Research Librarian
Reference Sources
Below are links to reference sources and collections that are most useful for these subjects:
- Index Islamicus (1906 to present) This link opens in a new windowCovers literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world, including Muslim areas of Asia and Africa.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new windowAccess to Grove Art Online and other Oxford art reference works covering all forms of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic and decorative arts, and photography from prehistory to the present.
- Encyclopedia IranicaInternational, collaborative project based at Columbia University, dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
- The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and ArchitectureEntries on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe and spans over a thousand years of history.
- Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art This link opens in a new windowProvides information on a wide range of current and historical materials and techniques in both traditional and nontraditional media.
- ArchNetOnline community for architects and scholars with a special focus onthe Islamic world, based at MIT
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (1934 to present) This link opens in a new windowIndexes more than 2,000 periodicals on archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation.
- Reference Universe This link opens in a new windowSearchable index of the library's entire reference collection, both print and electronic.
- Heilbrunn Timeline of Art HistoryA chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collections.
- Quran.comArabic text in parallel with a choice of up to six English translations; text searchable in Arabic or English
- Persian-English DictionaryPersian-English Dictionary online from the Digital Dictionaries of South Asia project
Print Reference Sources
- Islam: A Worldwide EncyclopediaCall Number: BP40 .I825 2017
- Historical Atlas of IslamCall Number: Frost Reference: G1786.S1 R9 2004
- The Blackwell Companion to the QurʼānCall Number: BP130.4 .B57 2006
- Medieval Islamic Civilization, an EncyclopediaCall Number: Frost Reference DS36.85.M434 2006
- Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic MapsCall Number: Frost Double Oversize xx G2281.S1 H33 1982
- Dictionary of Islamic architectureCall Number: Frost Reference NA380 .P43 1996
- Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Medieval IndiaCall Number: Frost Reference PK6419 .A53 1993
Tip: What are reference sources, and why would I use them?
Reference sources can include encyclopedias, bibliographies, dictionaries, handbooks, and atlases.
- They provide overviews of and background information on a topic
- They help you identify or refine your topic
- They provide quick, reliable facts
- They include bibliographies that will lead you to additional sources of information on your topic
You can find the Library's collection of reference books on Floor 1 of Frost. We also have many online databases that include collections of edited scholarly encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sources.