School of Media Studies

Exploring the New School Libraries and Archives

This post is part of the SMS Advising Series for New Students. All posts are designed and curated to make the lives of newly admitted students much easier. From academic resources to having a social life in NYC, we want to make sure that our students get the best of ALL worlds!

Exploring the New School Libraries and Archives 

The Libraries and Archives at The New School offer plenty of material to browse through (even before classes start) while we are at home social distancing to curb the coronavirus pandemic. But with such a massive amount of information, papers, digitized archives, and content, it can be hard to know where to start with exploring the collections. This article gives you a few places where you can begin your own exploration of the New School Libraries and Archives. 

Explore and Expand Your Research Interest: The first reason many people access the library is they have a paper to write. They type in keywords related to their topic and zip through a few pages of academic papers and call it a day. While this strategy may get the job done, the New School Libraries and Archives are much more vast and worth digging deeper into for inspiration on upcoming projects or to explore source material you never thought relevant. From archives covering the history of design and fashion to architectural trends, the New School blog In the Archives shares the stories of archivist and student workers as they dig through the archives to find some interesting stories from the history of the women’s swimsuit to the utopian connection to New York City lofts. 

Learn New School History: Alongside these archives are also the primary source documents for the history of all divisions of The New School. These collections tell the story of many of the pioneering students and educators which have walked the halls of our school. Many of these collections are digitized, and able to be explored and browsed from the safety of our homes. These have been broken down into different collections, making it easier to find what you are interested in whether it be activism, specific students, or class materials or past exhibitions. 

It’s not all books: If it has not become apparent yet the libraries and archives online databases give you access to much more than just books. In fact, as a New School student you have access to databases of audio dramas (from the L.A. Theater Works Collection), Underground and Indie “Comix” from the 50’s and 60’s, Vanderbilt Television News Archives, the Youth and Popular Culture Magazine Archive, and Theater in Video which offers hundreds of filmed performances of famous plays. 

Written and Curated by: Daniel Pemberton

Daniel Pemberton is an MA Media Studies student at The New School. He has worked in copywriting, videography, music journalism, and even directed a few short films. His main passion is in research, working at the intersection of digital media, film studies, visual culture, and critical theory. His work has been recognized at numerous conferences across the United States and around the world. He is currently the Graduate Student Advisor with the School of Media Studies.