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FLEET LIBRARY | Research Guides

Rhode Island School of Design

A-Z Databases: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Shared Catalogs

Find the best library databases for your research.

26 Databases found for Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Shared Catalogs

All Databases

A

  • Open Access. No login required.
ArchiveGrid includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
  • Open Access. No login required.
A structured vocabulary made up of terms, descriptions, bibliographic citations, and other information relating to the visual arts.
  • Open Access. No login required.
Provides an international, art-focused research experience within the WorldCat environment. Request items found in ADGC through RISD's Interlibrary Loan service.
Artists biographies, auction records, financial graphics, magazine ads, and images relating to artists from early 16th-century to present.

B

Access to an expanding range of Berg content collections – including the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion online, e-books, reference works, images, etc.
  • Open Access. No login required.
BHA and RILA (Répertoire international de la littérature de l'art ) cover European and American visual arts material including articles from over 1,200 journals. These citation databases, searchable together, cover material published between 1975 and 2007.
  • Open Access. No login required.
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives.

C

Style guide for writing research papers.
Offers over 1,000 full-text reference books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, atlases, thesauri) that cover a broad scope of subject areas. Image types include charts, diagrams, graphs, illustrations, maps, photos.

D

  • Open Access. No login required.
This resource links out to databases promoting diverse practitioners in their fields. Includes databases such as Cartoonists of Color, Female Experts on Japan & the Koreas, Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, and much more.

E

A growing eBook collection that contains a large selection of multidisciplinary titles representing a broad range of academic subject matter.
Featuring 815 articles by distinguished scholars from many fields and countries, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics is a comprehensive survey of major concepts, thinkers, and debates about the meaning, uses, and value of all the arts—from painting and sculpture to literature, music, theater, dance, television, film, and popular culture.
  • Open Access. No login required.
Online encyclopedia that aggregates open access biology and biodiversity knowledge and connects users to other information at other trusted natural science institutions.
  • Open Access. No login required.
  • Contains images.
Online hub for digitized content, such as ebooks, music, and artwork from thousands of European cultural institutions.

L

Information on authors and their works across literary disciplines from antiquity to present, from books, reference works, and articles published 1912 to present. Can be searched together with MLA International Bibliography.

O

Defines and traces the usage of words through quotations from a wide range of international and English language sources.

R

  • Open Access. No login required.
Provides access to archival and manuscript collections throughout Rhode Island.
  • Open Access. No login required.
Formerly the Architectural Publications Index, The British Architectural Library is the largest and most comprehensive resource in the United Kingdom for research and information on all aspects of architecture. It is regarded as the national collection on architecture in the UK.

S

  • Open Access. No login required.
  • Contains images.
Contains histories, photographs and maps for over 20,000 structures and places, and showcases the richness and diversity of architecture and landscapes throughout the U.S. Building entries include scholar-written, peer-reviewed narrative histories, photographs, precise geospatial coordinates using Google Maps/ OpenStreetMap, and structural and descriptive metadata that includes semantic tags for architects and firms, periods, styles, materials and types.
  • Open Access. No login required.
  • Contains images.
Online catalog of the collections of the Smithsonian museums, archives, and libraries. Search over 17.7 million records of museum objects, archives and library materials including more than 7.8 million online images, audio & videos and blog posts.
  • Open Access. No login required.
  • Contains some full text.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy organizes scholars from around the world in philosophy and related disciplines to create and maintain an up-to-date reference work.

T

Featured
Browse thematic collections around topical issues, shared concerns, and transdisciplinary interests.

U

  • Open Access. No login required.
A global structured vocabulary of Artists names and their variations from antiquity to present.
A international source of publisher information on all types of periodicals including journals, newspapers, and open source publications. Use for literature reviews and to determine if a journal is peer reviewed. See the Ulrich's User Guide for more info or ask a Research & Instruction Librarian for a demo of this database's features.

W

A comprehensive archive of Women’s Wear Daily, from the first issue in 1910 to material from within the last twelve months, reproduced in high-resolution images.
  • Open Access. No login required.
Search the collections of libraries, local, national, and worldwide. Most items found can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

New / Trial Databases

The following databases are newly acquired or being evaluated for a future subscription.
  • Open Access. No login required.
New Featured
ArchivesSpace is an open source information management system that houses important archival documentation, including finding aids, accession records, and processing details. It is the most robust place to find information on RISD archives' holdings. See this guide for more information.
  • Contains video.
New
Alternate Name(s) dis.art
This streaming platform features artists and thinkers to expand the reach of key conversations through contemporary art, culture, activism, philosophy, and technology.

Alternate Name(s) Docuseek2
Docuseek2 is the exclusive streaming video platform for films from renowned leaders in documentary film distribution, including Bullfrog Films, Icarus Films, KimStim Films, Kartemquin Films, National Film Board of Canada Films, Fanlight Films, ScorpionTV, MediaStorm, dGenerate Films and Terra Nova Films.
A leading full-text database for environmental studies that provides hundreds of top environment journals covering ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental policy, sustainability and other related subjects. Subject List
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