1. Use double quotes to search for exact phrases:
Enclose exact phrases in double quotes "like this" to emphasize search results containing that phrase, or the name of an artist.
2. Create your own search engine for a particular website using Google:
To search within a particular website, add the following "site:" statement to your search results.
keith haring site:metmuseum.org​
3. Eliminate commonly associated search terms:
You can exclude search results that include certain words. For example:
queer art -homosexual
4. Emphasize certain search terms:
Use the + sign to bring search results containing certain terms towards the top of your Google results. For example:
dakar demonstration 2001 +women
5. Search for only academic websites:
Add site:.edu to your search terms to search (US) academic websites. For example:
queer art site:.edu
You can use this for .org as well to find legitimate organizations, such as museums.
6. Use Google's "Search Tools" to narrow your results by date added
1. Enter your search term(s) and click Search.
2. At the top of the search results page, click "Search Tools."
3. You can then change the drop down menu from "Any Time" to the past year, a custom date range, etc.
For Photography Materials:
In Tripod use the "author" search to find books by a photographer. Use the "subject" search to find books about the photographer.
Most university and many specialized art libraries use the Library of Congress classification system. Knowing a few of the most commonly used call numbers will allow you to browse a collection. Many materials will fall into the following call number ranges:
TR1 photography magazines
TR15 -139 histories of photography
TR647 exhibit catalogs
TR651 photographic works or topics from years 1800-1850
TR652 photographic works or topics from years 1851-1900
TR653 photographic works or topics from years 1901-1950
TR654 photographic works or topics from years 1951-2000
TR655 photographic works or topics from years 2001-
TR660 landscape photography
TR681 portraits
TR820.5 documentary photography
NOTE: After the first section of the call number (TR654), the second section starts with a letter. This letter will often refer to the first letter in the photographer's last name. For example, a book about Walker Evans is classified with the call number TR654 E...
For Art Materials: Similar to photography materials, try searching for an artist and complete a subject search.
The following is a list of photography magazines and journals which are currently received at Haverford. Current issues are in the Periodical Reading Room. Back issues of these periodicals are retained and housed in the Phillips Wing according to their call number.
Afterimage (also online)
Aperture (also online)
Archive
Blind Spot
Camera Austria International
Contact Sheet
European Photography (also online)
Exposure
Eyemazing
History of Photography (also online)
HotShoe International
Imago
Lenswork
Nueva Luz
Matte
Photo Review
Photo Review Newsletter
Photographer's Forum
View Camera
Here are some more to look through.