Research Databases
The library offers access to a range of research databases, which are described below. Each description includes a statement specifying whether the resource is available to all users or restricted to users within the museum.
Library Catalog
- Cultural District Library Consortium (CDLC) Catalog
Searchable database of the Amon Carter Museum library, the Kimbell Art Museum library, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth library. A monthly listing of new books added to the Carter’s collection is also available.
Access: Public access
Local Collection Databases
- Bio Files
Index to the names represented in this extensive collection of loose material, clippings, and small publications related to a range of American artists, photographers, and collectors. - Microfilm Newspaper Index
Index to the library’s holdings of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century newspapers on microfilm. This collection emphasizes Texas and western U.S. titles.
Archives of American Art
- Archives of American Art Searchable Catalog
Catalog of the Archives of American art hosted on the Smithsonian Institution’s SIRIS system. As an affiliated research center, the Carter library is a repository for microfilm copies of unrestricted material from the Archives of American Art. The “combined” search option allows limiting results to items specifically in the archives.
Access: Public access
General Databases
- JSTOR
Digital archive of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online
Access to the full text of The Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner (1996, 34 volumes), the landmark reference work containing more than 45,000 articles (more than 21,000 biographies and 500,000 bibliographical citations) contributed by 6,700 scholars from 120 countries. Grove Art Online is maintained with a regular update program to articles and bibliographies. Each year, new articles are added to enhance the coverage of significant areas of the visual arts with the participation of more than 1,000 international art historians. All new content continues to be written and peer reviewed by scholars and specialists. Oxford Art Online also provides access to The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - WorldCat
Comprehensive database that allows searching of library holdings worldwide. Materials include books, serials, archival collections, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, sound recordings, films, photographs, posters, computer files, electronic resources, and more. The catalog reflects the collections of major research libraries; academic, public, corporate and national libraries; archives and museums; and historical societies.
Access: Free public access
Periodical Index Databases
- Art Index and Art Index Retrospective
Searchable indexes to art-related information from periodicals published throughout the world. Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. In addition to articles, this database indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals. Art Index covers 1984–present; Art Index Retrospective cumulates citations to Art Index volumes 1–32 of the printed index published between 1929–1984.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Bibliography of the History of Art
Database covering the current international literature on the history of art in Europe and the New World. The database surveys the visual arts and material culture from late antiquity to the present. Included are both the fine arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing and prints) and decorative and applied arts (popular art, folk art). BHA indexes and abstracts 1,400 journals, as well as books, conference proceedings, essays, exhibition catalogues, selected art dealers’ catalogues, doctoral dissertations and microform publications. Abstracts are in either French or English and the thesaurus for data from 1990 is in both languages. BHA incorporates the complete contents of International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA) and Repertoire d’Art et d’Archeologie (RAA).
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Index to Nineteenth-Century American Art Periodicals
Index to 42 American art periodicals from 1800-1899. All articles, poems, illustrations, and advertisements are indexed.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login
Biographical Databases
- Ancestry.com
Resource for genealogical information. Includes the social security death index, census information, public records, military records, marriage certificates, birth certificates, death records, biographies, vital records, church records, immigration and naturalization records, etc.
Access: Login required for portions of site - AskART
Information about 26,000 American artists, including biographical, bibliographical, and auction data (photographers not included).
Access: Login required for auction data - Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online
Access to the full text of The Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner (1996, 34 volumes), the landmark reference work containing more than 45,000 articles (more than 21,000 biographies and 500,000 bibliographical citations) contributed by 6,700 scholars from 120 countries. Grove Art Online is maintained with a regular update program to articles and bibliographies. Each year, new articles are added to enhance the coverage of significant areas of the visual arts with the participation of more than 1,000 international art historians. All new content continues to be written and peer reviewed by scholars and specialists. Oxford Art Online also provides access to The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Who’sWho
Access to the full suite of biographical resources published by Marquis Who’sWho. The resource currently contains over 1.4 million biographies with new biographies and updates added daily.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login
Auction/Sales Databases
- Art Sales Index
Access to over 3.5 million auction records dating back to the 1920s for paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, works on paper, and miniatures
Access: Free, but registration and login required - AskART
Information about 26,000 American artists, including biographical, bibliographical, and auction data (photographers not included).
Access: Login required for auction data - Gordon’s Photography Prices
Access to photography auction records from 1970 to current date.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Gordon’s Print Prices
The world’s largest fine print and poster price database.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login - Lawrence’s Dealer Print Prices
Fine print and poster database devoted exclusively to dealer prices.
Access: Museum computers only; automated login