Research Guides: WRPR 192: Photography & Empire (HC): Getting Started

Introduction

This guide is for students taking the writing program course on Photography & Empire (WRITING PROGRAM 192). Since Magill library is closed for renovation, here are some tips:

Browse in the Locker Building:

Let's say you find a book on Tripod and you really think it is relevant to your interests or research project. One way to physically browse books on Haverford's campus is to head to the Locker Building (near VCAM) which has approximately 22,000 volumes for you to browse and a self-check out kiosk if you find materials you want to check out.

But if you want to digitally browse, you can do that too. Find the book you found useful in Tripod. Underneath the record (scroll to the bottom), there is a virtual browse area with the books that would appear on the shelves. Please note: this only works properly for books in the Warehouse, not for books in Locker or Science.

If you have any questions about finding materials, please feel free to ask Anna.

The Prince of Wales First Tiger

Not in TRI-CO?

Borrowing Beyond the Tri-Co
Request items that are not available in Tripod through E-ZBorrow or Interlibrary Loan. Note that E-Z Borrow is the first place to look for books not in Tripod. It usually takes just three days for E-Z Borrow books to arrive. Books not in E-Z Borrow can come from Interlibrary Loan (ILL) which may take as little as four or five days to arrive.

For journal articles not available in the three colleges, use the Article Delivery form. In around 3 day you will receive a digital copy of the requested articles in your email.

Writing about Art

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.

A Short Guide to Writing about Art by Sylvan Barnet
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ISBN: 020588699X
Publication Date: 2014-01-15
The best-selling guide to writing about art Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing About Art guides students through every aspect of writing about art. Students are shown how to analyze pictures (drawings, paintings, photographs), sculptures and architecture, and are prepared with the tools they need to present their ideas through effective writing. Coverage of essential writing assignments includes formal analysis, comparison, research paper, review of an exhibition, and essay examination. New to the 11th edition is a chapter on "Virtual Exhibitions: Writing Text Panels and Other Materials."

Google Search Tips

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:

colonial photography -America

4. Emphasize certain search terms:
Use the + sign to bring search results containing certain terms towards the top of your Google results. For example:

colonial photography +women

5. Search for only academic websites:
Add site:.edu to your search terms to search (US) academic websites. For example:
colonial photography 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.

Browsing the Collection

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.

Photography Periodicals at Haverford

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.

Listing of Current Exhibitions

Photo Review Newsletter
Contains listings of exhibits for Philadelphia, New York and other regional shows. Has the most complete listing of exhibits for the Philadelphia area. The print version of this can be found in the Periodicals Room at Magill Library. Online versions of the New York and Philadelphia sections can the found in the "Current Art Exhibitions" listed below.

New York Photo Review
This link takes you to a listing of photgraphy shows arranged by location in the city. A number of the listings have reviews attached to them. If you want to look at particular galleries you can select the VENUE tab for an alphabetical listing of galleries.
Photograph
Has a large listing of exhibits for the New York area, but has less complete listings for other cities. As the name indicates, this site only has photography listings. Click on Exhibitions. Then click on Location and select the area you are interested in.
The print version of this guide is available at Magill Library at Haverford. Besides the listings that you can find in the online version it also has maps showing the locations of the photo venues as well as advertising from galleries.
NY Art Beat
After clicking on 'Events' you can limit your search results to only photography exhibitions.
Current Art Exhibitions
This site provides you with information about current art exhibitions that are within driving distance of the TRI-CO. Some information is updated weekly and other listings of art exhibitions are updated more than once a month. It also has other features such as links to museums and selected new books the libraries have acquired.