Stephen Gabrielson
&
Molly Ogrodnik
What is ARTstor?
ARTstor is a digital library that
holds over 1.6 million images in its
database--images that cover
several subject areas including the
arts, architecture, humanities, and
sciences. Its collections are made
possible from contributors from
world-class art museums,
anthropology institutions, colleges
and universities, libraries,
researchers, artists, professors, and
more.
Who uses it?
The target audience for ARTstor is not limited to college students or artists. While
more than 1,500 colleges and universities subscribe, ARTstor can also be accessed
through museums, public libraries, and K-12 schools throughout the country and
abroad. It’s used by students, researchers, faculty members, and by librarians for
teaching and instruction purposes (and, of course, for research help!).
Pre-requisites
What’s great about ARTstor is that it’s a resource that doesn’t require much previous
knowledge in using an online database. There are, however, some system
requirements in order to use ARTstor efficiently. These include:
•A high-speed internet connection. It is not recommended to use dial-up service.
•Your computer needs to have Flash Player installed—6.0 or later.
•ARTstor uses pop-ups, so make sure you allow pop-ups from www.artstor.org
•Make sure your browser allows cookies
•Recommended monitor resolution is at least 1280 x 1024 pixels
•Screen colors are set to 32 bit
You can use ARTstor with a PC or Mac computer, as long as you’re using at least
Windows XP for PC, or OS 10.5 Leopard for Mac. ARTstor works with most major
browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.
So in order to use ARTstor, you’ll first need to be able to access it! Since ARTstor is a paid-subscription service,
access is limited to institutions that offer it (or if you’re willing to shell out the big bucks for it). Luckily, Simmons
College has a current subscription, and you can find it by going to the library’s catalog and searching for “ARTstor”.
If you’re off campus you’ll be prompted to login with your Simmons username and password. Once you’re in, make
sure to register for an account! This way you can go directly to www.artstor.org to login in, rather than going
through the library all the time. You also will get more features for registering for an account, such as tools to save,
organize, and share the images you find.
The Value of ARTstor
Detail from The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein, 1533
ARTstor is a valuable technology
to learn because it’s a powerful
image database that allows
students, professors, and
institutions to find the highquality images they need in
order to fulfill research and
teaching needs. Professors can
find images that they need for
their lectures, and then students
can go to ARTstor to zoom-in on
those same images, finding
details that cannot be seen in
class or in a textbook. It also
creates greater accessibility for
those who cannot travel to see a
certain painting in-person.
The Librarian’s Role
The librarian’s role in ARTstor is
extremely important. Students and
faculty members who are new to
ARTstor will need instruction in how
to get the most use out of it, and
librarians need to be available to
help with any other research
questions that can be answered
using ARTstor. ARTstor would be a
great addition for almost any library,
whether it’s an art library, a general
academic library, or for an institution
in a museum or archive setting.
Basically, this database is a great
technology tool for any library that
needs to meet their user’s digital
image needs.
The Librarian, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1566
Let’s Get Started!
To access the ARTstor Digital
Library:
• Go to http://simmons.edu/library/
• Search for “ARTstor” in the Library
Search box
• A list of results will appear. Click on
the link entitled: “Access online
resource” from the first result
(ARTstor [electronic resource])
• You will then be prompted to Log In
to Your Simmons Library Account
• After clicking “Log in,” you will be
redirected to http://0library.artstor.org.library.simmons.ed
u/library/welcome.html#1
To register for an account:
 Click on “Register” in the upper
right corner of your screen.
 Enter the requested
information including a valid
email address and password.
 The email address you enter
will be the username for your
account
 Once you have registered for an
account, you can access the
ARTstor Digital Library remotely
from any computer connected
to the internet.
To access the digital library, simply go to
http://www.artstor.org, and Click ENTER HERE
in the upper right corner. You will be prompted
to enter your email address and password to
log in. When you see the options to Search and
Browse, you are in the Digital Library!
Searching for Images
There are two main methods of
finding images in the ARTstor
Digital Library: searching and
browsing. You can search by using
a Keyword Search to search
through all of the collections and
in all of the data fields. You can
filter your keyword search results
or try the Advanced Search to
refine your searches to specific
collections or by date, geography,
and/or object classification.
Enter your keyword(s) in the
search box and click Go!
Browsing
Browsing allows you to navigate through
ARTstor’s categories. Three browsing
options are available:
•Browsing by Collection: View all of the
collections in ARTstor. Each collection is
subdivided by categories based on the
content of the collection.
•Browsing by Classification: Categorizes
the ARTstor Digital Library into 16 broad
classifications, i.e. “Architecture and city
planning,” and “Drawings and
watercolors.” Each classification can be
sorted further by geography.
