Showing papers in "Art libraries journal in 1980"

The documentation of contemporary art

Abstract: A description of some of the more ephemeral types of documentation surrounding contemporary art is followed by an indication of some of the problems involved in their acquisition, cataloguing and preservation. This is a revised version of a paper given at the two-day course on the Literature of Art and Architecture, organised by ARLIS and the Library Association in December 1979.

Problems in art history documentation in Japan

Abstract: The study of art history in Japan, and its documentation, have developed since the end of the 19th century, very largely (especially prior to World War II) as a national project dependent on national institutions, development of a kind which, while making considerable achievements possible, has been subject to certain limitations and which has failed to produce co-operative networks involving museums and art libraries which now exist in greater variety. In particular, some categories of material tend not to be acquired by either museums or libraries. These are problems which must be resolved if art history scholarship is to continue to flourish in Japan, and if Japan is to contribute as fully as it might to scholarship worldwide. A paper presented to the Art Libraries Round Table at the IFLA General Conference, Manila, 1980.

Ephemera and art libraries: archive or lucky dip?

Abstract: Ephemera, the fleeting images of moments in time, are valuable for the historical perspectives, social insights and visual stimuli they can generate. The means of collecting are various and frequently cheap. Collections can be organised along simple or sophisticated lines depending on individual libraries’ resources. These notes started life as a short paper, presented to audiences at Sydney, Melbourne, and Hobart during a tour of Australia which the author made at the invitation of ARLIS/ANZ in September 1979; in this revised and extended form they were read to an inaugural meeting of an ARLIS North West of England group, at Preston Polytechnic on October 31st 1979.

Conservation of photographs: some thoughts and references

Abstract: Relevant British Standards are cited, and advice on the establishment of priorities and programmes for the conservation of photographs is provided. Environmental hazards, mounting, storage and good ‘housekeeping’ practices are described.

La section des bibliothèques d’art

Abstract: The history, development and objectives of the Art Libraries Section of the Association of French Librarians are discussed. Recent achievements include the publication of the French Art Librarians’ Yearbook and the Directory of Art History Libraries and Documentation Centres in the Paris Area as well as current work on a computerised list of art periodicals.

A study tour of art libraries in Germany during September 1979. Part 1

Abstract: The first part of this two-part article reporting on visits made by the author to art libraries in West Germany in September 1979, concentrates on the Kunstbibliothek and the Museumsbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin, the Bibliothek des Germanischen Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, and the Kunst- und Museumsbibliothek der Stadt Koln. The scope and organisation of these libraries is described and general topics such as the exchange of publications between museums, and co-operation between libraries are raised. (To be concluded in the next issue).

Ronald C. Benge Cultural crisis and libraries in the Third World . London: Clive Bingley/linnet Books, 1979. ISBN 0208016686. £7.50

Abstract: The notion of 'appropriate technology' clearly has implications for the developed, as well as the underdeveloped, world: elaborate, huge, energygreedy plant may be unsuited to specific roles or sites in Britain or North America, say, quite as much as in India or Africa. Similarly, the appropriateness of art libraries and their stock is not a matter of peculiar significance to the Third World; every art library has to try to be responsive to its clientele, actual and potential; no two art libraries should be expected to be quite the same; each should be distinguished by a unique appropriateness^. It is highly doubtful whether possible roles for art libraries in developing countries can be usefully or realistically projected outside those countries, which indeed differ one from another — and no reader of Cultural crisis and libraries in the Third World can be left unaware of the folly of planning from afar. But perhaps there may be some purpose in considering the subject — so that we may be the more aware of the danger of exporting assumptions, as well as books and materials, which would be inappropriate; and because any fresh approach to the subject of art libraries and art librarianship may not be without implications, or inspiration, for art librarians wherever we may be — perhaps startling us out of stale routines or that laziness of thought which is an enemy of innovation.

Security in the art library

Abstract: The nature of much material in the art library poses problems of security. Types of material at risk are discussed. Solutions to security are considered: closed access, electronic security devices, owner identification and provision of good photocopying facilities. Efficient library administration (including regular stock checking and enforcing of sanctions) is essential. Planning the library for security is considered. Security is an expensive but important responsibility of the art librarian.

