The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the museum, located near the Michigan Avenue entrance, constitute a major art and architecture research collection of more than 600,000 print titles, 100,000 auction catalogs, 200 current serial subscriptions, and extensive digital collections.
You can search their holdings here (this is a separate catalog from the Flaxman Library). NOTE: items can only be viewed in the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, they cannot be checked out / borrowed. You can email questions at reference@artic.edu, however, replies average a few days to a week for a response.
ALL visitors, including members of the SAIC community, are required to make an appointment in advance and to request the materials you wish to see through their library catalog. Flaxman librarians created these step-by-step instructions here for SAIC community. Information for appointments by the general public is available here.
The archives at the museum, which include the School's institutional archives, require the similar appointment process as visiting the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries. Details can be found here under Visiting the Archives. You can email the staff at the Art Institute of Chicago Archives at archives@artic.edu with questions.