BHCC Library
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LOCATING BOOKS

To find a book use the BHCC online catalog. You may search the catalog by Subject or Keyword, as well as by Author or Title. The Keyword option allows you to combine your search terms. See what titles are listed when you use keyword search for the terms typography, and then compare the results with another keyword search search using the terms commercial art. What kind of difference do you think you'd find between using the search terms commercial art and art?

Some titles you'd find using the search above are:

 

LOCATING ARTICLES

Seaching for articles online

There are a number of electronic databases that are available for free to Bunker Hill Community College students and employees. As long as you have a Bunker Hill library card, you can access these databases from on-campus or off-campus; you just have to remember to choose the right link.

Go to: http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc/databases.htm

Recommended databases: for information on typography, graphic arts, and business, try starting your search with

  • xrefer -- see particularly the Art section which includes an archive of art images as well as various dictionaries of design, graphic design, fashion, and art terms.
  • InfoTrac Web -- a large collection of databases, see particularly Expanded Academic ASAP or General Business File ASAP; both files have articles from newspapers, newsmagazines, and scholarly journals.
  • EBSCOHost -- another large collection, which includes a large, multi-disciplinary article database called Academic Search Premier as well as a business-focused database called Business Source Premier.

 

LOCATING WEB RESOURCES

Anyone can put in information on the Internet. Unfortunately, not all of this information is reliable. It is very important to make sure that your sources are credible. It is your responsiblility to critically analyze the information you find. Check out a great resource for Evaluating Websites from the Cornell University Library. Wesleyan University has also put together a mini-tutorial on evaluating Web sites, available on the Wesleyan library Web site at Evaluating what you Find.Four criteria to keep in mind while considering websites are:

  • Accuracy- Are there spelling errors or incorrect data? Is the information too generalized?
  • Authority- Who is the author? What are their credentials? Can they be contacted?
  • Currency- When was the material written? Are the links live? Has the site been updated?
  • Objectivity- Is more than one view presented? What is the goal of this site?

RECOMMENDED SEARCH ENGINES AND DIRECTORIES


SELECTED WEBSITES FOR TYPOGRAPHY

NOTE: If you're looking for a general image search, we have a list of suggested places to start on our BHCC Selected Web Sites file under Images.

For a collection of Graphic Arts and Design links recommended by BHCC Faculty, see Web Resources for Graphic Arts.

  • Typographic history, design, and examples
    • typoGRAPHIC -- includes the history and evolution, timeline, and online gallery of typographic forms
    • abc typography -- virtual museum of typography
    • Typographic Signage Project -- contains many rea-life signage examples; critical commentary and analysis is mostly outside scope of project.

  • Industry News and Associations

  • Commercial Arts Realia
    • MagazineArt.org -- free database of magazine covers from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
    • Posters American Style -- from the Smithsonian, online collection of great posters from U.S. history
    • Ad*Access -- from Duke University, online collection of U.S. and Canadian newspaper advertisements from 1911 to 1955.
    • Swiss Poster Collection -- from Carnegie Mellon, online collection of posters from 1971 to present day


RESEARCH TOOLS: DOCUMENTATION

Whether you paraphrase, summarize, or quote directly from an information resource, you must credit and document the source. There are a few standard formats that you may follow. The Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) both offer paper styles and formatting that include directions on how to cite both print and electronic information resources. Use these formats as guides and don't forget to follow your professor's instructions for creating footnotes.

Be sure to take a look at the website on Avoiding Plagiarism from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. This site can help you become more familiar with what is considered plagiarism and what is not.

All producers of information are concerned with plagiarism and copyright. However, graphic artists have a particular interest in copyright and intellectual property issues.

As a professional working in the creative business, particularly if you work with digital art and selling your own work, you'll have to keep up-to-date with copyright and intellectual laws as well as good practices. In other words, when you begin using your art for commercial purposes, you will have to explore issues that you don't normally have to explore if you're just creating art for educational purposes.

In other words: are you going to profit from your art some day? Then you need to pay careful attention to the copyright surrounding artworks you used in production, retaining your own copyright, and licensing your work. Try the following websites to begin learning about those issues:

  • Nude Guru's Art of Money -- guide to various aspects of creating a viable business out of your art, including a sectionS on good copyright practices and licensing.
  • R.I.G.H.T.S. -- a nonprofit site focused around protecting artists' digital rights and created "to provide the internet user with the tools for understanding online copyright based on specific legal definitions, the laws and principles."
  • Copyright Office Forms -- from the U.S. Copyright Office, these are the forms that can be used to copyright your pieces.