Catalog & Databases
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Login & Authentication
Most subscription databases are accessible to the Otis Community 24/7, even when accessing them off-campus. Please report any access problems to the Library.
- Whenever possible, we authenticate through MyOtis / the Otis login page or a proxy server. When prompted, enter your regular Otis email credentials.
- If prompted to create your own account, always sign up using your Otis College email address.
- Some resources require authentication while on campus (e.g., The New York Times).
Usage Guide for Online Resources
- Databases may only be used by currently enrolled students, staff, and faculty.
- It is a violation of our licensing agreements to give access to non-students or others outside the Otis community.
- It is a violation of the Otis Code of Conduct for you to allow others to use your password.
E-Books
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ProQuest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
More than 230,000 full-text, searchable books aimed at undergraduates. (Option to set up a personal account.) -
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Access scholarly books and journals related to literature, music, film, folklore, visual and performing arts, architecture, and more. -
Comics Plus This link opens in a new window
Unlimited access to thousands of independent digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from popular publishers like ABDO, Andrews McMeel, BOOM! Studios, Capstone, Dark Horse, Europe Comics, Fantagraphics, Graphic Mundi, Humanoids, IDW, Image Comics, Kodansha, Lerner, Manga Classics, Papercutz, Tokyopop, UDON Entertainment, Yen Press, and dozens more. -
Open Library This link opens in a new window
Limited-term access to over one million books. (Create an Internet Archive account to borrow eBooks.) -
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) This link opens in a new window
Search for open access books across many different academic publishers and aggregators.
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Taylor & Francis Open Access Books and Chapters
Full or partial access to 1,200+ e-books across all disciplines. Includes frontlist and backlist books, including items from the Routledge Gender Studies and the Routledge African Studies Collections -
HathiTrust Digital Library
The digital library of 18+ million digitized items brings together the collections of more than 60 academic and research libraries from across North America and other countries.
You don’t need to log in or have an account to search in HathiTrust, and up to 40% of the collection is available for anyone to read online.
Full-Text Journals & Magazines
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Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles and images from art, design, and multidisciplinary periodicals and books.
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ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
General multidisciplinary reference. Full-text with graphics, covering over 2,600 titles from 1971 to the present.
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eLibrary This link opens in a new window
Guided Research Topic interface. Full-text of 1,500 international magazines and newspapers (including The Wall Street Journal), company profiles, news transcripts, and encyclopedias.
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JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAccess scholarly books and journals related to literature, music, film, folklore, visual and performing arts, architecture, and more.
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Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
For information on various sides of social issues. Includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more. TOPIC FINDER
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Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) This link opens in a new window
ERIC indexes education research from 1966 to the present. Not everything is full-text, but it may be available in another library database. Need help? Ask a Librarian. -
Project MUSE Open Access This link opens in a new window
Project MUSE offers a selection of open-access (OA) books and journals from several scholarly presses and societies. Topics include literature, history, visual/performing arts, cultural studies, education, gender studies, and more. -
USModernist Library This link opens in a new window
Open digital collection of major US 20th-century architecture magazines. Browse by title, year, and date only.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Covers 16,000+ free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. Aims to cover all subjects and languages.
Images
Images are available in many of our research databases. The ones below specialize in images.
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OtisDID This link opens in a new window
Otis Digital Image Database (OtisDID) provides images for teaching and learning, with a focus on art and design history. -
Contemporary Art Library, Education Edition This link opens in a new window Contemporary Art Library (Education Edition) offers extensive documentation of contemporary art exhibitions and performances. Their database comprises 33,000 artists, 4,700 galleries and museums, and 900,000 pieces of media (images, video, and documents) from the last 30 years, spanning the globe. You can view installation images, press releases, checklists, etc., and you can download zip files of their highest resolution images and documents.
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Artstor on JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Artstor on JSTOR provides images of items in museum and archive collections. -
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) This link opens in a new window
DPLA provides free, global access to digitized books and images from various libraries in the US.
