Library Resources
Post-COVID Research Restart
As part of the University's Research Restart Plan, the Stanford Libraries are resuming limited in-person research activities by appointment only.
Overview
Most Stanford Campus ID Card holders can use their cards to access the Stanford Libraries and borrow library materials. Borrowing privileges are automatically activated the day after the ID is issued. For same-day privileges, please visit the Green Library Circulation counter, after making your appointment to visit Green Library.
Your privileges allow you to borrow materials as well as place materials on reserve. Loan periods vary depending on the type of material borrowed and the loan policies of the library from which the material is borrowed.
The Bowes Art & Architecture Library
Located on the second floor of the McMurtry Building, the Bowes Library supports art-related research, teaching, exploration, and discovery. The Library collects titles in the fields of art, architecture, and design. Holdings range in coverage from Paleolithic to the present and are particularly strong in the areas of medieval, Renaissance, modern, contemporary, and Chinese art history. The Locked Stacks collection includes unique materials such as twentieth-century ephemera, architectural treatises, and artists’ books.
Many items from the Bowes Library collection, including its Art Locked Stack collections, are accessible via online requests through the Stanford Libraries’ catalog, SearchWorks. Online requests of collection items are delivered to Green Library for pick-up, by appointment. This paging service is open to all Stanford students, faculty, and staff.
More information on requesting collection items for pickup at Green
Course Reserves
Requests can be made by either via webform, or contacting the Bowes Library’s course reserves specialist, Lorna Corbetta (corbetta [at] stanford.edu (corbetta[at]stanford[dot]edu)) or via phone at (650)723-4978.
Accessing Digital Images
The Art & Architecture Library’s Visual Resources Center (VRC) hosts an ImageBase which contains approximately 200,000 digital images.
To access the collection:
Log in
Log into imagebase.stanford.edu using your SUNet ID.
Search or browse
You can choose a search option or you can browse collections.
Drag to your desktop
After finding the image you need, just click + hold and then drag + drop onto your desktop.
Ensure you have the largest size image on your screen.
Troubleshooting
If the ImageBase is offline, there is a back-up database available.
Please contact VRC staff for the login information, if needed.
The Art & Architecture Library also subscribes to the ARTstor digital library, which can be found via the Stanford Libraries' databases page under "Art, Architecture and Design”.
PLEASE NOTE: The Visual Resources Center's ImageBase is for educational and scholarly use only. For more information, please see Stanford's Fair Use site and the Provost's Copyright Reminder (PDF found on Stanford’s Fair Use site). If you have questions about image use, please contact the VRC.
Web Course Study Sets
The VRC can create digital course study sets (images only) that correspond to your lectures and/or exams. These are created from existing ImageBase files and new digital photography.
Requests for course study sets should be arranged with VRC staff weeks in advance. Please email VRC staff at vrcstaffers [at] lists.stanford.edu (vrcstaffers[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) for deadlines and production details.