Research Guides: Art: Primary Source Databases

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Primary Source Databases

While UCI Libraries has an incredible Special Collections & Archives department full of primary sources that intersect with the visual arts and humanities (book arts, political literature, gender studies, critical theory, performing arts, OC history, Southeast Asian diasporic materials), UCI Libraries also purchases many different primary source databases. These provide online access to digitized materials that span centuries, topics, and material type, and allow you to conduct primary source research from the comfort of your laptop! There are also many freely available digitized primary source collections often because of grants and funding that libraries, archives, and museums receive to make those sources available. This page lists a few of the primary source databases that might be of interest. Freely available sources are indicated by an unlocked icon, but as a UCI affiliate, you should be able to consult and access any of these collections. If you are interested in conducting archival research, the archives page will be a helpful starting point.

Primary Sources in the Visual Arts

Art & Architecture Archive (1860-2015)
This provides digital access to 22 titles. Title examples include: American Craft, Aperture, Appollo, Art and AsiaPacific, C: A Critical Visual Art Magazine, Ceramics Technical, Goya, International Sculpture, Popular Photography, WomanCraft, Women Artists Slide Library Newsletter, and more.

Artforum Archive This link opens in a new window
The Artforum Archive provides full-text digital access to all issues from 1962 through 2020. Artforum was founded in San Francisco in 1962 with an ethos to center the West Coast artists, given that so many prominent art magazines catered to the New York art scene. Atforum features in-depth articles and reviews of contemporary art, as well as book reviews, columns on cinema and popular culture, personal essays, commissioned artworks and essays, and numerous full-page advertisements from prominent galleries around the world.

Primary Sources in the Humanities

You can also explore more primary source databases on the A-Z Database Page, which lists all databases that UCI owns, subscribes to, or that are Open Access (OA) / freely available on the web. Under "Database Type" select the option for "Primary Sources".

Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Provides access to primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. The material demonstrates how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, and erotica, from the 16th century forward.This archive includes LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I & II, Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century, and International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Historical archive of trade magazines focused on the entertainment industry (i.e., music, film, broadcasting, and theatre). Excellent source of information to discover things like top charts, hiring notices, industry announcements, entertainment union news, etc.
Hispanic Life in America This link opens in a new window
This collection, 2010 -Today: Hispanic Americans in the 21st century, reflects the latest news in government, business, and arts impacting Hispanic Americans. Topics include the U.S. immigration policies and the response at the U.S. southern border, Dreamers and the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and the ongoing influence of Hispanic American businesses, politicians, musicians, athletes, and others.
The HistoryMakers This link opens in a new window
The HistoryMakers is a non-profit institution whose purpose is to record, preserve and disseminate the content of video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. It provides a unique scholarly and educational resource for exploring African American history and culture. It is large and has a varied scope, with interviewees from across the United States, from a variety of fields, and with memories stretching from the 1890s to the present.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
An open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
This database includes archival runs of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. It includes US and UK titles such as The Advocate and Gay Times. It chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community.
LGBT Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
A resource of digitized books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. The collection includes documents ranging from letters, speeches, interviews, and ephemera covering the political evolution of gay rights as well as memoirs, biographies, poetry, letters and works of fiction that illuminate the lives of lesbians, gays, transgendered, and bisexual individuals and the community. It includes select rare works from notable LGBT publishers including Alyson Books and Cleis Press.
Media History Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Media History Digital Library (MHDL) is an Open Access (OA) freely available online resource that features millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound. Works that are no longer in copyright or that have been licensed are scanned to share with the public.
North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
This collection integrates autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files from American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Peoples, resulting in a representation of historical events as told by the individuals who lived through them.
Queer Pasts This link opens in a new window
Queer Pasts is a collection of primary source exhibits on queer history and culture. The curation of these collections seeks to broaden the field of queer history by prioritizing projects that focus on the experiences and perspectives of under-represented historical groups, including people of color, trans people, and people with disabilities.
Student Activism This link opens in a new window
Primary sources about the history of student protest in the United States. The completed collection will contain approximately 75,000 pages from newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, etc.
Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new window
This archive contains three collections: Women’s Issues and Identities; Rare Titles from the American Antiquarian Society, 1820-1922; and Voice and Vision. The Women's Issues and Identities collection contains digitized primary source material focused on the social, political, and professional achievements of women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. The American Antiquarian Society collection includes around 5,700 monographs published between 1820 and 1922 in the United States and authored by women. The Voice and Vision collection contains primary sources from 1780 to 2000 and explores issues such as the abolition of slavery, alcohol and temperance movements, pacifism and political activism, domestic service, education, health and hygiene, divorce and social reform.
Women's Magazine Archive I This link opens in a new window
A collection of women's interest magazines from the 19th century through present. Topics include consumer culture, economics/marketing, family life, fashion, gender studies, health and fitness, home/interior design, popular culture, and social history.
The Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
An archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, and including pages, advertisements, covers and fold-outs. This archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers and is a record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the dawn of the modern era to the present day.