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History of Design & Curatorial Studies

A guide for students in the MAMA History of Design & Curatorial Studies offered in conjunction with the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Find Books

Search the 'Books & More' tab on the library website using keywords in the title, author, or subject, or the ISBN.

  • Ebooks can be accessed through links under the 'Online Access' section of the page.

  • Physical books are arranged using Library of Congress classification.  The New School students can borrow or request materials to pick up at any of our locations:

    • University Center Library (63 Fifth Avenue, 6th & 7th Floors): Art, Design, Technology
    • List Center Library (6 E. 16th Street, 8th Floor): Humanities and Social Sciences
    • Performing Arts Library (55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor): Music, Dance, Theater

View Access and Borrowing info, or Renew Books on the library website.  Most books can be borrowed for 16 weeks and renewed twice.

Use Consortium Libraries (NYU, Cooper Union, New York School of Interior Design) with your New School ID card.

Three ways to find related books:

  1. Click on subject headings in the library catalog.
  2. Browse the shelf to find books under the same call number.
  3. Look up books and articles referenced in literature.

Login to the library catalog to see more access options:

  • Offsite: Request items by clicking on the arrow to the right of the item listing and clicking on "Request Item."  You will receive an email when the item is available, 1-2 days.  
  • E-ZBorrow: Request books to be delivered to The New School in 3-5 business days.  Borrow for 16 weeks; no renewals.  Learn more.
  • Interlibrary Loan (ILL): Recommended for periodical articles, or books not available through E-ZBorrow.  To request, login to your ILL account.  Watch our video tutorial for detailed instructions.

METRO: Resource-sharing service for New York City area libraries. Onsite access only (no borrowing privileges). 

WorldCat: Search WorldCat, a union catalog of library holdings around the world.  Learn How.

Request a Purchase of any books that you need for your research.

The New School subscribes to several E-book Databases.  Full-text searching is possible when searching within individual ebook databases.

Google Books can be used as a tool to search inside books.  Locate books using our library catalog.

Call Numbers

The NK section on the 7th floor of the University Center library is where you will find books on design and the decorative arts.

General NK 1-570 Furniture NK 2200-2750
History NK 600-806 Rugs and Carpets NK 2775-2898
Arts and crafts movement NK 1135-1149.5           Tapestries NK 2975-3049
Decoration and ornament. Design NK 1160-1590 Upholstery. Drapery NK 3175-3296.3
General NK 1160-1174 Wallpapers NK 3375-3496.3
History NK 1175-(1498) Other arts and art industries NK 3600-(9990)
General works NK 1505-1535 Ceramics NK 3700-4695
Special Subjects for Design NK 1548-1590 Costume NK 4700-4890
Religious Art NK 1648-1678 Glass NK 5100-5440
Interior decoration NK 1700-2195 Glyptic arts NK 5500-6060
General. History, etc. NK 1700-2138 Metalwork NK 6400-8459
Decorative painting NK 2140-2180 Textiles NK 8800-9505.5
Church decoration NK 2190-2192 Woodwork NK 9600-9955

N -- Art 
NA -- Architecture
NB -- Sculpture
NC -- Drawing, Ilustration and Graphic Design
NX -- Arts: Cross-disciplinary movements and practices like Surrealism and Performance Art are found here
TS -- Manufactures: Includes product design and machine-made textiles and fabrics
TT -- Handicrafts: Includes hand-crafted furniture and textiles, and fashion