bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On reproductions
Authors: Fawcett Trevor
Published: July 2016

A reproduction gives a very imperfect account of a work of art. The distortions of a photograph, while less obvious than those of an engraving, are still serious. According to some authorities the dangers of using reproductive photographs include the spoiling of the aesthetic eye and the too easy assumption that a copy can stand in for the original. While reproductions are indispensable they need to be employed critically: for example a good black-and-white photograph may sometimes be preferable to the meretricious colour slide.
Art libraries in the German Democratic Republic
Authors: Winkler Wolfgang
Published: July 2016

The background and range of art libraries in the GDR are outlined, and a brief description of the holdings of major libraries given. Important bibliographic publications produced by libraries are noted, and an account of the activities of the organisation uniting art librarians in the GDR is provided. This paper was presented to the Art Libraries Section at the IFLA Conference, Leipzig, August 1981.
Canadian art publications: history and recent developments
Authors: Singer Loren
Published: July 2016

This article traces the history of Canadian art publishing from the eighteenth century to date, closely paralleling the development of art historical scholarship in the country. A statistical survey of art publishing 1975–80 is followed by details of recently published key works in the fields of architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, graphic arts, folk decorative arts, photography, North American Indian and Eskimo art. A substantial bibliography is appended. This paper was delivered to the Section of Art Libraries at the 1982 IFLA Council in Montreal.
The growth of a slide library: The Courtauld Institute of Art
Authors: Trenner Lesley
Published: July 2016

The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, has a slide collection dating back to 1932. Begun with lantern slides, it converted to 35mm. format in the 1950s and became an independent department in 1964. This article traces its history and growth, covering aspects such as acquisition, indexing, accommodation, staffing and use.
Arts subject specialisation in Essex
Authors: Worcester Robert
Published: July 2016

Several years ago, Essex Libraries underwent re-organisation, and at this stage, subject specialist department were formed, an unusual feature within county libraries. This article deals with the basic organisation within the Essex Libraries system, the part played by the Arts subject specialist department, the services offered, its role within LASER, and the advantages that this system is seen as having, particularly in the present times of financial stringency.
Westminster’s Fine Art Library ∼ the first 20 years
Authors: Williams Lorraine
Published: July 2016

First established in 1965, the Fine Art Library at Westminster has been serving its public, both locally and nationally, for twenty years with an expert though small staff in very limited accommodation. Experience has shown that management training as well as subject knowledge is essential in running a specialist library. The possibility of expansion into a custom-built department would exercise the full range of management skills necessary to maximise the resources of staff, budget and subject knowledge.
Art and design in the local history collection
Authors: Girvan Margaret
Published: July 2016

A consideration of the public library local history and archives departments as a potential resource for information on art and design topics, with special reference to the collections of Wesminster City Libraries.
IFLA 1985
Authors: Houghton Beth
Published: July 2016

A brief report of the 1985 IFLA Council, held in Chicago 16-24 August, with details of attendees, papers, visits and meetings, and particular emphasis on the Section of Art Libraries Preconference.
The COBRA program
Authors: Dukas Martha L.P.
Published: July 2016

This paper describes the establishment and scope of a new co-operative cataloguing venture involving the Library of Congress, Worldwide Books and the Boston Public Library, with the aim of increasing the number of catalogue records for exhibition catalogues which may be shared by other libraries. It is the revised version of a paper delivered to the ARLIS/UK & Eire Annual Conference in Bristol, April 1985.
ARTSDOC: Arts Documentation Service
Authors: Maddrell Susan
Published: July 2016

Computer technology, particularly in the area of data bases and networking systems, enables arts librarians to overcome some of the problems engendered by isolation and great distances. The Australia Council Library aims to provide greatly increased access to its large collection of press clippings on the arts in Australia through its data base, ARTSDOC. The artists’ file, a 22,500 record, A-Z sequence of press clippings covering the past decade, forms the basis of ARTSDOC. It is anticipated that input from 1986 onward will include all press clippings culled by the Library, whether they are artists’ clippings or more broadly subject based.
Bibliographical information on Israeli art
Authors: Teichman Carmela
Published: July 2016

