Research Help

SMFA Library staff are happy to help at all stages of research, assignments, and independent projects. Get in touch to schedule an appointment!

Reach Us

How can we help you?

  • Getting started with your research
  • Helping you develop research strategies
  • Finding artists relevant to your projects
  • Looking at and handling artists’ books
  • Visiting your studio and recommending resources 

Where can we meet you?

  • SMFA Library & librarians’ offices
  • Your studio
  • Mission Hill building (160 St. Alphonsus Street) 
  • Virtual
    • Zoom
    • Phone calls

How to make an appointment:

Writing Support

Writing support, including one-on-one writing consultations, is available through the Tufts StAAR Center.  

Resources to get your Research Started

Research guides

Check out the SMFA Subject Guides to find subject-specific resources on topics such as Dyes and Dyeing, Jewelry and Metals and many more. 

Recommended databases

Art & Architecture Source

Art and Architecture Source covers a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. Providing over 600 full-text journals, more than 220 full-text books, and a collection of over 63,0000 images, it is designed for use by a diverse audience, including art scholars, artists, designers, students and general researchers 

Electronic Arts Intermix  

The EAI collection spans the mid-1960s to the present, and is a comprehensive video art collection. The works in the collection range from seminal videos by pioneering figures to new digital works by emerging artists

JSTOR 

JSTOR includes scholarship published in more than 1,400 of the highest-quality academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. 

JumboSearch  

A one-stop search for Tufts library holdings, including books, e-books, videos, images, articles, and digital media. 

Library Stack 

Library Stack is a living collection of independent ebooks, audio files, videos and digital documents being published within the fields of contemporary art, design, media studies, cinema, architecture and philosophy. 

See the complete Tisch list of databases

Want to schedule the library?