The collection includes both monographs and serials to support the study of fine arts on the advanced undergraduate level. Special areas of emphasis within the collection are Italian renaissance art, Netherlandish art, American art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Irish art, ecclesiastical art and architecture, and photography. The collection also contains the extensive library of the late Art History Professor, Marianne Martin, an expert in the area of futurism. In the near future, greater emphasis will be focused in the areas of Islamic and Asian art. The collection also supports the curatorial work of the McMullen Museum of Art , which is located in Devlin Hall, and is under the auspices of the Fine Arts Department.
Access is provided to every major art and architecture index in their electronic format.
To further support the study of art history in this electronic age, images of works of art in digital format are also provided. Further access to images is achieved by the selection and organization of well-chosen web sites . The next area of collection growth in electronic form will be in electronic journals. Over 200 journal subscriptions with extensive holdings in art historical literature, many from the first volume through the current issue. A Selection of Mid-nineteenth Century Victorian Photography.