An easily searchable online art resource which includes the Grove Dictionary of Art, the Encyclopaedia of Aesthetics, Oxford Companion to Western Art and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.

If you would like to read an authoritative biographical article about an artist or a synopis about an art movement, then there is no better place to come. Written by experts in the field, these articles provide trustworthy, non-biased information.

  • Go to LibrarySearch 

  • Log in using your CCCU username and password. If you are away from campus, or connecting with your own device over Wi-Fi, you will need to include @canterbury.ac.uk after your CCCU username.

  • Select Find Databases A-Z, then click on A, finally click on the link to Art Grove Online to open it in a new tab.
  • You can browse the subjects in the tool bar e.g. field, medium, era, region, place, type or occupation. This allows you to narrow your search instantly to for example, artists or patrons.

  • The medium section is particularly useful as you can search by discipline e.g. digital, multimedia and sound, film and video, photography etc.

  • You can also search directly in the search bar.

  • Advanced searching allows you to Modify searches to search a specified field e.g. author, title, exhibition, bibliographies etc. You can also combine terms by adding an additional term. Note this can reduce your results considerably unless you search ALL and only works best if you have a very specific query.

    Note: items in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists are not available and this is indicated by a red closed padlock.
  1. Try searching Art Grove Online by following the steps outlined below. You’ll practice using some of the most common functions and be ready to search for information for your assignments.

    1. If you’d like to know which artists have lived, painted or exhibited in Margate, you could type Margate in the search box. How many results do you find?

    2. Using the left-hand panel, limit your search results to Available and Free articles and Update. How many results do you find?

    3. Find an interesting article from your results list and see if you can access the full-text of the the article.

    4. Reflect on the type of information appearing in your search. How will you use this information in your assignments? How could you make your search more specific?

After you have accessed Art Grove Online, go to Customer Services and FAQ > Technical and Access questions for information on browsers and screen readers.

Your Learning and Research Librarian will be able to help you make the best use of online resources. For detailed guidance, book a tutorial via the Learning Skills Hub.