An annotated survey of sources of bibliographical information concerning Israeli art.
International Co-operation between Art Libraries I: Towards an International Co-operative Acquisitions Scheme
Authors: Pacey Philip
Published: July 2016

‘Universal availability’ of art publications, which depends on effective national coverage, cannot be left to chance; within particular countries much depends on co-ordinated or complementary acquisitions by art libraries and other libraries too, while at national, regional, and international levels there is need to ensure that no areas or categories of art are neglected, and to provide for the redressing of imbalances.
International Co-operation between Art Libraries II: Charity Begins at Home – a National Dimension of the Universal Availability of Art Publications
Authors: Vickers Stephen
Published: July 2016

Universal Availability of Publications - and of art publications - can only be achieved by efficient national exercise of certain functions: publishing, distribution - and, by libraries, acquisition, retention, and interlibrary supply. Improved availability is needed in most countries if availability in general is not to decline, and, especially when resources are in short supply, this is most likely to be achieved by combining the best or most appropriate elements of different systems but also through either centralization and/or strong coordination.
Artotheque activities in Swedish public libraries
Authors: Svensson Sven-Olof
Published: July 2016

In Sweden picture lending is not new but has been most successful in hospitals. Developments in the 1950s and 1960s involving some 70 municipal libraries were followed by withdrawal into the traditional book-centred role of libraries. Future development of artotheques must be based on the principles of quantity and renewal (ensuring ample choice), and of quality (achieved by professional selection of original prints). A campaign to foster art appreciation and visual literacy, paralleling efforts in the field of literacy, would nourish the role of artotheques. (Originally published in the Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly v.18 n.4 1985).
Coloquio sobre arte y bibliotecas en occasion del centenario de la Biblioteca ‘Jose Maria Lafragua’ de la ciudad de Puebla, Mexico
Authors: Barberena Elsa , Diaz Marco
Published: July 2016

One of a number of events which marked the reopening of the José Maria Lafragua Library, an important 19th century Mexican public library, was a dialogue between a librarian, Elsa Barberena, and an art historian, Marco Diaz. José Maria Lafragua was a historian, politician, writer, and supporter of the arts in the city of Puebla; the dialogue deals not only with his Library, but also with other libraries founded with the intention of disseminating European culture in the ‘New Spain’, the collections of which contain many rare and fine books. Access to books and the experience of handling them has tended to be a privilege of the few in spite of Lafragua’s purpose in founding a public library; the reopening of his Library, which belongs to the Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, is a signal contribution to implementation of the principle that books are for all.
Art libraries of educational and research institutions
Authors: Smeenk Chris
Published: July 2016

Art history in the Netherlands is supported by a number of art libraries in addition to museum libraries, among them the Royal Library at The Hague, the libraries of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, both at Amsterdam, university libraries, and libraries of Dutch establishments abroad. The combined art collections of these libraries are considerable; access, however, may be facilitated by the Project for Integrated Catalogue Automation (PICA) which aims to improve on the diversity of existing catalogues.
Bibliographical short list for Dutch art history
Authors: Becker Jochen , Ouwerkerk Annemiek
Published: July 2016

Dutch scholarship is so international in outlook that it tends to overlook the particular contributions of the Dutch themselves. The last general overview of Dutch scholarly literature appeared thirty-five years ago, Wabeke’s A guide to Dutch bibliographies (1951). The following survey offers an interim update of bibliographical material for art historians. The compilers are dismayed that there is so little that can be listed here, not least because of promising initiatives which have not been brought to fruition. The introduction of automated data processing improves access to information but does not help to teach students the use and value of bibliographies. The list proceeds from the general to the specific.
The Dutch Museum of the Book
Authors: Ekkart Rudolf
Published: July 2016

