The Research Center was established in 2020 to bring together the divisions of Academic Engagement and Research, the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, and the Art Institute of Chicago Archives. We are pleased to offer class visits on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
Faculty are welcome to make research appointments to view and photograph materials from the Libraries' and Archives' collections and share these images with your classes. Please see the information below in order to request an appointment.
Students are welcome to make appointments to conduct research in the collections during our appointment hours on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., but please keep in mind that our appointment capacity may mean that not every student in a class is able to secure a research appointment during the same week. Appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Research Center provides a variety of digital collections and research tools that may be consulted without making a research appointment, and these are linked below. Our remote reference service is also available to all members of the SAIC community; contact information is provided at the bottom of this page.
CLASS VISITS FOR THE 2022 FALL SEMESTER:
The Research Center can accommodate one class visit session per day on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays; one-hour sessions may be scheduled between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
Class visits are limited to SAIC-faculty-led sessions of up to 60 minutes in duration.
Instructors may request a maximum of two class visits this semester (one library session and one archives session).
The deadline for requesting class visits this semester is Friday, February 24, 2023, after which new sessions will not be added to the calendar.
Instructors may request up to 10 items (Libraries) or 10 containers (Archives) to present to their classes during the visit.
Instructors must request materials for their class via our online catalog at least two weeks prior to the visit. This time is needed to vet fragile materials and process retrieval of any materials stored offsite. If requests are not received two weeks prior to the visit date, the booking will be canceled. Information on searching the catalog and requesting materials is available here.
Instructors are responsible for selecting, planning and facilitating all content. Research Center staff will set up materials and monitor handling; faculty are responsible for facilitating student engagement and supplying bibliographies or other supportive documentation.
Complete the instruction form to schedule your class visit.
Visitors are expected to adhere to all reading room policies, including:
Visitors must sign in at the reception desk using their SAIC IDs.
Visitors must check all outdoor garments and bags in the reading room east alcove behind the reception desk prior to approaching collection materials.
Visitors must be respectful of other researchers and reading room operations. Please remain in the areas where course materials are being displayed. While discussion is encouraged, please ensure that your conversation is not disruptive to other researchers. Please silence phones. Collection materials may be photographed, but photographs of other researchers are not permitted. Reading room furniture may not be moved.
Library and archival materials must remain on the surfaces where they are displayed, and may be restricted from handling; please follow all handling instructions provided by Research Center staff.
Class visitors must adhere to the museum access policies outlined here; all visitors must wear masks over their noses and mouths while they are in the reading room and observe physical distancing guidelines to the best of their ability.
SAIC FACULTY & STAFF RESEARCH HOURS
The Research Center’s Franke reading room is a shared space in which researchers can consult the collections of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and the Art Institute of Chicago Archives. The reading room is open for onsite, in-person research by appointment only; walk-ins are not possible.
The reading room is open to SAIC Faculty and Staff by advance appointment on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.:
To consult materials in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries' collections: Make an Appointment
To consult materials in the Art Institute of Chicago Archives collections: Make an Appointment
Reading room capacity is limited. Research appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be confirmed via email by Research Center staff.
Researchers must complete a pre-registration process and submit requests for materials a minimum of one week prior to the appointment. Instructions are provided with the appointment confirmation. If these steps are not completed one week prior to your visit the reservation will be canceled.
Researchers agree to follow the museum’s safety and security guidelines in addition to established reading room policies.
STUDENT RESEARCH HOURS
The Research Center’s Franke reading room is a shared space in which researchers can consult the collections of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and the Art Institute of Chicago Archives. The reading room is open for onsite, in-person research by appointment only; walk-ins are not possible.
The reading room is open to SAIC students by advance appointment on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
To consult materials in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries' collections: Make an Appointment
To consult materials in the Art Institute of Chicago Archives' collections: Make an Appointment
Reading room capacity is limited. Research appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be confirmed via email by Research Center staff.
Researchers must complete a pre-registration process and submit requests for materials a minimum of one week prior to the appointment. Instructions are provided with the appointment confirmation. If these steps are not completed one week prior to your visit the reservation will be canceled.
Researchers agree to follow the museum’s safety and security guidelines in addition to established reading room policies.
A list of online guides and bibliographies developed by Ryerson & Burnham librarians to assist research on a variety of art historical and architectural topics, including provenance research, building history, appraisal and preservation resources, Chicago neighborhood research, and the history of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Digital collection catalogs available freely online. Catalogs offer detailed art historical context, provenance history, and scientific analysis of artworks in the Art Institute of Chicago's collections.
Input a keyword into the box and click Search to begin searching the online library catalog.
Input a keyword into the search box and then click Search to search through the archival collections.
Unfortunately, resources in the Institutional Archives, including the Imaging Archive, are not yet searchable here; please visit this page for more information.
Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
For information on the museum collections, library collections, and library services, please contact Library staff at reference@artic.edu.
The Art Institute of Chicago Archives
For information on our collections, the history of the Art Institute and the School of the Art Institute, donation proposals, corrections, comments, and general questions, please contact Archives staff at archives@artic.edu.