We're located on the 8th floor at 230 Richmond St. W. (RHB) and we're here to help with the following services:

• Sourcing or digitizing instructional images for faculty
• Acquiring videos for use in the classroom
• Research services for the University Archives

Victoria Sigurdson, Head of Visual Resources & Special Collections spoke at the Art Libraries Society of North America/Visual Resources Association joint conference in Seattle, Washington earlier this year. The conference proceedings for the session Scope Drift: New Roles and Responsibilities in Visual Resources are now available. 

Victoria outlined the strategy behind how the OCAD U Library increased the accessibility of both library materials and course readings for students through broadening its service scope to include the production of alternate formats. Working with inclusive design specialists and the Centre for Students with Disabilities, Visual Resources & Special Collections leveraged its expertise in digitization to increase production and service capacity.

If you are a student requiring alternate formats, please see the Library's Accessibility Page for more information on this service. 

The OCAD U image library is accessed through Artstor alongside the licensed images from Artstor’s Digital Image Library:

• How to register for an Artstor account http://support.artstor.org/?page_id=52

• ARTstor Quick Start Guide http://artstor.org/sites/default/files/filepicker/63/artstor_r_quickstart_1506_0.pdf

• Instructor's Guide http://artstor.libguides.com/instructors

• Finding images in Artstor  http://support.artstor.org/?article=finding-images

• Webinars on how to use Artstor http://support.artstor.org/?article=01-webinars

• Prefer to use ARTstor on your mobile device? http://support.artstor.org/?article=artstor-mobile-release-history

Gateway to Biomimicry Images
ARTstor is introducing a new resource featuring more than 75 images on the topic of biomimicry. Find it in the Artstor Digital Library’s Teaching Resources area: Teaching Resources > Case Studies > STEM to STEAM > Stem to Steam: The Anatomy of Design.

Now available: The Menil Collection
Artstor and the Menil Foundation have just released nearly 200 images of highlights from the Menil Collection in the Digital Library. John and Dominique de Menil began collecting art intensively in the 1940s, amassing thousands of objects that included paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, functional items, and rare books. A core strength of the growing collection was European art, including Surrealist works by Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Man Ray, and Yves Tanguy, and Cubist and School of Paris painters including Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. 

The Ontario College of Art offered an outdoor summer school from 1913-1935, that focused on landscape drawing and painting and outdoor figure study. The InStudio Feature “Paint box memories: Art and inspiration at the Port Hope summer school,” celebrates this idyllic time in the university’s history.

The feature was written using material from the University Archives, such as a paint box that was used at the summer school, archival photographs, articles written by alumni, newspaper clippings, annual reports, and Board of Governors minutes and meeting materials.

The feature highlights the functions and services offered in Visual Resources & Special Collections, such as the acquisition and preservation of archival material, research services, documentation and digitization. It also provides a useful example of how archival material can act as evidence, sustain memory, and enrich storytelling.

Could archival material enhance a project you or your students are working on? Contact Scott Hillis at shillis@ocadu.ca for more information or to book an appointment.