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AHIS 3698: American Monument Cultures

Citing and Captioning in Art History

Citation Basics

Most professors of art history require Chicago citation style to create bibliographies and footnotes, or a variant of Chicago known as Turabian. It's important to keep in mind that the purpose of a citation is to both give credit to authors and to lead readers back to the work you're using. You will want to be as complete as possible when formulating a citation. 

Citation formats differ depending on the kind of resource you are using. There are a number of online citation style guides to help you make citations. You can also use a citation manager like Zotero to help you collect, organize and create citations.

Chicago Citation Quick Guide is a great place to start. 
 

Online Citation Style Guides

Chicago Citation Quick Guide is a great place to start for basic citations. For music citations see 14.263.

Making Image Captions

Image captions are slightly different than citations. Captions should include the location of the work of art itself, as well as the location of where you found the image. Below is an example of a caption for a work of public sculpture.

Monument to Columbus at Columbus Circle in New York City

 

 

Elements of a Caption

Title: Columbus Monument

Artist: Gaetano Russo

Date: 1892

Medium: Carrara marble, granite, and bronze

Location of work: Columbus Circle, New York City

Where image was found: NYCParks.gov 
 
URL (if applicable): https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/299
 
 
 
 
Caption (artwork viewed in person):

Fig. 1. Gaetano RussoColumbus Monument, 1892. Carrara marble, granite, and bronze. New York, Columbus Circle.

Caption (online): 

Fig. 1. Gaetano RussoColumbus Monument, 1892. Carrara marble, granite, and bronze. New York, Columbus Circle. NYCParks.org. https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/299

Caption (in print):

Fig. 1. Gaetano RussoColumbus Monument, 1892. Carrara marble, granite, and bronze. New York, Columbus Circle. In Title of Book, by AuthorFirst AuthorLast. City: Publisher, Date.

A Note on Show Notes

Show Notes

There is no standard format for creating show notes.  Your professor has asked that your format your footnotes as you would a citation in art history. The standard citation formation for art historical research is Chicago. However, for your reference I've provided a few examples of show notes for podcast that use them liberally and creatively.

Example: Blog post for The Known Unknown

Example: Transcript for Caffeine: How Much is Too Much?

Example: Resources list for George Washington Williams