The SMFA Library provides access to a range of serial publications, from newspapers to popular magazines to scholarly peer-reviewed journals, in both print and electronic formats.
Accessing
Article databases are fully accessible on campus, and accessible off-campus with your Library barcode. Don't have a barcode? Stop by the Library (3rd floor, B side of the Fenway building) and set up an account!
If you have any issues with database access, contact us at 617-369-3650 or library@smfa.edu. Please note that if your Library account has expired or if you have accrued overdue fines, you may be blocked from off-campus database access.
Resources
See our Database List page for a list of our electronic database subscriptions, either grouped by resource type or listed alphabetically. We provide access to over twenty resources that allow you to search scholarly peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, image collections, encyclopedias, and more. Many of our resources include full-text articles, though some provide only citations. See the "Can't find what you need?" box below for more information on requesting full-text articles from other libraries.
Searching
Each database provides a different searching experience, in terms of interface and how its contents are organized. If you ever have issues finding what you need, please contact Ashley Peterson (apeterson@smfa.edu, 617-369-3653) or Darin Murphy (dmurphy@smfa.edu, 617-369-3651). We'd be happy to give you a quick tutorial or set up an in-depth research appointment.
The SMFA Library subscribes to dozens of print periodicals on a range of art and cultural topics. The newest issues must be read in-Library, and back issues may be checked out for 24 hours. A sampling of our subscriptions:
| Afterall | Bitch | The New Yorker |
| Aperture | Cabinet | Make |
| artasiapacific | Film Quarterly | N. Paradoxa |
| Artforum | Flash Art | Raw Vision |
| ARTnews | New American Paintings | Wire |
If you are looking for a specific article, or multiple articles on a topic, please let us know if you cannot find what you need in the resources listed above. You can contact Ashley Peterson (apeterson@smfa.edu, 617-369-3653) or Darin Murphy (dmurphy@smfa.edu, 617-369-3651) for assistance.
If you come across a citation in a database and want access to the full text article, we may be able to find you a copy at another library. Please contact Lauren Kimball Brown (lkimball-brown@smfa.edu, 617-369-3971) for Interlibrary Loan assistance.
You are free to browse the print magazines and journals at other FLO consortium libraries. The Museum of Fine Arts library and the Mass Art library, in particular, have excellent art-related collections. While print periodicals at other libraries must be viewed on site, you will likely have scanning and copying options-- please consult with individual institutions on their policies.
You can search to see which libraries own a particular periodical title from the FLO catalog: in the within menu to the right of the search box, select Journal Title and conduct your search.
Electronic
In most cases, you will have access to a FLO member library's electronic journal subscriptions if you are using a computer at that library, or accessing the campus wi-fi network. These resources are only available if you are physically in the library or on campus. Most of the FLO libraries indicate which databases they provide access to on their websites (linked from the FLO member list), so feel free to check and see if any meet your research needs.