Art
Whether you're a new student starting your first assignment, further on in your studies, or starting a research project, this page will help you find and use the best information for your subject. You will also find resources to help develop your academic, study and digital skills.
If you can’t find what you need here, please contact your Academic Support Team: library-SAM@salford.ac.uk
Key resources for art students
Book & Journals
The first place you should look is your reading list – you will find a link to this in your Blackboard modules. It lists all the core texts for your subject as recommended by your lecturers. All our other books and journals can be found in Library Search
Databases
Whilst Library Search is your starting point when researching a topic, sometimes it's helpful to restrict your search to one of our specialist sources.
- Grove Art Online - This can be a good starting point, providing access to some important reference publications such as a dictionary of art, and artists and a substantial collection of articles.
- Taylor & Francis Journals - Excellent for articles about all kinds of cultural topics.
- Box of Broadcasts - Thousands of TV and radio programmes, including lots of current (and older) programmes on cultural topics.
- Arts & Humanities Database - Lots of articles on all kinds of cultural topics.
- JSTOR - a great range of books and articles on all kind of topics including Art.
- Google Scholar – always worth checking for academic books and journals. To get the most from it, make sure you've added Lean Library to your browser.
Useful links
There are so many great websites provided by museums, galleries and artists themselves that it’s not possible to provide a list. However, here are a couple to get you started.
- a-n The Artists Information Company - Provides research and information about contemporary visual arts practice. It offers vital online resources and information for art students, course tutors and researchers.
- Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) - A fantastic resource for visual arts students. It provides access to 140,000 images from a huge number of museums, galleries and archives.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of professionally produced online courses covering technical, creative and professional skills and including lots on film making.
Always use our institutional login to log in – you will need your University email address and password.
The first time you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Find out more in our video:Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Newspapers
We have access to a number of current newspapers via Gale OneFile News, Newsstream and LexisLibrary. Check our Newspapers web page to see which papers we have access to.
Browse your Reading Lists

Your tutors select books, articles, videos and other resources for your reading lists and the Library buys them so you don't have to.
Find the lists for your modules in Blackboard, or in Library Search.
Referencing

APA 7th Edition is the main referencing style in use at the University. We've compiled an easy to follow list of guidebooks and examples to help you get to grips with complexities of referencing.
Newspapers

Newspapers are a valuable source of information. They provide insight into what interests and concerns people both now and in the past.
The Library provides some excellent newspaper sources that allow you to search simply and easily across many newspapers at once.
Dissertations and Theses

During the course of your studies, you may find that you need to search for dissertations or theses.
You can use Library Search to help you find them and there are a number of different ways to search, depending on what you want to find.
Book a one to one
If you’ve tried our eLearning and classroom sessions and need more help, you can request a one to one appointment for information finding, academic and writing or digital skills. Select your chosen time slot and book on through Advantage.
Book on a workshop
We offer a wide range of face-to-face skills training. If you need to improve your IT skills, learn how to find information for your assignments or improve your study skills this is a great place to start.
All workshops are bookable through Advantage by clicking on the workshop title. Where a session has no remaining spaces you can add yourself to the waiting list.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 20 Dec 2023, 4:00 pmFinishes: 20 Dec 2023, 5:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 11This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.IT Essentials at Salford [Online]
Starts: 9 Jan 2024, 12:00 pmFinishes: 9 Jan 2024, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 99This workshop will introduce you to the main IT tools, resources and services you need to get started as a student at the University of Salford. This workshop will be delivered online.Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 10 Jan 2024, 4:00 pmFinishes: 10 Jan 2024, 5:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 15This is a one-hour online EXAM SESSION for MOS certification. At the time of booking, you must have scored over 70% in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode for your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criterion will be cancelled.