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× Thursday, June 19 : Closed for Juneteenth Holiday

Our online resources are always available, even when the library is closed on campus. Just log in with your myLesley credentials when prompted.

MFA Visual Art Research

A research guide created for students in the MFA program at Lesley University College of Art and Design.

Group 1 Library Orientation

If you want to print out the Library Orientation information, I've consolidated it into a printable PDF, below. This page you are on is the digital version, which includes How-To videos.

The library pays for a TON of information and tools that aren't available for free on the Web, but you can access almost everything we pay for with your normal Lesley username/password. There are a couple accounts you do have to set up separately:

  • Register your Inter-Library Loan account. This is how you'll request PDF scans of articles or book chapters if Lesley doesn't have them.
  • NYTimes.com access is free if you sign up with our link. We have other newspapers that are included in article databases, so you don't need to do anything special to sign-up/access them, you can just log in with your Lesley username/password; here's the full list: research.lesley.edu/newspapers
  • If you're going to be on campus, stop by the library desk to set up your library account (we just need to attach the barcode on your student ID card to your library account!)

Resource Tutorials

1) @LL Search is your first stop if you're looking for a book, book chapter, or article. Here are some tips to use our search tool, which searches through our book catalog, eBook catalogs, streaming video databases, and article databases.

2.) JSTOR is an article database, but now it also has ARTSTOR for high-quality art historical images. They are slowly getting more contemporary art.

This Guide

Explore this guide using the menu to the left (or on mobile, it will be up top). You'll find:

  • Resources: Whether you want to explore a topic or search for a specific book/article the library's @LL Search tool will sift through almost all of the databases we subscribe to at once (including art journals, magazines, eBooks, and streaming video)
  • Citation Help: This program uses MLA citation style, use this tab for formatting guides and examples
  • Group 3: Get a sneak peek at what we'll go over when you're in group 3, but don't let anything intimidate you. Ending up with a completed thesis in a couple years seems impossible to most people when they first start out but everyone gets there in the end!

You can also visit the main library homepage, featuring all the resources on this guide and a lot more that are less relevant to you right now: research.lesley.edu