Millard Sheets Library

A NEXUS FOR INFORMATION AND IMAGINATION.

Goals of the Library:

• To provide a learning environment designed to inspire creative students and faculty at Otis College of Art and Design.
• To provide collections of traditional library materials as well as emerging digital resources which foster creativity, critical thinking, and diversity of thought, with an emphasis on supporting the Otis curriculum
• To provide anytime/anywhere access to library databases and information resources
• To empower students and faculty in their ability to locate, evaluate, and ethically use print and electronic resources
• To collaborate with the faculty to design information literacy instruction that supports critical thinking
• To support the faculty in learning and using appropriate instructional technologies
• To promote this library and other libraries as a source of inspiration for creative work, intellectual pursuits, recreation, and independent lifelong learning
• To play an active role in supporting more effective organization and presentation of information for the diverse audiences of the College
• To actively contribute to the intellectual life of the College

Information Literacy ILO:

• Otis College graduates will be able to assemble, evaluate, and ethically use information from diverse sources to accomplish a specific purpose.

Main Stacks - We have a circulating collection of nearly 40,000 books shelved by call number (we use the Library of Congress classification system). There are also 332,000 e-books available online through the Catalog.

Databases - Discover and access millions of articles, eBooks, and more through our subscriptions.

Special Collections - Viewable by appointment only, these are housed in a closed space and must be requested in advance. Our collections include artists' books, zines, rare books, and institutional archives.

Media Collection - There are physical, circulating DVDs in our Stacks, as well as streaming video available online through our databases.

Materials Collection - These items circulate and are located near the Circulation Desk.

Print Periodicals - We subscribe to 90+ print journals and magazines, and we also maintain bound periodicals going all the way back to the 1940s. Our most current issues are available to browse in the center of the library. Check out our Magazine Holding List. Older issues and bound periodicals are held elsewhere on campus and may be viewed upon request.

Image Collections - These include the OtisDID (Digital Image Database), an art history image bank to support teaching, and Otis Collections Online, a web database of digital images by, for, and about the Otis Community, which includes the digitized materials from the Otis Archives and Artists' Books Collections.

Games and Puzzles

Otis College's Special Collections include:

• Rare, valuable, or fragile books
• Institutional archives and other archival materials (note: some items are digitized and may be viewed at Otis History: Past and Present)
• Artists' books, multiples, and publications
• The Otis Laboratory Press collection

These items can be viewed by appointment between 10 am - 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Most items are only available to view within the library under supervision, and some items are too fragile to be scanned/xeroxed. 

To book an appointment or request more information, please contact our Reference and Special Collections Librarian, Morgan Yanni (myanni@otis.edu).

Library Support Services (formerly the Visual Resources Center, or VRC) is where you can find still and moving images to support the curriculum at Otis College of Art and Design. We manage the OtisDID (the digital image database), Otis Collections Online, iPads, and Video section. We are located in the Millard Sheets Library on the first floor of the Residence Hall.

Staff:

Heather Cleary, Director of Library Services
Derek McMullen, Photographic Imaging Technician

Visit our research guide: Finding Images and Videos