The Rijkmuseum Meermanno-Westreenianum at The Hague has as its core the former private collection, rich in manuscripts and incunabula, of Willem van Westreenen, who was able to acquire material from the earlier collections of Gerard and Johan Meerman. Maintained as a static collection, seldom open to the public, for more than a century, the Museum has since 1960 developed into a vital centre for fine printing, now including examples of modern typography alongside its older treasures.
The ‘Willet-Holthuysen’ Collection of Books
Authors: Koot Geert-Jan , Kuyvenhoven Fransje
Published: July 2016

The Museum Willet-Holthuysen, comprising the house and private collections of Abram Willet and his wife Louisa Holthuysen, was bequeathed to Amsterdam on the death of the latter and in 1929 became the home of the Institute of Art History of the University of Amsterdam. The collection of books, originally scattered through the house, had previously been gathered together, and although added to up until 1965 remained essentially the reference library of a 19th century collector whose special interests were the decorative arts, particularly glass and ceramics. The art historical volumes were moved with the Institute in 1961-62 and remain in the care of the Institute’s Library; they are likely to become more accessible when the Institute is rehoused once more in the near future.
Art lending in the Netherlands
Authors: Belder Lucky
Published: July 2016

The loan of works of art to the public was initiated in the Netherlands in 1955 through a scheme set up by a group of artists to encourage people to purchase contemporary art. The success of this scheme attracted support from the government, which was itself acquiring works in the process of assisting artists. Works thus acquired were lent to public institutions and government bodies, but from the 1970s they were also made available for loan to the public via artotheques. These two schemes gave rise to over a hundred art lending centres including hybrid establishments owing something to both; however, direct government support of artists has recently been phased out, and as a result artotheques no longer obtain works via the government and must evolve alternative methods of acquisition.
Swedish art bibliography and the database KONSTDOK
Authors: Hanner Charlotte , Rosvall Jan
Published: July 2016

Since reorganisation in 1978, the former ‘Svensk Konsthistorisk Bibliografi’ has been published under the title ‘Svensk Konstvetenskaplig Bibliografi’ (SKvB) in the journal Konsthistorisk tidskrift. More recently the bibliography has become the basis of a computerised database, KONSTDOK, accessible on-line through the host Goteborgs Datacentral (GD). Coverage encompasses all aspects of Swedish art, and publications of Swedish art historians.
Too much to look at, too much to read
Authors: Fawcett Trevor
Published: July 2016

When applied to the visual arts the concept of universal availability implies access to a massive and heterogeneous corpus of visual and archival material as well as printed texts. Achieving full bibliographic and iconographic control will be an enormous undertaking and may eventually become counterproductive. Universal availability also supposes the widest possible popular access to art, despite doubts sometimes expressed about the effects of overexposure. Community libraries have a special responsibility towards the general public’s visual education through targetted selection of printed and visual resources and through the encouragement of local art initiatives.
Art departments in United States Public Libraries: the Principal Means
Authors: Ashe Mary
Published: July 2016

Only larger public libraries in the United States have distinct art departments; in a majority of these, visual art is combined with other arts subjects such as music and performing arts. Scope is broad, covering all aspects of art and reflecting the limitless interests of users and their need for both access to and the loan of material, and for information in answer to queries. Invariably, indexes and files are maintained to document local art. Responsibilities of the art librarian include encouraging users of the art department to be aware of complementary material in other departments, and ensuring that the art department serves the needs and abilities of a wide range of users. In recent years automation has contributed to the development of networking and cooperation; online searching is generally available within larger libraries but more usually through another department or section rather than as an integral element in the art department’s services. The automation of files of local art information has scarcely begun.
The Art and Architecture Program of the Research Libraries Group
Authors: Allen Nancy S.
Published: July 2016

