The Research Center brings together the divisions of Academic Engagement and Research, the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, and the Art Institute of Chicago Archives to expand access to the museum’s rich educational and research offerings.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Research Center has suspended public access to the reading room. We hope to restore onsite, in-person research by advanced appointment by the end of January 2022. We will provide additional information here as it is available.
STAFF RESEARCH HOURS
The reading room is open to Art Institute of Chicago staff.
SAIC RESEARCH HOURS
The reading room is open to SAIC staff and faculty by advance appointment. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we remain closed to SAIC students.
Learn more about access and research services for the SAIC community here.
PUBLIC 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 closed due to the ongoing pandemic. We hope to restore onsite, in-person research appointments by the end of January 2022. When we are able to restore services, please note that access is available by advance appointment only; walk-in appointments are not possible.
Archival research appointments for the public are available Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., and may be requested here: Make an Appointment
Library research appointments for the public are available Thursdays and Fridays from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., and may be requested here: Make an Appointment
Reading room capacity is currently limited to 10 researchers per session. 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 their request for materials a minimum of one week prior to arrival on-site. Information regarding this process will be provided to researchers along with their appointment confirmation. If these steps are not completed one week prior to your appointment the appointment will be cancelled.
Researchers agree to follow the museum’s safety and security guidelines in addition to established reading room policies.
The Research Center will be closed until Tuesday, January 4, 2022. During this time we will not be offering remote reference services, circulation of library materials, or interlibrary loan and photoduplication services. Resuming on Thursday, January 6, remote reference services, interlibrary loan, and photoduplication services will be available for researchers who do not require onsite, in-person access to the collections.
You can reach librarians and archivists on the telephone during research hours by calling (312) 443-3666. Archivists are available to assist with your research on Thursdays and Fridays between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Librarians are available to assist with your research on Thursdays and Fridays between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
We also welcome email correspondence. For reference assistance with the archival collections, please email archives@artic.edu. For reference assistance with the library collections, please email reference@artic.edu. The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and the Art Institute of Chicago Archives have a small staff that answers a large volume of inquiries from researchers around the world. You should receive an initial response to your email within six (6) weeks.
We recommend that you consult our research guides and discovery tools in order to make your questions as precise as possible. Our reference services are primarily intended to support researchers who require access to our specialized and unique collections. We are unable to provide in-depth research assistance to remote researchers, though we can point you to freelance researchers to assist with these types of projects.
Art Institute of Chicago staff, including the staff in the Research Center, may not appraise or authenticate artworks. Librarians can point you to resources that you can use to learn more about the artworks in your collection. This information on researching art and artists and this list of appraisal resources will assist you with this type of research.
The library is a member of SHARES, the Research Libraries Group Shared Resources Service, and we lend materials and provide scans of library collection materials through interlibrary loan to other institutions. Our interlibrary loan policies are available through the OCLC policies directory.
Librarians seeking loans from our collection may email us with questions about interlibrary loan. Although we prefer to receive interlibrary loan requests through OCLC, we also accept requests from international and other non-OCLC libraries through email.
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.