Where do reference resources (encyclopedias) fit into your research?  They are great tools for research tasks like:

1. getting an overview of your topic
2. finding out what research has been done in your area over a long period of time
3. discovering synonyms or keywords that will apply to your topic
4. creating a list of authors to investigate
5. discovering additional resources in the bibliography

Using the Catalyst search box above, you can do a keyword search and narrow down your results to "reference entries" on the left-hand side, after you have run a search. This will allow you to discover reference articles by name and the encyclopedias where those can be found.

These titles are searchable as a group. Use these sources at the beginning of your research to get an overview of a topic or to identify synonyms or related terms that will apply to your topic. Later, return to these sources to clarify concepts or define new vocabulary. Many of these sources include bibliographical references that may prove helpful.

• Grove Art Online
  The foremost scholarly art encyclopedia covering all aspects of Western and non-Western visual art. It includes the full text of The Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner (1996, 34 volumes) and contains more than 45,000 articles (more than 21,000 biographies and 500,000 bibliographical citations) contributed by 6,700 scholars from 120 countries.
• The Benezit Dictionary of Artists
  A comprehensive biographical dictionary of art. Covers thousands of painters, sculptors, designers, and graphic artists from antiquity to the present. Some artists entries consist of only a few lines, but many entries include auction records, museum holdings, bibliographic references, and signature facsimiles.
• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
  Provides entries on art terms, critical periods, and styles, materials, techniques, and foreign terms essential for understanding visual art. Features clear definitions of movements and media, from Baroque to Minimalism, aquatint to raku, and canvas to Venetian glass.
• The Oxford Companion to Western Art
  Contains more than 2,600 entries on over 1,700 artists and their work as well as art movements, theory, and criticism. In addition to thorough regional and cultural surveys, this publication lists all relevant museums and galleries under the city of their location, such as Barcelona and Moscow.
• Encyclopedia of Aesthetics
  ​Features more than 600 articles by more than 500 globally recognized art historians, philosophers, and theorists. Provides coverage of historical accounts and critical discussions on the subject of aesthetics.