Course resource help for Graphic Design

This list contains details of electronic databases available to Oxford Brookes staff and students on the web. Databases allow you to search for references for journal articles and other publications in your subject area. Some databases provide an indexing service only, some also provide abstracts (summaries) and others are full text. For more information on using these services see the How to search catalogues and databases page. The Library also provides direct access to many full text electronic journals. 

Note: Databases are usually available on and off-campus. Most will prompt you to log in with your Brookes ID and password. The Library Electronic Resources pages provide details of passwords for resources not covered by this.

Art Full Text

A key source for the visual arts including Graphic Design Full text coverage from 1997, indexing from 1984.

Oxford Art Online

An encyclopaedia covering the visual arts from prehistory to the present day.

Oxford Reference

200 dictionaries and reference works published by Oxford University Press including dictionaries of art terms, art, artists and design together with the Oxford Companion to the Photograph.

ARTStor

An image database, covering a broad range of subjects including art, architecture, religion, anthropology, literature, and history.

Bridgeman Education

A digital image library covering visual culture of all civilisations and historical periods from pre- historic to the present day.

Academic Search Complete

A full-text database providing full articles, with their accompanying indexing and abstracts, across a wide range of subjects.

Box of Broadcasts (BoB)

An online archive giving you access to thousands of recorded radio and TV programmes including films. It allows users to record programmes which will then be stored on the database. Log in when prompted with your Brookes username and password.

Communication & Mass Media Complete

Provides full text links to more than 200 journals and indexes many more. Good for advertising, film and new media.

Factiva

An international news database covering national and local newspapers from 152 countries. Also includes images from Reuters.

Lexis+

The News tab of this legal database gives full-text access to regional and national newspapers including the Guardian, Independent,Times and Daily Telegraph. It is an excellent source for reviews and arts news. It does not include images. Click on Contents under the search box on the homepage, then choose Newspapers.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

An illustrated collection of articles providing the life stories of over 50,000 people who have shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to those who died in recent years. Includes designers and typographers such as Abram Games, Ruari McLean and Jan Tschichold.

WARC

A database from the World Advertising Research Center, it covers journals, news, case studies and data on advertising and marketing.

A number of journals relevant to Graphic Design are available online. Use the Journal titles tab from the Library homepage to search for a specific journal. Alternatively you can browse an alphabetical list of journals 

E-journals can also be found by searching LibrarySearch. If you are looking for journal articles on a specific topic the best place to start is by using an electronic database. See the section on databases above for more information.

There are a large number of art and design resources available on the Internet, and a few selected sites are listed below. There are many other useful and relevant sites available.

Organisations and societies

• AIGA: the professional association for design : US membership organisation with useful free resources available.

• Arts Council England : the national development agency for the arts in England. Links to information on funding and publications, many of which are freely available online. 

• Association of Illustrators

• Chartered Society of Designers

• Design Council : promotes all aspects of design in the UK.

• Fine Press Book Association

• Graphics Union UK : represents freelance graphic designers working in the UK film and television industry.

• International Association of Designers

• International Society of Typographic Designers

• The Printmakers Council : promotes the art of printmaking and the work of contemporary printmakers.

• Society for Experiential Graphic Design

• UK Creative Industries

Galleries and museums

• Cartoon Museum

• Design Museum

• House of Illustration

• Museum of Brands

• OUP Museum

• The Type Archive

• V&A

Image sources

• Art and Architecture : 40,000 images from the collections of the Courtauld Institute of Art. Free to use but registration required.

• ARTstor : over a million images from collections worldwide.

• Bridgeman Education - a digital image library covering visual culture of all civilisations and historical periods from pre-historic to the present day. Images are freely available for teaching, learning and research. 

• Europeana : explore 53,182,462 artworks, artefacts, books, videos and sounds from across Europe

• Imageafter : free online collection of photographs and textures.

• MorgueFile : archive of photographs freely contributed by artists for use in creative projects by visitors to the site. 

• VADS: the online resource for visual arts : a free image catalogue for the academic community providing access to over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in teaching, learning and research in the UK. Covers all aspects of the visual arts.

• Wikimedia Commons : database of over 4,000,000 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute. Searchable by topic, location, type and author. Categories such as Featured pictures and Quality images are recommended.

Other sites you might find interesting. . .

• Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research : latest news and information on artist's book exhibitions (with images) and research projects, and an archive of newsletters.

• British Cartoon Archive

• Ethics in Graphic Design

• Google Fonts

• London Centre for Book Arts : offers workshops and supervised studio access.

• Typographica

O'Reilly Safari Learning Platform : this is a collection of e-books, videos, tutorials (Learning Paths) and Case Studies on various aspects of information technology. The selection includes computer science, desktop publishing, digital media, e-commerce, programming, IT management and business applications. O'Reilly titles can also be found via LibrarySearch. O'Reilly is available on- and off-campus.

EBooks Central :  a collection of academic e-books for a range of subjects. Individual titles appear on LibrarySearch. You will need your Brookes login for on and off-campus access.

Open Access e-books : are growing in availability. See, for example, the Open Research Library or this list on Project Muse. 

Go to the Library's Ebooks page for more information.