I agree that Dyabola presents many frustrations, but I wouldn't put the
Index to Christian Art in the same boat. I find that the Index is very
good for bibliographic work and for finding works of art relating to a
particular iconographic theme or existing in a particular location. Using
either the Browse or the Search functions you can find references to
various works of art (or locations, artists, iconography, etc). From the
results list, if you click on the number to the far left, you'll get a
complete record relating to your reference. The record includes
bibliographic references, notes, description, etc., etc.
Admittedly, the Index has a relatively narrow focus, but for ancient and
medieval studies I think it's a wonderful resource. It does take a little
getting used to (okay, it takes awhile to get used to), and I haven't used
it enough to use all the fields they offer. It seems that the main thing
to learn is when the Search function is most useful and when the Browse
function is most useful. For instance, I've found that it's best to use
the Browse function to find works by a certain artist. Click on Browse,
enter the name of the artist, and identify the field as "artist." For
iconographic themes, I also go to Browse, and then use the "subject" field
and enter just the first word (or even the first letter or two) in the
subject. For example, to find works of the theme of Daniel in the Lion's
Den, I enter the word Daniel and then go through the list to find that they
call this theme "Daniel: in Lion's Den." Then I can use this as my subject
in either the Search or the Browse functions. For searching by location, I
find it best to use the Search function. To find, for example, all works
of art that are indexed from Oxford, click on Search, enter Oxford as the
keyword and identify "location" as the field. Of course, the average user
isn't going to know any of this as they enter the database and perhaps
doesn't have the patience to spend time getting to know the system. That's
where we come in.
Rebecca Price
Media Union Library
University of Michigan
--On Wed, Jun 20, 2001 8:45 AM +0000 "Juarez, Miguel"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Just as frustrating is the Index of Christian Art--it doesn't
> seem to do anything, except provide cross-referencing of works.
> Anyone have any suggestions (other than to cancel the subscription).
>
> Miguel Juarez
> University of Arizona Library
>
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