A study tour of art libraries in Germany during September 1979. Part 2

Abstract: In my previous article, published in the last issue of Art Libraries Journal, I described three large libraries which form parts of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunstbibliotheken: the Kunstbibliothek at Berlin, the library of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum at Nuremberg, and the Kunst- und Museumsbibliothek der Stadt Köln. I also wrote of the smaller Museumsbibliothek in Berlin, and I now go on to describe my visits to three other museum libraries.

The Tate Gallery Library

Abstract: The Library is a research library for the Gallery's staff and subject coverage is related to the two collections, Historic British and Modem. Some indication of the categories of material in the Library is given. Stock selection is on a co-operative basis with the staff readership and an exchange scheme with other museums is operated. The Library provides a direct service to Gallery staff but restricts outside use owing to limitations of accommodation and staffing. New premises on the Millbank Hospital Site are needed before any national role could be undertaken. (Based on a paper submitted to the National Co-ordination of Art Library Resources Committee).

User Education in Art and Design; edited by Mike Avann and Kath Wood. Arlis, 1980. 63p. £5.00 for Arlis members; £6.00 for non-members.

Abstract: posing an immediate problem for book collectors, who value either the dust-wrapper or the inner cover but not usually both. Catalogues of the other exhibitions are included. The excellence of Pamela Freck's catalogues of the Birmingham exhibitions, however, draws attention to the very much lower standard of the others, with the exception of that by the National Library of Wales. It is also rather surprising to find at the end a piece contributed by Birmingham University on John Baskerville, who produced no coloured books. These are, however, minor criticisms of a catalogue whose major sections should continue to be of value long after the regrettably short period of the exhibition.

La biennale di Venezia: a bibliographical note

Abstract: The Biennale comprises a unique sequence of 20th century exhibitions of international (if uneven) coverage from 1895 onwards with only two breaks – between 1914-20 and 1942-48. It documents for the pre-Second World War period the non avant-garde in whom there is now increasing interest and since 1948 the activities of the avant-garde. It is a particularly useful source for Italian art and illustrates the metamorphosis of futurist art into fascist art. The Biennale has become part of art history: what has been shown has influenced what has subsequently been produced: the 1958 and 1960 Biennali, for example, were influential in the propagation of abstract-expressionism in Europe.

Is classification neutral?: A reply to Trevor Fawcett

Abstract: In his recent article 'The problem of the artefact: subject limits of the art library'(D Trevor Fawcett identifies certain changes in art activity and art scholarship (i.e. the extension of their parameters) and he goes on to suggest a more relevant system of classification for art material. Although apparently neutral, this system is not without its problems, for it will still exclude certain artefacts which do not qualify for aesthetic categorisation. Trevor Fawcett is observing and describing cultural change. Now, it seems to me that cultural change of any kind does not occur 'naturally' and that we must seek to analyse the reasons for that change before we can understand and re-evaluate the boundaries of our subject. To begin with, I would argue that the traditional subject category 'visual art' is not simply based in value judgement. The value judgements themselves arise as a result of certain historical processes and the fact that art is increasingly permissive and that its boundaries are blurred results from comparable historical processes which require analysis before an informed change in practice can occur. It is not enough to describe change and then propose a new scheme of classification to encompass the boundaries of art. To do so is to accept the conditions which view the classification of knowledge as unproblematic, natural and rational. If Melville Dewey had had a more critical approach to predominant theories of knowledge in his day we might all be happier classifiers today. To state, as Trevor Fawcett does, that any material artefact can now be viewed aesthetically is spurious. This in itself is a value judgement which reduces the significance of the artefact to an absurdity. I would suggest that an artefact-based classification reduces our understanding of the body of knowledge and its potential organisation similarly to absurdity. As curators and organisers of the products of the cultural change which Trevor Fawcett identifies we have an obligation to understand it. I do not find his description at all helpful in achieving that understanding, indeed, I find it misleading. At no point are wc offered any analysis of aesthetic categories. The