•Browsing by Geography: Focuses on
works created by an artist from a specific
country or, in the case of architecture, the
location of the work. Each county or
region is further divided by object
classification.
Viewing Images
When you perform a search, browse, or open an
image group, your image results return as
thumbnails with a brief caption.
In order to view images as large thumbnails with a
brief data record, click on the Display options tab
and choose Display large thumbnails.
Double-click any thumbnail image to view in more
detail. The image will open in the Image Viewer with
additional tools to rotate, pan, zoom, print, and
save.
To view the full data record for a desired image, click
on the caption beneath an image thumbnail. If you
are viewing large thumbnails, click View Full Record
on the right of the image.
Organizing Images
As a registered user, you can create image groups and share them with others at
your institution, write image group descriptions, build presentations, and more.
To create an image group, select the images you want by clicking on the
thumbnails once. The thumbnail border will change color to indicate your
selection. Click again to deselect. Images will be saved to your image group in the
order that you select them.
Click on the “Organize” tab at the top of the site and save selected images to a
New image group, Existing image group, or a Recently opened image group.
Presenting Images
Images can be presented in three ways:
1. An ARTstor online presentation which is essentially an image group that is
presented in the Image Viewer window
2. The Offline Image Viewer (OIV), a stand-alone presentation software
3. A PowerPoint presentation, requiring PowerPoint 2007 or later to use the
file
Present Online
Save the images that you wish to present in an image group.
Open your image group so that its contents are displayed on a thumbnail page.
Rearrange the images so that they are in the order that you wish to show them in
your presentation.
Save any changes that you have made to the group.
Double-click on the first image thumbnail in the group to launch the Image Viewer
window. Use the tools provided in the Image Viewer to present your images.
To end your presentation, click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the Image
Viewer.
Some of the features of the Image Viewer presentation include: navigational arrows,
maximize to full screen, zoom in, zoom out, and reset.
Present Offline: OIV
1.
2.
3.
4.
Download and install the Offline Image Viewer (OIV)
Save the images that you want to present in an Image Group
Open the OIV and then download the group from ARTstor
Import any local images that you also wish to show alongside the ARTstor
images
5. Decide whether you want to present the images as a group, or create
authored presentation slides
For further detailed instructions on using the OIV presentation tool, please
visit ARTstor’s Instructional Handout:
http://help.artstor.org/wiki/images/8/81/Oiv-3-getting-started.pdf
Present Offline:
PowerPoint
1. Open an image group containing 100 or fewer images
2. Above the image group thumbnails, towards the right side of the screen
you will see the export to PowerPoint button - Click this
3. A window will appear telling you how many images you can download.
Click Yes. You will then be asked to accept the Terms & Conditions of Use for
the group of ARTstor images you are downloading. Click Accept
4. A new window will appear with a progress bar as your PowerPoint2007
presentation file is created
For further detailed instructions on exporting images to PowerPoint, please
watch ARTstor’s instructional video: http://youtu.be/LjXipchuaP4
Continue Learning:
ARTstor is very user friendly, and offers an extensive amount of
materials to help first-time users.
The ARTstor YouTube channel has many helpful instructional videos on
a range of topics, including: “Managing Your ARTstor Profile,” “Folders
and Image Groups,” and “Faceted Search.”
http://www.youtube.com/user/artstor
ARTstor also has extensive Instructional guides located on their Help
webpage:
http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/Welcome_to_ARTstor_Help
Additional ARTstor Resources
After viewing this tutorial, and visiting ARTstor’s
YouTube page and Help guides, we also recommend that
you explore the ARTstor Twitter, blog, and Facebook
pages to learn more about new developments and
technologies:
https://twitter.com/Artstor
http://artstor.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ARTstor
Digital Public Library of America
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is another great source to use with
ARTstor and further your research. Through a collaboration with ARTstor, the DPLA
provides free access to more than 10,000 high-quality images and data records
from six leading museums: the Dallas Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of
Art, the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the National Gallery of Art, the Walters Art
Museum, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. In
addition to linking to the original contributing museum’s own website, each DPLA
record links to the image in Open ARTstor, a new ARTstor initiative that allows
users to view and download large versions of public domain images: http://dp.la/
Sources
The Ambassadors. Hans Holbein the Younger. 1533. In ARTstor [database online].
[cited 23 February 2014]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
Homage to the Square. Josef Albers. 1959. In ARTstor [database online]. [cited 23
February 2014]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
Homage to the Square “Ascending.” Josef Albers. 1953. In ARTstor [database
online]. [cited 23 February 2014]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New
York.
The Librarian. Giuseppe Arcimboldi. 1566. In ARTstor [database online]. [cited 23
February 2014]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
Testa di Artista es proratore e ribelle. Nicola de Maria. 1993. In ARTstor [database
online]. [cited 23 February 2014]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New
York.