By Leigh Gates, Class of 2016
In March, Chicago Architecture Foundation docents had two opportunities to be introduced to the considerable resources found in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Head of Reader Services, Autumn Mather, gave a comprehensive and fascinating overview of the collections that highlight the bibliographic and online resources available to the public for undertaking research about Chicago’s architecture and history, as well as the history of construction in general. Autumn reviewed how to use the online catalog to search the Ryerson and Burnham collections and archives. She also described indexes, useful periodicals, architectural guides, surveys, pertinent directories, and free online resources.
In addition, many relevant and interesting examples of printed materials were laid out for the docents to examine. Autumn explained that many of these collections can be searched offsite by going to www.artic.edu/research, where research aids such as “Building Research” are also available. To request printed materials and to search subscription online databases, a reader only needs to come into the Ryerson Reading Room; the Reader Services Librarians are only too happy to help.
Whether a docent is interested in researching the buildings on a particular tour, or in learning more generally about aspects of Chicago’s built environment, the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries are a welcoming and fruitful place to start.
Editor’s note: Leigh is the former Visual Resources Librarian, Ryerson Library, Art Institute of Chicago