Course resource help for Graphic Design

This list contains details of electronic databases available to Oxford Brookes staff and students on the web. First listed are the databases that 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.

Also listed in this section are databases for:

• specialist information
• reference
• newspapers
• images and
• audio-visual databases.

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.

Academic Search Complete

Multi-disciplinary database for academic articles, reports and conference proceedings. Full text access to more than 5,800 scholarly publications, including more than 5,350 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage includes art and design journals. EBSCO.

Art Full Text

Full-text of articles from over 300 journals dating back to 1995; also indexing and abstracting of over 600 periodicals and 13,000 art dissertations; and indexing of 200,000 art reproductions providing examples of styles and art movements, including work by emerging artists. A key, comprehensive source for the visual arts covering fine, decorative and commercial art, folk art, photography, film, and graphic design. EBSCO.

Communication & Mass Media Complete

Full-text links to over 450 journals and indexing and abstracting for over 770. Covers fields of media studies, film studies, communications, advertising, and new media. Particularly good for journalism, photojournalism and the social aspects of photography. EBSCO.

WARC

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

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.

Oxford Art Online

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

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

An illustrated collection of articles providing the life stories of over 65,000 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.

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, film reviews, and arts news. It does not include images. Click on 'Content' under the search box on the homepage, then choose Newspapers.

Factiva

A multi-use, international news database covering national and regional newspapers, trade  and professional journals, company profiles and share data, and transcripts of world radio broadcasts. Covers 152 countries in 22 languages. Covers US newspapers and entertainment magazines such as Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety; good for film reviews. Includes images from Reuters.

ARTStor

Over 2 million images from collections world-wide. Covers the arts, architecture, humanities and sciences. Includes photos of artworks and art installations. Includes over 92,000 Magnum photographs and many other photographic collections. Now part of JSTOR. Clearing cookies often helps with access issues.

Bridgeman Education

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

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.

The library subscribes to both print and online journals relevant to Graphic Design. There are also some open access journals online. Find them in these ways:

• The best way to find individual journal articles, relevant to your topic, from a range of publications is to use a Database, see section above.
• Journals for Visual Arts is an annotated list of the library’s print journals relevant to your subject, and includes some ejournals.
• Browzine is an excellent way to find ejournals in your field and stay-up-to-date with the latest issues.
• LibrarySearch provides details of all the print and ejournals the Library subscribes to. Use the Journal titles tab or filter results to journals.
• See the library’s journal page for more information.
• A number of free online Graphic Design journals are listed in the Internet section below.

Find all our books and ebooks using LibrarySearch (the search box on the Library homepage). Search, and then select 'Book' from the filters menu on the left. You can further limit your search to 'eBook' if you want.

You can also:

• Browse a list of newly acquired books for Graphic Design
• Explore Module reading lists: helpful recommendations from your lecturers.

Print books

LibrarySearch shows call numbers so you can find specific books on the shelves. If you'd like to browse, the printable guide at the top of this page gives some helpful call numbers to visit. For example, Graphic design books are shelved at 744, but many other books of interest will be found elsewhere in the Library.

There are maps on each floor in the staircase area showing which call numbers are in which zones. You can also download a library floorplan (PDF).  Oversize books are shelved separately near the book sequence. The Short Loan Collection next to the welcome desk contains books in heavy demand.

See also: How to borrow and return items

E-books

• O'Reilly Safari Learning Platform  : a collection of e-books, videos, tutorials (Learning Paths) and Case Studies on various aspects of information technology. The selection includes desktop publishing, digital media, e-commerce, programming, IT management and business applications. O'Reilly titles can also be found via LibrarySearch. Access with Brookes login. 
• EBooks Central :  a collection of academic e-books for a range of subjects. Individual titles appear on LibrarySearch. Access with Brookes login.
• Open Research Library and this list on Project Muse are examples of Open Access e-books, which are becoming increasingly available.

The Library's Ebooks page gives further information. 

There are a large number of Graphic Design resources available on the Internet, just a few selected sites are listed below. There are many other useful and relevant sites available. Please evaluate web sources carefully.

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

• Quentin Blake Centre for 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. 

• 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
• Looka Graphic Design Blog

Oxford Brookes Library collects across a number of themes, including Art and Publishing.  For example, you can examine the development of Penguin books design since its inception in 1935. Explore the special collections.