Skip to Main Content

ARTH 1115G : Orientation in Art

Find Books

Looking for books on Art and/or Art History?  
Search the NMSU Library Catalog!

Possible Search Terms for Books:

  • Artist/Creator
  • Movement/Style/Period
  • Location/Region
  • Technique/Medium
  • Book title (if known)
  • NOT the title of an art object

When searching the Library Catalog here are some subject headings that may help:

 Architecture -- History

 Art -- American

 Art -- Ancient

 Art -- Bibliography

 Art -- Early Christian

 Art -- Historiography

 Art -- History

 Art -- Italy

 Art – Modern 

 Art and history

 Art and society

 Art criticism-Historiography

 Art criticism-Methodology

 Art criticism-Philosophy

 Art-Historiography

 Art-Methodology

 Art-Philosophy

 Art-Psychology

 Feminism and art

 Folk art

 Graphic arts

 History of printmaking

Still looking for more books on your topic? Try the following . . . . . .

Using Call Numbers

How do Library of Congress call numbers work?

What is a call number?

A call number is the group of letters and numbers found on the spine or front cover of a book, for example [HD 58.8 F686 2014]. These numbers are used to find a book among all of the others in the library's collection. Each book has a unique call number, like an address, which is used to find the book. It also helps to keep material on the same subject in the same place within the library.

How do I find the call number for a book?

First, find the book within the Library Catalog. The Library Catalog will list the book's call number at the bottom of the page, along with the book's location (Zuhl or Branson Library).

How do I locate a book using a call number?

1. Find the first letter of the call number. For example, with [QA 76.76 .H94 M88 1997], you'd want to find the Q section.

2. Once you find the Q section, search for the QA's.

3. Next, look for the number 76.76. Think of this number as a whole number with the point (.) acting as a decimal point.

4. Books are then shelved by the third line, which begins with another letter. In the case of this example, you would look for H and then for 94. The point (.) before the H acts as decimal point, so .H94 would come after .H342.

5. The next set of letters and numbers are found in the same way, except notice there is no decimal point, so the numbers after the M are considered whole numbers. For example, M88 would come before M342.