LibGuides: Art: Websites

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Evaluate Websites: The CRAAP Test

American Photographic Artists
ArtMaze Mag
"Art Maze Magazine is an independent artist-run international publication which showcases experimental and progressive contemporary art, reflecting modern society and its environment, provoking conversation and action; fostering innovation and diversity of mediums which make today’s art scene so intriguing and versatile."
Artists Rights Society (opens in a new window)
"Artists Rights Society (ARS) is the preeminent copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. Founded in 1987, ARS represents the intellectual property rights, including the copyrights, of over 80,000 visual artists and their estates worldwide."

ArtsNC
An educational resource from the North Carolina Museum of Art. Explore works of art that are teachable across disciplines and grade levels. Includes lesson plans, concept maps and portfolios.

Artsy
"Artsy’s mission is to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. We are a resource for art collecting and education."
The Big Cartoon Database
"Welcome to the Internets Oldest and Largest DataBase of TV Series Episode Guides, Cast and Crew Information, Animated Film Lists with Online Pictures and Videos. In short, the largest compilation of animated film information in one place, anywhere. We catalog all your favorites, and many thousands more that you have never heard of. So look up some old favorites, and explore even more... because BCDB was made for you to jump in and get totally immersed in the world of animation."
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, from Ohio State University Libraries
"The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum houses the world’s largest collection of materials related to cartoons and comics, including original art, books, magazines, journals, comic books, archival materials, and newspaper comic strip pages and clippings."
Creative Commons
Looking for images, videos, websites, text and more that you can use, remix, or share freely? Have work that you want to publish under and open license for others to share? Check out Creative Commons, a self-described "global community of creators."
Note: There are a variety of Creative Commons licenses. Be sure to take note of the type of license assigned to a work before using it, as some authors do retain some rights or place particular restrictions on certain materials.

DigitalNC
Explore the history and culture of North Carolina through original materials from cultural heritage repositories across the state. Provided by the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, and the University of North Carolina University Libraries.
Digital Public Library of America
From "About DPLA": "DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format. The cultural institutions participating in DPLA represent the richness and diversity of America itself, from the smallest local history museum to our nation’s largest cultural institutions. [...] The Digital Public Library of America is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston."

Google Arts & Culture
"Explore collections from around the world with Google Arts & Culture, created by Google Cultural Institute. "
the i spot
Browse quality illustrations by a wide array of artists, or join the i spot to start sharing and selling your work.

Internet Archive - Texts to Borrow
Texts in this collection may be borrowed by logged in patrons. You may read online in your browser or, in some cases, download them into Adobe Digital Editions, a free piece of software used for managing loans.

Please note that works in this collection are protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code) and copying, redistribution or sale, whether or not for profit, by the recipient is not permitted unless authorized by the rights holder or by law.

Libraries can participate in our Open Libraries program and lend these digital titles to their patrons by filling out our online form.

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Khan Academy
A nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Create a free account to gain access to hundreds of tutorials organized by subject and educational experience.

Library of Congress
"The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) (opens in a new window)
"The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation."
The National Gallery of Art
Open Source Photography
A forum for those interested in open source photography (OSP), including information about hardware and photography techniques.
smarthistory
Explore the art of historic time periods from prehistory to present day. Digitized works, information, and videos for students and instructors. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
THRIVE Studio
A website designed to support female artists. Check out THRIVE Talks, where women tell their personal stories and share tips on making it as an artist.

World Digital Library
The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

The CRAAP Test

Wondering whether that article you found is "good enough" to use for your assignment? Use the CRAAP Test to check the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose of the article before trusting it for scholarly research!

Currency - the timeliness of information.
- When was the information created or published?
- When, if ever, was the information revised or updated?
- How current does your information need to be?
- Did your instructor provide you with specific guidelines for currency?
- Is the topic or field you are studying (science, for example) one that changes rapidly and requires the use of the most recent information available?
Relevance - how well the information meets your specific needs.
- Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
- Who is the intended audience?
- Is the information at an appropriate level (not too advanced or elementary in nature for your needs)?
- Do you feel, overall, that this source is appropriate for use in college-level work?
- Have you compared information from other sources in order to find the most appropriate and useful one(s) for your research?
Authority - the source of the information.
- Who is the author/creator/publisher/sponsor of the work?
- What are the author's credentials? If the source was sponsored or produced by an organization, what are the affiliations of that organization?
- Is the author qualified to speak on this subject?
- Is contact information for the author and/or publisher of the work available?
- Does the URL tell you anything about the author or the source? For example:
  - .com indicates a commercially available website (anyone could purchase/own these domains).
  - .gov indicates a government website.
  - .edu indicates an educational institution.
  - .org indicates an organization of some kind, such as a non-profit or trade organization.
  - .net indicates a network website, usually used by Internet providers, web-hosting companies, or similar businesses.
Accuracy - the reliability, correctness, and truthfulness of the information
- Is the information provided supported by evidence/facts?
- Has the information been reviewed or edited? Who was it reviewed/edited by?
- Can you verify the information provided by comparing it to other trusted sources, or based on your own personal knowledge?
- Does the source seem biased toward one particular viewpoint? Does it use emotional, inflammatory language?
- Are there any spelling, grammar, or typographical errors? This may be a red flag that the information was not professionally edited or reviewed.
Purpose - why the information exists.
- Does the source seek to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade? The best sources for scholarly research should aim to inform or teach readers rather than sell, entertain, or change their point of view.
- Does the author/sponsor make their intentions clear?
- Does the information include facts, opinions, propaganda, or a combination? Look for sources that stick to the facts.

Art: Websites

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The CRAAP Test

Currency - the timeliness of information.

When was the information created or published?

When, if ever, was the information revised or updated?

How current does your information need to be?

Did your instructor provide you with specific guidelines for currency?

Is the topic or field you are studying (science, for example) one that changes rapidly and requires the use of the most recent information available?