Showing papers in "Art libraries journal in 1989"

Tracking art historians: on information needs and information-seeking behaviour

Abstract: The information-gathering activities of art historians have been studied from three different perspectives: in terms of the books they use; through their own accounts of their working processes; and by informal, systematic observation, written up as ‘user studies’, by art librarians. While observation implies objectivity, a distance between observer and observed, in practice art librarians are very much involved with the art historian in the work of art history and in the development of its methodologies.

Art archives: a common concern of archivists, librarians, and museum professionals

Abstract: The preservation of artists’ papers and other art source material has steadily increased since the Second World War. Art archives include national repositories, archives attached to museums and libraries, archives devoted to a single person or institution, and ‘multiple collection archives’. Archival materials range from manuscript and photographic records to original works of art. Some archival materials have been published in microform formats; many others have not, and potential users depend on being able to locate them by means of various finding aids. Unless supported by public funds, the archives themselves depend on grants or sponsorship. Art archives may be staffed by archivists, museum curators, or librarians; future developments require not merely cooperation but also a ‘harmonization’ of these three professions, and a critical approach to the application of new technologies.

The exhibition catalog as source of artists' primary documents

Abstract: Exhibition catalogs and related ‘ephemera’ frequently include statements by artists which can be regarded as primary documents. Artists’ statements which are included in catalogs of group exhibitions tend to be relatively difficult to access and so are easily overlooked, while statements included in ephemeral publications associated with group exhibitions are virtually irretrievable even when such material is retained by libraries. Some help is available from published bibliographies and online databases; more thorough cataloging procedures are also available.

The Japan Art Documentation Society and art librarianship in Japan today

Abstract: The Japan Art Documentation Society (JADS) was founded in April. Inspired by developments both within Japan and abroad, and by the IFLA Section of Art Libraries, JADS has set out to embrace the common interests of library and museum professionals as represented by an integrated concept of “art documentation”. Essentially, the Society represents a collective response to the challenge and potential of the computer - to the benefits it can bring to, and the methodologies it requires of, the organising of art objects, art images, and art information. (The Society’s “prospectus”, from its first Newsletter, is appended).

Archival resources in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Abstract: The Victoria and Albert Museum, itself an archive of material culture, houses several collections of archival records. The Museum’s Registered Papers are divided between the Museum itself, which holds those papers relating to objects in the Museum, and the Public Record Office, where papers relating to Museum buildings and administration can be found; all papers produced since 1984 are to be housed together in a newly established V & A Archive. The quality of the archive of Registered Papers is uneven due to the lack of a controlling and unifying policy; this, and questions of conservation and administration, are being addressed as part of the current restructuring of the Museum. For the same reason the archives of the different Departments, though important, vary considerably not only in content but also in their organisation. The National Art Library, part of the V & A, includes archival collections of ephemera, comprising examples of printing and graphic design, and of manuscripts, including artists’ papers; it also includes the Archive of Art and Design, founded in 1978 to avoid the splitting up of significant archives between the Museum’s Departments.

The documentation centre of Polimoda

Abstract: The Istituto Politecnico Internazionale della Moda or ‘Polimoda’, located in Florence and Prato, was founded in 1986 to provide for the training needs of the fashion industry. Its documentation centre, in Florence, specialises in contemporary fashion and the clothing industry. A wide range of materials – including periodicals, slides, videos, forecasts, and a small collection of actual garments – is mostly on open access, and is represented in its entirety in a database which allows for different kinds of online searching.

Inspiration and information: sources for the fashion designer and historian

Abstract: A number of sources of inspiration and information, in addition to books on costume history, are invaluable to the fashion designer and the historian of fashion. They include predictions of style and market trends, visual sources of creative inspiration, and a variety of forms of historical evidence. Sources of information on style and market trends include forecasting services, trade magazines, newspapers, advertising material, and fashion magazines. Sources from which the designer can draw inspiration include paintings and visual imagery from the theatre, cinema, and popular culture. Historical evidence includes portrait paintings, fashion plates and magazines, photographs, literary sources, pattern books, and trade catalogues. Above all, magazines and serial-type publications are crucially important, for the sake of their currency, and later from a historical perspective; access to magazines is facilitated by indexing services.

