Art Databases

Which art index should I use?

Although there is overlap between the art indexes, each has its own strengths.

Art and Architecture Complete (AAC) is broad in scope, covering arts across the centuries, from the prehistory to the present, and from around the world.
ArtBibliographies Modern (ABM) covers the arts around the world from the late 19th century forward, and photography since its invention.
Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA), covered Western European art from late antiquity to the present, and arts of the Americans after European arrival. With the economic downturn, BHA ceased publication in 2009.
With coverage starting in 2008, International Bibliography of Art (IBA), is the successor of BHA, and will have the same scope but will cover the arts globally since 1945.

Therefore, if your topic is about contemporary art, turn to AAC, ABM, BHA if Western European or from the Americas, and IBA, but if your topic is about contemporary Japanese are, you don't need to consult BHA. If your topic is prehistoric or pre-Columbian, use AAC; if eighteenth century, use AAC, BHA, and IBA, but not ABM.

Art & Architecture Complete
Provides full-text coverage of hundreds of periodicals and books, as well as cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for nearly a thousand academic journals, magazines and trade publications and books.
ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM)
Provides full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art, with more than 13,000 new entries being added each year (Updated monthly).
Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and RILA
Provides access to BHA and RILA at no charge and they are searchable as a single database. Covers material up through 2007.
Art Index Retrospective (H.W. Wilson)
Provides searchable indexing spanning 55 years of art journalism of nearly 600 noted publications around the globe, reflecting coverage provided from 1929 through 1984.