By the late 1970’s many of the full members of the Research Libraries Group (RLG) were academic institutions with major art libraries. The possibilities of special membership afforded museum libraries the opportunity to contribute to the database as well. In 1979 the Art and Architecture Program Committee of RLG was formed and charged with advising the president of RLG on special requirements of art and architecture and the information needs of scholars and professionals in the field. Through its accomplishments in supporting cooperation among art librarians and launching art documentation projects the AAPC serves as an interesting model for art librarians networking on a national and international basis.
Documenting international cultural relations: activities of the All-Union State Library of Foreign Literature, Moscow
Authors: Semicheva A. M.
Published: July 2016

The All-Union State Library of Foreign Literature has been engaged, since 1976, in publishing a series of indexes to documentation on Soviet cultural relations with other countries. This material represents an important resource for research, and, a record of what has been achieved in the recent past, it is a springboard for fresh initiatives in the sharing of culture and the promotion of inter-cultural understanding.
Beyond the No. 1 Rabbit-proof Fence: benefits and problems of isolation in Western Australia
Authors: Deubert Kathy
Published: July 2016

Western Australia has the dual problem of a very large land area and a small population with its capital city, Perth, one of the most geographically isolated cities in the world. The art community is active; art organisations, collectors and academic institutions are increasingly aware of their role in the promotion of the local heritage while realising the importance of trying to overcome cultural isolation.

For librarians, isolation limits personal communication with eastern states colleagues, hinders access to larger interstate resources, and adversely affects the currency of their collections, but it also encourages a spirit of co-operation, communication and sharing of resources at the local level.
“What is the use of a book without pictures?” thought the Kwoma woman: ethics in the research of material culture
Authors: McConnell Fraiser
Published: July 2016

A book about Yena art and ceremony published in 1983 contained photographs of sculptures normally only seen by initiated Kwoma men. Art historical and anthropological publications which disregard cultural and ethical mores exploit the societies which they purport to study. Art librarians should protest against such practices, and may wish to boycott publications of this kind.
A local approach to national collecting: a UK feasibility study for the co-operative collection of exhibition catalogues
Authors: Houghton Beth , Varley Gillian
Published: July 2016

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.
The Japan Art Documentation Society and art librarianship in Japan today
Authors: Mizutani Takeshi
Published: July 2016

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).
Tracking art historians: on information needs and information-seeking behaviour
Authors: Stam Deirdre C.
Published: July 2016

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.
Using RLIN in the Australian National Gallery Library
Authors: Bruce Joan
Published: July 2016

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.
Photographic collections in Japan: accessibility and new technology
Authors: Hatano Hiroyuki
Published: July 2016

Photographic collections are relatively undeveloped in Japan, although in the last decade a national photographic museum has been established, and other museums have opened departments of photography. Problems of access to collections of photographs of works of art have impeded the study of art history, but the capacity of new technologies to store, and to facilitate the retrieval of, visual images, is beginning to transform the situation.
Documenting whose heritage? The problem of point of view in documenting American cultural property
Authors: Stam Deirdre C.
Published: July 2016

In the United States, as elsewhere, cultural history represents, and is itself shaped by, many points of view. The existence of differing views of cultural history is reflected, in the United States, by the variety and independence of cultural institutions. Such a diversity of approaches does not facilitate the development of a nation-wide overview or of a national databank or national methodologies; however, progress is now being made in terms of cooperation and coordination, especially through the development and acceptance of standards which make different data systems compatible with one another.
Les archives d’architecture privees du XXe siecle: sauvegarde et mise en valeur
Authors: Culot Maurice
Published: July 2016

