EVDS 1670

Research, Citing, & Writing

Today we will look at:

• Search strategies
• Citing sources (including images!)
• Writing tips

What are we looking for?

Search Strategies

1. Start with the Library Search: umanitoba.ca/libraries

In here you will find:

• All our physical resources (eg books)
• Some (not all) of the databases we subscribe to
  • Databases contain:
    • journal articles
    • online encyclopedias & dictionaries
    • images (eg the Artstor database)

Quick Search Tips

1. Put a phrase "in quotation marks" to find results with that phrase. E.g.: "gothic revival"
2. Put OR between synonyms to make your search more broad. E.g.: (candy OR sweets)
3. Add an asterisk (*) to the root of a word when appropriate, and when the root is unique enough. E.g.: Canad* - finds Canada, Canadian, Canadians...
   • Don't use this for short root words. E.g.: art* = art, arts, artificial, arthritis, Arthur...
     
4. Combine these tips when helpful. E.g.: "new urbanis*" - finds "new urbanism", "new urbanist"...

After Library Search:

• Subject Guides
  • Environmental Design
  • Art History

Citation Info

Chicago Style: Key Resources

• 17th edition is the most recent - access full text via UM Library Search
• Citation Quick Guide is enough to get started – go to Author-Date Style

Basics of Citing in Chicago Style

In her book The Great Big Sea & Me, Smith raises the excellent point that "architects handle rising sea levels like champs" (2008, 33).

Bibliography:

Smith, Jessie. The Great Big Sea & Me. New York:

Routledge, 2008.

Author-Date Style

Citing Images

Cite it:

Last Name, First Name. Title of work. Date. Medium, dimensions (if available). Institute where work is held, location (if applicable). URL.

Writing

• Express your opinion, share original analysis
• Back up your thoughts with sources from experts on the topic, but don't overwhelm with quotes
  • Not just describing the topic, but making inferences about it
  • Inference: a conclusion based on facts (i.e. the citations you provide)

You may be asked to analyze:

• What an artwork is about;
• What led the artist/designer/architect to make the decisions they made; and/or
• The overall importance of the work.

Provide enough evidence to support your claims

• Not enough evidence = jumping to conclusions

"And what did El Greco say? The answer can only be inferred; but to me, at least, it seems sufficiently clear. Those faces with their uniformly rapturous expression, those hands clasped in devotion or lifted towards heaven, those figures stretched out to the point where the whole inordinately elongated anatomy becomes a living symbol of upward aspiration -all these bear witness to the artist's constant preoccupation with the ideas of mystical religion. [...]

The frontier between earth and heaven, which is clearly defined in such works as The Burial of Count Orgaz and The Dream of Phillip II, grows fainter and finally disappears. In the latest version of Christ's Baptism [Fig. 1] there is no separation of any kind. The forms and colours flow continuously from the bottom of the picture to the top. The two realms are totally fused" (Huxley 1943, 188-189).

1. El Greco. Baptism of Jesus Christ. 1596-1600. Painting, 350 x 144 cm. Museo del Prado, Spain. https://library-artstor-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/asset/LESSING_ART_1039901710.

Huxley, Aldous. 1943. Themes and Variations. New York: Harper.

Bibliography

Chantet Lane by Andrew Dasburg

https://denverartmuseum.org/object/1927.2

"Stretching the length of Chantet Lane, the two rows of tree trunks, appearing almost regular in pattern due to their uniform irregularity, resemble the majestic colonnades of a Greek temple; in fact, Dasburg's tree trunks are indeed columns - long, tall, vertical shafts that gradually narrow towards the top. This discussion of columnar, cylindrical form brings to mind Cézanne's famous remark that the painter should "treat nature in terms of the cylinder, and the sphere, and the cone" (de la Croix 1986, 864). As evidenced in Chantet Lane, Cézanne's statement was one Dasburg took to heart" (Hudson and Noonan-Morrissey 2002, 45).

Bibliography

Hudson, Suzanne, and Nancy Noonan-Morrissey. 2002. The Art of Writing about Art. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

bit.ly/UMLevds

• All library staff can help with basic questions
• Research support: librarians on desk 1:30-4:30 Monday-Friday