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 2024 SPRING 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.
At least five students must be scheduled to attend the class visit in order for the request to be approved. If you anticipate more than 20 guests, we may reach out to arrange alternate options for students to view materials.
Class visits must be requested at least two weeks in advance.
Class visits may be faculty-led instruction sessions or basic orientations led by Research Center staff, as outlined below:
Option 1: Guided exploration of a thematic area (led by faculty)
Participants will learn how to utilize Library and Archives collections and research tools in order to inform original scholarship or inspire their art practice.
Faculty are responsible for selecting, planning and facilitating all content. Faculty may select Archives and/or Library materials. Research Center staff will set up materials and monitor handling; faculty are responsible for facilitating student engagement.
Option 2: Basic orientation (led by Research Center staff)
Participants will learn the fundamentals of the collection, and how to make an appointment and request library or archives materials in order to visit the Reading Room and interact with materials.
Research Center staff will select and facilitate content. Only Library materials may be selected. Faculty are expected to participate and encourage student engagement.
Instructors may request up to 10 items (Libraries) or 10 containers (Archives) to present to their classes during the visit.
Instructors may browse materials for their class via our online catalog. Please communicate item requests to Research Center staff via email at least one week 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 one week prior to the visit date, a reference librarian will select no more than 5 items relevant to the class topic. Information on searching the catalog is available here.
Instructors must be present and engaged during the entirety of the class visit. Research Center staff will set up collection materials, monitor handling, and provide bibliographies.
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.
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.