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Introduction
General Searching Tips
Artist field
Artist buttons
Title field
Object Type field
Medium and Support field
Technique
Date Range fields
Century field
Culture field
Credit Line field
Accession Number field
Creation Place/Coin Mint field
Ordering Images
Technical Information
Introduction
Collections Online provides access to basic information about many objects in the
collections of the Harvard University Art Museums. The data presented here changes
constantly as the result of ongoing curatorial research.
At the time of its launch in April 2002, Collections Online made available
62,041 object records and 8,150 images, basic information for more than a third of the
Art Museums' 150,000-plus objects. As progress is made in curatorial research, basic
information on more and more objects in the Art Museums' collections will be accessible
at Collections Online. As of October 17, 2003, Collections Online had grown significantly in
its coverage of the holdings of the Art Museums and now comprises 81,157 object records, accompanied
by 14,639 images.
In addition to starting your research with Collections Online, detailed information on a
range of objects in the collections may be found in a variety of
printed publications.
Although some measures were taken to insure
cross-browser compatibility, this site is best viewed using Microsoft's
Internet Explorer.
General Searching Tips
Search the collections by entering information into one or more fields on
either the Basic or Advanced search screens. Text in two or more fields will be
combined by the Boolean "AND" operator, yielding only records that meet all
criteria. Since the search engine is not case sensitive, you may disregard
capitalization and diacritic marks. No wildcards are necessary. If you wish to
view only records with images, check the box at the bottom of the screen.
Artist field
Use this to search for records in which the artists' name contains the text you
entered. For example, "mon" will return Mondrian, Monet, Moncalvo, La Monte Young,
etc. Full artist's names should be entered surname first, such as "Sargent, John".
Artist buttons
Clicking on one of the "List of Artists" buttons will provide a separate window showing
all the artists represented in Collections Online whose family name begins with the
chosen letter. Use the scroll bar to find the artist you are researching and click
on the name to enter it into the artist field. The button labeled "Anon" will present a
list of all the unidentified, unknown or anonymous monikers in use in Collections Online.
Artists referred to as "Master of _", Monogrammist _", "Maker's Mark _", etc., will be
found in alphabetical order under the letter "M". Artists referred to as "The Berlin Painter",
"The Lygos Painter", etc., will be found in alphabetical order under "B" or "L".
Title field
Use this to search for records in which the title field contains the text you entered
in any position within the title. For example, "child" will find "Children of the Sun",
"Madonna and Child", "Albert Fairchild Holden", etc.
Object Type field
Use this to search for records of objects of a specified type, such as "artist's tools/equipment",
"drawing", "vessel", "painting", etc. Choose from the drop-down menu which lists the
valid terms used in Collections Online.
Medium and Support field
Use this to search for records of objects made of specific materials, such as
"black ink on silk", "gilt bronze", "tempera on panel", etc. The terminology used is
extensive and in many cases, quite detailed. We recommend that you enter broad terms
such as "paper" instead of "blue wove paper", until you become familiar with the
level of specificity used for the objects you are researching.
Technique
Use this to search for records of objects made by a specified technique, such as
etching, cloisonne, jasperware, etc. Choose from the drop-down menu which lists the
valid terms used in Collections Online.
Date Range fields
Use the two date range fields to search for records of objects made between the
years specified. For example, the dates 1638 and 1715 entered in the two fields will
yield all the records about objects made during the lifetime of Louis XIV. The search
engine does not understand dates in any other format, such as "7/4/76" or "July 1776".
If you are searching for objects made in a single year, enter the year in the first
date range field only. All dates entered will be assumed to be "A.D." of the Christian Era
unless you click the "BC" check box.
Century field
Use this to search for records of objects made in a specified century or range of
centuries. Choose from the drop-down menu which lists the valid ranges used in
Collections Online.
Culture field
Use this to search for records of objects from a specified culture, such as Etruscan,
Persian, Korean, etc. Choose from the drop-down menu which lists the valid terms used in
Collections Online.
Credit Line field
Use this to search for records of objects in which the credit line field contains the
words you entered in any position within the credit line. Searching the credit line can
be useful in studies of ownership or collection building. For example, aside from
searching for specific donor names such as "Winthrop" or "Wertheim", interesting results
can be obtained by searching for words like "bequest", "in memory", "class of", "by exchange", etc.
Accession Number field
Use this to search for the record of an object with a specific Harvard University Art Museums
identification number, including both objects in the permanent collection and on long
term loan. By entering just a 4-digit year, the search will yield only objects acquired
by the Art Museums during the year specified.
Creation Place/Coin Mint field
Use this to search for records of objects in which the creation place or coin mint
is equal to the place or mint that you entered. Objects with countries or cities within
your entry will also be included. For example, if you enter "Italy", then objects with
a creation place of "Italy", "Florence", "Venice", etc. will appear in your object list.
If you enter "Europe", then all objects that have a creation place of "Europe" or any coutries
or cities within Europe will appear in your list. Please note, spelling must be correct.
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