Textiles & Apparel Research Guide

The major purpose of class assignments is to write a paper based on your search of published literature. The purpose of the research guide is to introduce you to the process of literature search and familiarize you with a variety of sources available for you.

Select a topic that is of interest to you. If in doubt, talk to your instructor regarding a chosen topic. You might want to seek help from reference librarians who are knowledgeable about search strategies necessary for locating needed information.

Books
Articles (Search Databases)
Journals (Browse E-Journals)
Internet Resources

Prof. Inna Shpilko

Bibliographer for Family and Consumer Sciences

Textiles & Apparel Research Guide

Books

First, gather background information of your topic in general or specialized encyclopedias. These reference sources provide useful overviews of a topic and may include in their bibliographies resources you can further use in your paper. Then, search the CUNY online catalog or other catalogs to find relevant books.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Encyclopedia of Textiles (Ref. TS1309 .J47 1992)
Encyclopedia of Furnishing Textiles, Floorcoverings, and Home Furnishing Practices, 1200-1950 (Ref. NK1710 .E39 2007)
Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles (Ref. TS1309 .F34 1996)
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers (Art Ref. GT507 .O53 1998)

Find Books

The CUNY Catalog: Search for books at the Queens College libraries, as well as other CUNY libraries.
Other Library Catalogs: Search the library catalogs of regional libraries such as the Queens Library, Brooklyn Public Library, New York University, Columbia University, etc.
WorldCat: Search for books in the national catalog for the United States and Canada. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking.

Articles (Search Databases)

Use online databases or periodical indexes to select journal articles you want to read. A journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. Sometimes, searching one database is not enough. Search multiple databases to obtain the most comprehensive information. You can find bibliographic citations to books and journal articles, as well as full text of some documents.

Most of the databases listed below are available for Queens College faculty and students through the library subscriptions and could be found on the QC Libraries Home page.

Academic Search Complete: Multidisciplinary.
ABI/INFORM Global: Abstracts to articles from worldwide business periodicals. In-depth coverage of business, including theory & practice, management techniques, advertising, marketing, finance, corporate culture, human resources.
Art Full Text: Full text since 1997, with abstracts since 1994, of selected articles from international peer-selected publications in the visual arts. Indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in the indexed periodicals.
ARTstor: Digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences, with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching.
JSTOR: 500+ core journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences. Cover-to-cover full-text from a journal's first issue until about five years ago.
Textile Technology Complete: Covers scientific and technological aspects of textile production and processing. Contains citations and summaries of journal articles, books, conferences, theses, technical reports and trade literature. Provides access to full text articles for almost 50 journals, as well as 50 books and monographs.

Journals (Browse E-Journals)

Click on the title to search electronic version of the journal (e-journal). The print version of most journals has been cancelled and replaced by electronic access.

Internet Resources

You might consider searching the Internet/World Wide Web to locate valuable information in your field of study published by the federal government or government agencies, professional societies, academic institutions or research centers. Always evaluate the quality of information you identify and retrieve.