We are delighted to announce a new subscription to the Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive. This fantastic visual resource is a sister to the Berg Fashion Library which we have had for a while now.
Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive is an online resource containing more than 750,000 newly-digitized and high-quality runway, backstage, and street style images, curated by Editor in Chief Valerie Steele, Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in New York.
An extensive collection of fashion photographs, for use by students and educators, the archive includes images of international runway shows from the 1970s until the early 2000s, from over 400 designers; key collections from McQueen, Gaultier, Westwood, Chalayan, Galliano, etc; rare backstage and front row shots from fashion shows of the past forty years; and street-style images from global fashion cities. The Archive’s index and interactive time line allow students to compare and trace trends, designers, and seasons.
You can access the Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive via the library databases A-Z webpage, or through the library “databases by subject” webpage for Art and Design.
We hope you will find this a useful resource for sourcing fashion and costume inspiration and context.
databases
Resource in focus: e-Lexicons
e-Lexicons is an online resource for designers and artists, giving access to hundreds of reliable and accurate definitions, glossaries, biographies, work examples, and bibliographies, covering the fields of graphic design, fashion, typography, illustration, lettering, and arts and crafts. Support material is provided such as lecture guides, indexes and reading lists.
You can access E-lexicons at the art and design databases list compiled by the Library.
You might also find the art and design subject guide useful.
Exploring comics collections online
A new exhibition at the British Library, Comics Unmasked, is the UK’s largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics. Featuring such iconic names as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe), this exhibition traces the British comics tradition back through classic 1970s titles including 2000AD, Action and Misty to 19th-century illustrated reports of Jack the Ripper and beyond. The exhibition is open at the British Library, London, from 2nd May to 19th August 2014.
You can see another review of the exhibition here.
By happy coincidence ECA will soon be subscribing to the excellent Alexander Street Press Underground Comics Volumes 1 and 2 database. As soon as full access to these is arranged, this post will be updated.
You will be able to access the database via: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/databases-subject-a-z/database-design
We already have online access to the British Cartoon Archive from the University of Kent.
You can also access Comic Book Plus, a free online resource at http://comicbookplus.com. We found Comic Book Plus on http://openglam.org/open-collections/ which gives free access to the online collections of galleries, libraries, archives and museums, and is worth exploring!
Finding full text theses and dissertations
The Library offers access to a wide range of online dissertations and theses via the Theses Databases webpage which you can access via http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/subject-guides/theses
Our theses databases include ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text online. This resource contains millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present day, together with over a million full text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Around 70,000 new dissertations and theses are added annually. It is available on and off campus using your EASE log-in.
The Theses Databases webpage mentioned above also gives guidance about how to submit a thesis, how to find theses by University of Edinburgh students and what the Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA) is.
More help can be found at the Scholarly Communications webpage:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/services/research-support/publish-research/scholarly-communications
New content added to Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
The latest update to the Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive (EIMA) includes new Melody Maker content.
More than 300,000 pages have been added to EIMA in the most recent data update. Further content for thirteen periodicals, including three brand new titles, is now available to search and browse.
Highlights include:
- Launched in 1926, Melody Maker was the world’s first weekly music newspaper and was widely regarded as “the musician’s journal”. It appealed to a more mature audience than its long-time British rival NME (New Musical Express, also available) and devoted more coverage to “minority” interests such as jazz and folk and prided itself on a consistently serious and balanced critique of populist movements such as grunge, indie and dance. Over 1,400 issues are now available, representing more than 30 years of content, from 1968 right up to the magazine’s final issue in 2000.
- Following up on the addition of The Billboard last year, there is now even more content from this essential publication for the study of the theatre and early cinema. Over 800 issues have been added, providing unbroken coverage of the years 1963-1969 and 1976-1986 as well as filling gaps throughout the publication’s entire run.
Nearly 1,000 further issues of Variety are included in this update. In addition to filling gaps in the existing range, these issues contribute to offering complete coverage for the 1940s.
To access the ProQuest Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive, go to:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/services/library-museum-gallery/finding-resources/library-databases/databases-a-z/databases-e
Enjoy!
New databases at ECA Library!
From 16th January 2012 the following new databases will be available for all students and staff. They will be listed in the A-Z of databases on the University Library website and in the University Library subject guides for Art & Design.
WGSN: The leading online fashion trend-analysis and research service providing creative and business intelligence for the apparel, style, design and retail industries.
Vogue Archive: Contains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 to the present day, reproduced in high-resolution colour page images. More than 400,000 pages are included. Vogue is a unique record of international popular culture that extends beyond fashion. The Vogue Archive is an essential primary source for the study of fashion, gender and modern social history.
eLexicons: eLexicons provide access to unique learning resources for the visual arts. With biographies, work examples, bibliographies and glossaries, the eLexicons provide the complete foundation for study in higher education, covering graphic design, typography, illustration, lettering, art and craft. Support material includes lecture guides, indexes and reading lists.
Bridgeman Education: Gives access to over 380,000 images from museums, galleries, private collections and contemporary artists all copyright cleared for educational use. Bridgeman Education gives you access to the visual culture of every civilization and every period from Prehistory to the present day across continents and civilisations.
Online research resources: a reminder
eca library gives you access to a wide range of online research resources. These include various journals databases. Two popular databases are described here:
ARTbibliographies Modern:
ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) provides full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art, with more than 13,000 new entries being added each year. Full coverage begins in 1974 when the first volume was digitised, but entries date back to the late 1960s.
ABM is the premier source of information on modern and contemporary arts dating from the late 19th century onwards, including photography since its invention. It includes abstracts of English and foreign-language material on famous and lesser-known artists, movements, and trends. The coverage of ABM is wide-ranging and includes performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artists’ books, theatre arts, conservation, crafts, ceramic and glass art, ethnic arts, graphic and museum design, fashion, and calligraphy, as well as traditional media including illustration, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing.
ABM is used by students and researchers around the world to pinpoint publications and writings relevant to their area of study. Its extensive classification system and comprehensive abstracts make it an ideal source for information on artists, art movements, art history and theory, design, photography, and crafts.
Design and Applied Arts Index:
Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) is the leading source of abstracts and bibliographic records for articles, news items, and reviews published in design and applied arts periodicals from 1973 onwards. An indispensable tool for students, researchers, and practitioners worldwide, DAAI covers both new designers and the development of design and the applied arts since the mid-19th century, surveying disciplines including ceramics, glass, jewellery, wood, metalsmithing, graphic design, fashion and clothing, textiles, furniture, interior design, architecture, computer aided design, Web design, computer-generated graphics, animation, product design, industrial design, garden design, and landscape architecture. Around 1200 new records are added in each monthly update.
For more information about all our online resources take a look at the library pages on the student portal.
Big change at Avery Index
College users of Avery Index, the important finding tool for architectural periodical articles, may have noticed that the library now sources this service through the database provider OCLC FirstSearch.
Use of the FirstSearch platform brings us into line with Edinburgh University and means that all architecture students, staff and researchers in the two institutions can access Avery through the same search interface.
FirstSearch searches the same Avery data as CSA Illumina, our previous supplier, and provides similar powerful search facilities and online help and search tips.
A seminar introducing College users to Avery Index via the OCLC FirstSearch interface will be arranged later this semester.
Avery Index can be accessed on or off-campus by following the links on this Portal page.