Even more resources for finding images on the web---including stock images.
Fashion Resources
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WGSN This link opens in a new window
AUGUST 2025: Access limited to FASHION DESIGN students, faculty, and staff only. Extensive fashion and style related site with trend forecasting. For login info, please contact Byron LiCausi. -
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete archive of Vogue magazine (U.S. edition), ranging from its first run in 1892 to the most current issue, including each issue's photos and advertisements.
Materials
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BuildingGreen This link opens in a new window
Trusted source for sustainable design and construction strategies. Create an account using your Otis email.
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Material District This link opens in a new window
Learn about materials, processes, technologies, and innovations. Some features require you to create a free account. -
Materials Lab This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary resource for in-depth material investigation. -
Inventables This link opens in a new window
A database of materials, process, technologies and innovations. Free on the web.
Newspapers
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New York Times This link opens in a new window
The American newspaper of record. Create an account at accessnyt.com with your Otis College email address. Subscription needs to be renewed every 365 days.
Visit the New York Times Guide for more information -
Chronicle of Higher Education This link opens in a new window
Source for higher education news, information, and jobs from 1989 to the present. Use Otis email for off-campus access. -
Chronicle of Philanthropy This link opens in a new window
Source for nonprofit news, info, and analytics from 1997 to the present. Use Otis email for off-campus access. -
eLibrary This link opens in a new window
Guided Research Topic interface. Full-text of 1,500 international magazines and newspapers (including The Wall Street Journal), company profiles, news transcripts, and encyclopedias.
Search text-only archives of 4 major US newspapers: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
Or search these individual titles:
1996-present
1984-present (Eastern Edition)
1996-present
1980-present
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Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Open access collection of diverse alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals. Hosted on JSTOR.
Encyclopedias & Reference
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eLibrary This link opens in a new window
Guided Research Topic interface. Full-text of 1,500 international magazines and newspapers (including The Wall Street Journal), company profiles, news transcripts, and encyclopedias.
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eLibrary: Selected Reference Works This link opens in a new window
Search within reference works like Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, Roget's Thesaurus, Compton's by Britannica, Hutchison Encyclopedia, American Heritage Dictionary (5th ed.), among others. -
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History This link opens in a new window
Developed by the Met, the Timeline is a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history. -
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window
Open-access philosophy reference website created and maintained by scholars from around the world in philosophy and related disciplines. -
Wikipedia This link opens in a new window
Good place to START your research. Collaborative multilingual, web-based, free encyclopedia. Do not use it as a source in your final project; most faculty will not count it.
Streaming Videos
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Kanopy Streaming This link opens in a new window
Otis subscribes to a small selection of titles. You can access everything through LAPL. More info -
Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive This link opens in a new window
Discover digitized movies ranging from classic full-length films to daily alternative news broadcasts to cartoons and concerts. Many videos are freely available to download.
More resources are listed on the Finding Images and Videos LibGuide.
Many of the databases listed above also include videos, though they are not the primary focus, such as Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints and WGSN.
Social Justice
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Civil Rights and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Part of the HeinOnline Social Justice Suite. Brings together a diverse offering of publications covering civil rights in the United States as their legal protections and definitions are expanded to cover more and more Americans. -
Gun Regulation and Legislation in America This link opens in a new window
Part of the HeinOnline Social Justice Suite. Brings together essential documents on the difficult and controversial topic of regulating firearms in the United States. -
LGBTQ+ Rights This link opens in a new window
Part of the HeinOnline Social Justice Suite. Charts the gay rights movement in America, showing the civil rights codified into law in the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the inequalities that still exist today. -
Open Society Justice Initiative This link opens in a new window
Part of the HeinOnline Social Justice Suite. Publishes work prepared by the Justice Initiative, including reports, handbooks, briefing papers, legal and policy submissions, and fact sheets .exploring and advocating on issues of human rights and justice.
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