The architectural heritage of the 20th century is peculiarly vulnerable; partly because modern architecture broke with tradition, it is less easily recognised as being historic and worthy of preservation. Furthermore, efforts to secure public appreciation of contemporary architecture have concentrated too narrowly on the ‘International Modern’ style at the expense of the actual diversity of this century, on certain architects at the expense of others, and on the individual building, seen by itself, at the expense of the larger environment of which it is part. To see twentieth century architecture whole, it is necessary to depend on not only buildings themselves (insofar as they survive in something like their original condition), and not only on publications (which have tended to reflect the promotion of Modernism), but also on archival sources and above all, on the private archives of architects. The value of such archives derives not only from handsome architectural drawings, which institutions are always eager to acquire, but also from account books, publicity material, models, photographs, and notebooks, and from the integrity and coherence of all this material which belongs together; it is probably the challenge represented by such a range of material which accounts for the paucity of architectural archives in the public sphere. Fortunately, a new climate of interest in architecture, which has seen the establishment of several museums of architecture and the emergence of ‘l’archivisme’ – a re-interpreting of architectural styles of the past, drawing on archival sources and influencing contemporary architectural practice via exhibition design in particular – augurs well for the future of architectural archives. In France, the Institut Français d’Architecture has been responsible for archives of 20th century architecture since 1980, and since 1988 has operated an information centre for private architectural archives in Paris and the surrounding area. Other regional architectural archives are being set up; it is to be hoped that the resulting network will help to foment a spirit which will lead to the establishment of a museum of architecture in Paris, while at the same time providing a safety-net to ensure the well-being of private architectural archives.
Le vidéodisque au Louvre: nouveaux moyens, nouvelles pratiques
Authors: Galard Jean
Published: July 2016

The potential of the videodisc has been recognised at the Louvre and space has been set aside in the Richelieu wing, recently made available to the Museum, to accommodate videodisc installations. Three videodiscs have been or are being produced in the first instance. One provides a general approach to the collections in the Louvre; a second assists the visitor to explore aspects of Ancient Greece by means of a choice of itineraries; and the third illustrates the themes of the guided tours of the Louvre and will be used by the guides to provide a brief introduction at the beginning of their tours. Of these only the first is available for sale, the other two having been designed explicitly for use within the Museum.
Les Registres de copistes et de Salons des Archives des Musées Nationaux: une source biographique des Artistes du XIXe Siecle Ainformatiser
Authors: Leri Jean-Marc
Published: July 2016

The Archives des Musées Nationaux in the Palais du Louvre comprise the archives of the Louvre itself, and of the Direction des Musées de France including the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. The archives of the Louvre include both ‘les registres de copistes’, a record of artists who sought entry to the Louvre, to visit and to make copies, during 1821-1850, and ‘les registres des salons’, covering the years 1824-1853 when the salons were still held in the Louvre. Together these comprise an invaluable source of information on artists in the first half of the 19th century, including as they do details of particular works, and artists’ addresses. A detailed analysis of this documentation was scheduled to begin at the start of 1990.
Fuentes para la historia del patrimonio artístico Español en los arcivos, bibliotecas y centros de documentación
Authors: Santiago Elena
Published: July 2016

Documentation of Spain’s artistic heritage can be found in many places throughout the country. Primary sources are scattered in different archives, including general historical, and regional and municipal, as well as ecclesiastical, military, family, and academy archives. Publications essential to the study of Spanish culture, and some drawings, prints, and photographs, can be found in libraries, notably but by no means exclusively the Biblioteca Nacional. The growth of national awareness of the nation’s artistic heritage can be traced in books and other documents, from the activities of Philip II in the 16th century, to the introduction of photography and the development of its role in recording, multiplying images of, affirming, and popularising, a patrimony worthy of preservation.
News from the Sous-Section des Bibliothèques d’art
Authors: Schmitt Catherine
Published: July 2016