ARLIS Norge: the first five years

Abstract: Since its formation in October 1983, ARLIS Norge, a society of Norwegian art libraries and librarians, has provided a professional focus for art librarians within Norway while at the same time maintaining a high level of participation in international activities. A directory of Norwegian art libraries has recently been published. (An English version of an article first published in ARLIS-nytt, 1988 no.4 p.3-8)

British Architectural Biography 1834-1914: a British Architectural Library database project

Abstract: Amongst the treasures of the British Architectural Library are the RIBA Nomination Papers which have been completed by all prospective members of the Royal Institute of British Architects since its foundation in 1834 and which now form part of the RIBA Archive. These papers are currently the basis for an innovative database project entitled British Architectural Biography 1834-1914, which is being funded over three years by the Getty Grant Program of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

A local approach to national collecting: a UK feasibility study for the co-operative collection of exhibition catalogues

Abstract: Exhibition catalogues, in spite of being an important aspect of art documentation, too often escape the notice of both libraries and bibliographies; their existence may be unsuspected and they may disappear without trace. With support from the British Library, ARLIS/UK & Eire is currently conducting a comprehensive survey of exhibition catalogue production and acquisition in England over a period of twelve months; the survey involves the active participation of art librarians throughout the country as regional co-ordinators and local collectors, and it constitutes a study of the feasibility of a permanent collecting network. Such a network is desirable, not least to supplement the national system of legal deposit and to provide data for inclusion in the British National Bibliography.

An English art librarian in Paris: a report and diary

Abstract: Following Nicole Picot’s visit to England, the subject of the report printed above, Gillian Varley from the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London spent two weeks at the Bibliotheque Publique d’Information at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, during the summer of 1988. She also visited a number of other art libraries in Paris. The text of her report is followed by extracts from her diary of her trip.

Contemporary art and fashion: from Pop to Populist

Abstract: During the 1970s and 1980s, a number of American artists have made use of clothing as an art medium. Their work constitutes a new art movement, drawing on, and straddling divisions between, Pop Art, performing arts, popular culture, and fashion; it merits more thorough and accessible documentation, and there is a need for art libraries to make available the elusive information which does exist.

The Carlo Gamba collection of fashion plates in the Biblioteca Maruceluana

Abstract: The Biblioteca Marucelliana, a public amenity and a reflection of Florentine cultural life since its foundation early in the 18th century, is the home of a collection of 19th century and early 20th century fashion plates, donated in 1965 by Count Carlo Gamba. This collection is used by both scholars and students, including students training to be theatre and fashion designers.

Forgetting our past

Abstract: While a great deal of the material evidence of Australian art of the past has been lost as a result of bushfires, other natural causes, accidents, or carelessness, even more has been deliberately destroyed. Artists or their families have often wished to erase the memory of convict or immigrant origins, youthful indiscretions, or previous marriages. The failure of national and state governments to formulate policies to ensure the preservation of business archives (including the archives of architectural firms and art galleries) continues to allow valuable material to be lost. Surviving archival material is often dispersed, occasionally inaccessible, and not infrequently inadequately catalogued. Fortunately nationwide initiatives have been launched – not a moment too soon – by the National Library of Australia and the Library of the Australian National

Using RLIN in the Australian National Gallery Library

Abstract: The Australian National Gallery Library has used RLIN since January 1985. It is used primarily as an online bibliographic database, to trace publications on particular artists and as a means of verifying references supplied by library users. It is also used, but less frequently, to verify bibliographic details of items to be acquired for the Library; other more occasional use is made of RLIN as a source of catalogue records, to identify locations of items the loan of which is to be sought from overseas, to verify name headings, and as a source of information used in stock selection. Of the special files, Scipio has proved most useful as a source of information on sales catalogues. RLIN does not present insuperable problems to the remote user, although an offline print facility and extended access hours would both be helpful.

Where is the border of Europe? Original works of art on this and that side of the river Lajta

Abstract: From a cultural point of view as well as politically and geographically, Hungary is very much part of Eastern Europe; although the “Iron Curtain” appears less formidable than hitherto, opportunities for people to encounter works of art are relatively few. In these circumstances, public libraries have a vital role to play in organising art exhibitions; their exhibition activities have been surveyed, and could in future be coordinated, by the National Széchényi Library. With some notable exceptions, the scope of exhibitions has tended to be unadventurous, focussing especially on the graphic and book arts because of their obvious relevance in a library environment. There is a particular need for exhibitions for children which would encourage uninhibited experiences of works of art and design.

‘Grau, Teurer Freund, 1st alle Theorie…’: the acquisition of exhibition catalogues

Abstract: The acquisition of exhibition catalogues is in many cases problematic, involving the expenditure of much staff time in addition to the cost of the catalogue itself. This is especially so when catalogues have to be ordered individually, whether from museum or bookseller; standing orders, including wide-ranging standing order arrangements negotiated with specialist suppliers, offer a partial solution; libraries attached to museums and galleries can also acquire catalogues by exchange. In the Federal Republic of Germany, exhibition catalogues are acquired by the seven major art libraries constituting the AKB as an integral element of their cooperative acquisitions programme, but documentation of contemporary art is not acquired comprehensively.