Art, Art History, Fashion, and Design

The Lindenwood University Library serves all Lindenwood students, staff, and faculty. The library is housed in the Library and Academic Research Center. The library contains our print collection of over 80,000 volumes, group and individual study rooms, study spaces, the Media and Gaming Lab, Archives and much more.  

The library has many resources available online that are accessible from anywhere. Our eBook collections contain more than 300,000 titles.  We also have over 100 databases that contain thousands of journals for all disciplines. All these online resources can be accessed through the library website. To gain access to these resources when not on campus, use the username and password that you would use for Canvas. 

If you need more information please contact us using any of the methods listed on the Getting Help tab. 

The research process can be broken down into several steps and usually progresses as follows.

1. Start with a general topic in your field (e.g. Demographic Analyses or Impressionism)
2. Consider what interests you most about that topic and narrow down your search parameters to a specific example within the area.
3. Find broad monographs on the subject to assist first, preferably books that provide an overview of the larger topic you are searching (i.e. Web Design, History of Photography, etc.). The information will provide the generally accepted interpretation of your topic in the field. 
4. Focus on the chapter/section that deals with your narrower focus (i.e. an artist, designer, technique, subject). You can use the Index to find your terms more quickly. In the footnotes/endnotes and bibliography you will find the references of where the author found their information. 
5. Find those sources that were cited in the monograph and review them. These will be more focused studies by subject and articles.
6. Consider the different approaches/arguments of experts in the field on your topic and consider how that fits into your research question/methodology.
7. Remember to record your citations in your notes as you progress with your research.