Information about people can be found in books, journals, and websites. Many artists will not have had an entire book written about them, so biographical dictionaries such as those listed below are a good place to start. Staff at the library service desk can help you locate the print reference books on this list. A list of bibliographical references (citations) may be included in these sources, which you can use to find additional information.
You can also try searching for books, journal articles, and other material in OneSearch. Put the person's name in quotation marks and tell OneSearch that you are searching for their name in the Subject Terms.
It can be helpful to search for their name with the family name or the given name first. You can use OR to search for both names at once For example, "Emily Carr" OR "Carr, Emily".
You can try other variations on someone's name (for example, including or leaving out a middle name) to get different results. As you look at search results, you may also discover standard subject terms used for a person, as in the image below. Select that term to find more items about that person.
Biographical Dictionaries
A to Z of Canadian Art : Artists & Art Terms
REF: N33.M15 1997
A Biographical Dictionary of Artists
REF: N40.B53 1995
Biographical Index of Artists in Canada
REF N6548.M29 2002 Also have access to ebrary and ebscohost online versions
Dictionary of Women Artists
REF: N8354.D53 1997 v1-2
Encyclopedia of World Art
REF -3RD: N31.E4833 1959 v1-17 (on upper level reference section)
50 women artists you should know / Christiane Weidemann, Petra Larass and Melanie Klierb
N8354.W45 2008 Stacks (upper level)
The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (2013)
E-Book
Women Artists in History : From Antiquity to the 20th Century
REF: N43.S57 1985
Who Was Who in the Greek World, 776 BC - 30 BC
REF: DF208.W48 1982
Who Was Who in the Roman World, 753 BC - AD 476
REF: DG203.W46
Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists
REF: N33.L353 2000
Revised by: Katelyn Browne, B.S., M.S.L.S.
Created by: Suzanne Jones, B.A., M.L.S.
Date Created: 16-October-2000
Date Revised: 4-September-2024