The Sous-Section des Bibliothèques d’Art gathered in a successful and perhaps historic meeting, at St-Etienne, in October 1989. In spite of their different types, and in spite of being linked with central government in differing ways, French art libraries are collaborating more and more. Plans for five projects -on periodical indexing, periodical microfilming, the adoption of a thesaurus, the cataloguing of exhibition catalogues, and networking - were discussed, as was the creation of a new national art library which will occupy the site of the Bibliothèque Nationale and which can be expected to play a key role in coordinating future developments. A resolution regarding the national art library is appended.
‘Art information: research methods and resources’: a review essay
Authors: Weidman Jeffrey
Published: July 2016

The first edition of Lois Swan Jones’s methodological and bibliographic guide appeared in 1978; it is now available, under an amended title, in an extensively revised third edition. This, in effect a new book, and though susceptible to (and worthy of) close criticism, enhances its standing as the best published guide to research in the visual arts.
Writing on the wall?
Authors: Nesbitt Judith
Published: July 2016

The verbal information which accompanies an exhibition, whether alongside exhibits (in labels or wall panels) or in a catalogue, is often a straitjacket which does not fit the requirements of the individual gallery visitor. Exhibition organisers too rarely articulate the rationale behind the selection and display, the assumption being that works will ‘speak for themselves’. Gallery education officers, by contrast, seek to adopt a more open and exploratory approach, and may have more freedom to do so in their work with the gallery’s permanent collection. The presentation of a variety of personal views of each work may be a stimulating alternative to authoritative labels, encouraging the viewer to develop an individual response.
Creating a database from a network of shared indexing: the ‘Archires’ project
Authors: Cohu Rosine , Day Susan , Dubos Claire
Published: July 2016

In 1968, architectural training in France, hitherto the responsibility of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, was dispersed to a number of separate architectural schools. Cooperation involving their libraries resulted in the production of an architectural periodicals index, the Bulletin Signalétique, from 1974. Since the late 1980s, the index entries, with other data (including each library’s catalogue records, held locally on microcomputers using the ISABEL programme), have also constituted the ARCHIRES database. Although ARCHIRES complements the widely-available URBAMET, as yet it can only be accessed by members of the network, but current plans include not only extending its range to include Europe beyond France, but also the production of both a CD-ROM and a videodisc.
Design + Information: the state of information
Authors: Formosa Daniel
Published: July 2016

An insufficient flow of information leads to inadequately designed products. There are several reasons why designers do not receive good information. Designers have no training in research, and rarely conduct their own research studies. They therefore must rely on research performed by persons in other fields. This information, in turn, is poorly adaptable to the designer’s needs. An information gap exists. Contributing to the problem are project schedules and budgets that unreasonably limit the amount of time that can be invested in the gathering and assimilation of information. On the horizon is the utilization of multi-disciplinary research teams that will apply their efforts to design. In the meantime, information gathering is a tedious process that needs to be performed as expediently and as painlessly as possible. A librarian with an understanding of the design process can be a vital member of a product design team.
Art, anarchy and the open library
Authors: Phillpot Clive
Published: July 2016

National, regional and international networking between art libraries and art librarians benefits the users of particular art libraries by extending each library’s awareness of resources beyond the limits of its own collections. At the same time, electronic information systems are facilitating the communication and sharing of data through library networks. But every art library, while opening up access to other libraries and information sources, works to improve access to its own collections, and to encourage browsing which can be a crucial method of overcoming the limitations of library classification schemes and of penetrating the contents of books, journals, or other formats of packaged information. Commitment to opening up information resources to human enquiry necessarily involves librarians in opposition to censorship and to those factors, such as illiteracy, which can deprive people of access to information even in “free” societies; any absence of information or publications, if not the result of overt censorship then a consequence of bias or neglect, will be of concern to librarians who may also adopt a pro-active role of acquiring and promoting unfamiliar material. Open libraries can thus provide alternatives to established ways of thinking, and can help to facilitate access to the broadest spectrum of ideas.
L’edition D’art francaise
Authors: Picot Nicole
Published: July 2016

