Art Research using BHA

Introduction

Welcome to this tutorial on using the BHA database for art-related re>search. BHA stands for Bibliographie de l'Histoire d'Art (or Bibliography of the History of Art). In the tutorial you will learn to:

• Search the BHA database
• Narrow & expand search results
• Locate materials

Please click on the arrows below to move back and forth through the tutorial.

Hover over the Table of Contents icon  in the upper right corner of this frame at any time to jump to a different section of the tutorial.

Searching the BHA Database

First, click B under Databases. Then click BHA (Bibliographie de l'Histoire d'Art/Bibliography of the History of Art).

Let's do a sample search for the Dada artist Hannah Höch. Enter the following into the search box (capitalization and the special character ö don't matter): höch AND dada*

What are the purpose of AND & * (asterisk)? Click on each below to find out.

• AND 

• * (Asterisk) 

 ("Heads of State" / "Staatshäupter" by Höch, 1918-20)

Narrowing & Expanding Search Results

Our sample search for materials on Hannah Höch retrieved several dozen results, a reasonable number to work with.

But let's imagine you're writing a research paper, and your professor requires you to cite articles published in the last 20 years. And let's assume that you need sources in English. Take a look at the options for narrowing results in the left sidebar.

("Collage" by Höch, 1920)

Narrowing & Expanding Search Results

Another common problem is finding too few sources. There are several steps you can take to expand your results:

1. Remove search terms

2. Use the wildcard/truncation symbol * to find all forms of a word (as with the example dada*)

3. Search for related terms with the OR connector (e.g., school OR education OR training)

For our sample search, try removing "höch" and search for "dada*" only. The results should jump from a few dozen to over a thousand.

A combination of techniques for narrowing and expanding results will help you find an useable number of relevant sources.

("Tamer" / "Dompteuse" by Höch, 1930)

Locating Materials

BHA is not a resource through UNM, but from the Getty Research Institute. Therefore, once you've located the record of an item you're interested in, you'll need to return to the UNM University Libraries website to see if we have access to the material.

As an example, let's say you're interested in the following source found on BHA:

Naomi Sawelson-Gorse's 1998 book Women in Dada: Essays on Sex, Gender, and Identity.

Search the UNM University Libraries website to determine whether we have access to it.

("Dove of Peace" / "Friedenstaube" by Höch, probably 1945-1947)

Review & Further Help

This tutorial has demonstrated how to:

• Search the BHA database
• Narrow & expand search results
• Locate materials

For further help, see our other tutorials on database searching in art.

You can also contact a librarian at the UNM Univeristy Libraries homepage. Click Ask a Librarian in the upper right corner. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions! We’re here to help you succeed with your coursework and research.

("On With the Party" / "Das Fest kann beginnen" by Höch, 1965)

Certificate

Please enter your name and email address to retrieve a copy of your completed quiz.

You can enter multiple email addresses separated by commas. If you are doing this for a class, you may need to enter your instructor's email address also.

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