Research Guides: Cartoon & Comics Research: General Resources

Help

For help with your cartoon research, please contact us at cartoons@osu.edu.

Overview

To get started in your cartoon research, try these primary library catalogs:

OSU Catalog - Search for books, e-books, and other materials owned by OSU Libraries, Columbus and regional campuses. You can also search with the mobile version of the OSU Catalog. Help with the OSU Catalog

OhioLINK Catalog - Combined catalog of a consortium of 88 Ohio university and college libraries, the State Library of Ohio, and more. Have materials delivered to OSU. Help with OhioLINK Catalog

WorldCat Local@OSU - Searches materials at OSU, OhioLINK, and libraries worldwide.

Columbus Metropolitan Library - Searches materials within the Columbus Public Library system. With a valid Columbus Metropolitan Public Library card, items can be requested for pickup at Thompson Library.

Books

Books about or containing cartoons that can be found in the OSU Library Catalog, OhioLink, and WorldCat.

The OSU Library Catalog has materials from the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, a Special Collections Library focused on building cartoon resources. Institutions that contribute to OhioLink, and WorldCat have collections related to cartoons and popular culture.

To get started, the following subject terms can be used to gather general resources about comics, comic creators, and comics history.

Comic books, strips, etc. -- History

Comic books, strips, etc. -- History and criticism

Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States -- History and criticism

Searching for cartoon related books by keyword may be the best way to start. Begin by exploring one of the catalogs above, using a keyword search for a title, an author, or a subject.

To find books at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, search the OSU Library Catalog. "Modify" or "Limit" your search to look for items held in the "Location" of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Magazines & Newspapers

To find magazines and newspapers that contain cartoons, search the OSU Library Catalog, OhioLink, and WorldCat

Magazines

Searching for cartoon related magazines by keyword may be the best way to start. You will want to search one of the catalogs above, using a keyword search, for a title, an author, or a subject.

In addition, you can search using these subject terms:

American wit and humor -- Periodicals

Caricatures and cartoons -- [Country] -- Periodicals (e.g. Caricatures and cartoons -- United States -- Periodicals)

Newspapers

Searching for cartoon related magazines by keyword may be the best way to start. You will want to search one of the catalogs above, using a keyword search, for a title, an author, or a subject.

In addition, you can search using these subject terms:

19th century U.S. newspapers

United States -- Newspapers

American newspapers -- Databases

These newspaper resources also contain cartoons. Please note that the cartoons may not be searchable by keyword:

Chronicling America

This database contains selected historic American newspapers that have been digitized.

ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers

This database offers full text, including images, for several African-American newspapers from the 20th century.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers

This database offers full text, including images, for several prominent newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Independent Voices

Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries.

Art

To find original cartoon art, you can consult these resources:

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
Contains records describing original cartoon art, with some accompanying images.
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Digital Collections
Contains images of cartoons in different formats. Limit your search by selecting "Format" then "original art."