The publication of art books in France is increasing in response to the growth of public interest in art; approximately 1,200 titles are now being published each year. Most French art books are published by commercial publishers; while French publishing in general is concentrated in the hands of a relatively few publishing houses, art publishing is undertaken by a wider range of bodies including, in many cases, smaller establishments dedicated to quality and having particular interests and strengths. Publications from these smaller concerns tend to be printed in editions of around 6,500; sales are generally too few to encourage the issue of paperback editions, although co-editions, produced in conjunction with publishers in other countries and thus reaching a wider public, are becoming more frequent. Although the range and the nature of art books from the commercial publishers is limited by the constraints of profitability, many art publications, including exhibition catalogues and works of scholarships, are also produced by cultural institutions such as museums. Art publishing of all kinds benefits from sponsorship, including prizes. Purchasers of art books include collectors of beautiful books; art books purchased by the general public are mostly bought during the Christmas season, although currently efforts are being made to promote sales at other times of year. Although French art publishers cannot compete with English-language art publishing in quantity or diversity, the quality of their volumes are of the highest order.
[no title]
Authors: Frank Polly
Published: July 2016

In my painting, I use interiors and exterior settings to look at the concept of singularness. Images expressing the idea of being alone are at one end on a continuum, images of loneliness, at another. A disquieting stillness hangs on at each end of the continuum, an absence of things implied.
[no title]
Authors: Kasper Michael
Published: July 2016

My work as a reference librarian puts food on the table, without which – the table, that is – my art would be beneath notice.
[no title]
Authors: Lebrat Christian
Published: July 2016

Il n’y a pas de relation directe, mais de contiguïté, entre mon travail d’artiste et celui de bibliothécaire.

En tant qu’artiste – j’ai commencé avec le film en 1976 puis la photographie en 1978 – j’ai toujours été intéressé par le livre: j’ai participé dans les années 70 à la création d’une revue d’art (Melba) et m’occupe aujourd’hui d’une petite maison d’édition consacrée au cinéma comme forme d’art (Paris vu par le cinéma d’avant-garde 1923-1983; Peter Kubelka).
[no title]
Authors: McLaren Duncan
Published: July 2016

Since graduating from library school I have worked as a “small press” micropublisher, issuing microfilm editions of newspapers and serials relating to Canadian social and political history. My interests include art and architecture, the ethnic press (especially that of the pre-World War II period), labour history, women’s history, and the alternative press including gay and lesbian periodicals.
Authors: Thomson Ellen Mazur
Published: July 2016

To work as an art librarian is to work among images from the past and present – reproduced in and out of context. And not only those one searches for – but those stumbled across en route to somewhere else.
Authors: Willis Alfred , Clay Susan , Lawson Roger
Published: July 2016

Effect of Fish on the Human Heart is a book in a box produced collaboratively by three individuals who, at the start of the project in Spring 1990, were all employed in the National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, D.C. The book was written and produced in an edition of twenty copies by Alfred Willis. It features a frontispiece by Susan Clay, and Roger Lawson participated in the design and construction of the book’s box. The matt black box, produced in an edition of twelve copies, incorporates two niches, one containing a basswood fish sculpted and painted by Clay, the other containing the book. The book is secured in its niche by a fishhook which swivels on a brass screw to permit its removal.
The Tretyakov Gallery Library
Authors: Bolotova Alexandra I.
Published: July 2016

The Library of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow contains over 50,000 books on Russian and foreign art. The collections date back to the gift, in 1899, of the library of P. M. Tretyakov. From 1918, the Library and the Gallery received the benefit of State support; the Library gained books from private collections and as a result of the closure of other museums, and it continued to receive donations. From 1931, copies of Russian publications on art were received on legal deposit, and many publications are additionally acquired in exchange for copies of the Gallery’s own publications. As well as books, the Library contains collections of manuscripts, of press-cuttings, and of exhibition invitation cards and posters. The Library maintains several card indexes, on Soviet art and the participation of Soviet artists in exhibitions, and of journal articles, illustrations, illustrators, and exhibition catalogues. The Library has itself published several reference books.
Russian art in a British public library
Authors: Williams Lorraine
Published: July 2016

The City of Westminster Libraries provide library services in a unique area of central London which includes a number of art galleries and most of London’s theatres. Users of the Library, among them many with professional or other interests in the arts, are served by collections which include a wide range of material on Russian art.
Art book publishing in Britain
Authors: Houghton Beth
Published: July 2016

Art publishing in Britain flourished in the earlier part of the 20th century, thanks in no small part to the enterprise of European émigrés. However, a majority of art books published now are of a commercial and popular nature, neglecting many aspects of art and British art of this century in particular. Do the conservatism of British taste, or the ready availability of books in libraries, contribute to this situation?
The Creswell Library of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo Part One: in the Presence of the Original Owner, 1956-73
Authors: Tovell Joyce Pressey
Published: July 2016

In 1956 the American University in Cairo (AUC) committed itself to the formidable task of transforming a purchased personal library into a specialized university library supporting research and teaching in a new curriculum in Islamic art and architecture. The library’s original owner, K. A. C. Creswell, the eminent British historian of Islamic architecture, became at age 77 the university’s first professor in the discipline. An agreement that he would have exclusive use of the library during a three-year teaching period set the pattern for later years. Until 1973, while Creswell remained in Cairo, the uncatalogued library, though used by Islamic art faculty and their thesis-writing students, was barely accessible to other Islamic art students and faculty in related fields. Secrecy surrounding the library’s purchase hindered the university’s dealings with Creswell. When the Suez War interrupted final arrangements, Creswell’s exemption from the government-ordered expulsion of British nationals, and permission to move the books to the university, were secured by telling the government of Egypt that the library was Creswell’s gift to AUC.
Vorkämpfer für Kunstverleih Champions of picture lending
Authors: Dietze Horst
Published: July 2016

Picture lending has, at different times and in different places, been championed by individuals who have regarded it — with some difference of emphasis and interpretation — as a means both of helping artists and of bringing art into people’s lives. Ten such individuals are profiled: Heinrich Schulz; the more radical Otto Nagel, and Rudolf Bosselt, who were active in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s; Franz Roh and Eva Pietzsch, whose work continued into the post-War period in West Germany; Pieter Kooistra, founder of the SBK network in the Netherlands; Knud Pedersen in Denmark; Karl-Heinz Bolay, who became a leading librarian in Sweden; and Heinz Werner and Isolde PreiBler, who championed the cause of picture lending in East Germany, in circumstances which imposed severe limitations on what could be achieved until German unification opened up new possibilities. (An English version follows the German original).
Documentation systems in Britain’s National Art Library
Authors: Dodds Douglas
Published: July 2016

Britain’s National Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum joined the OCLC network in 1986, and from 1987 to 1990 created catalogue records in MARC format on the OCLC database pending the introduction of a stand-alone computer system. The Library now employs a Dynix minicomputer system for cataloguing, acquisitions, circulation, serials control, and the provisions of OPACs. About 15% of the Library’s records are available online. Retrospective conversion of older records is proceeding and may be completed by the year 2000. The online catalogue is networked internally within the Museum, and is likely to be accessible to external users via JANET in the future. A number of bibliographic and image databases are also provided in CD-ROM and videodisc format. Future developments will include interface between Museum/image and Library/documentation databases.
Education for art librarianship in the Nordic countries
Authors: Hanner Charlotte
Published: July 2016

Big changes in the educational system of Sweden took place in 1992/1993 because of political changes in the government. Earlier the government and parliament made decisions about course details at the different universities, and research education was offered only by the universities, and not by the colleges. In the early 1970s the College of Librarianship in Borås was commissioned by the government to offer a two-year academic level supplementary course in librarianship. Until the spring term in 1993, education for librarianship in Borås changed course several times, and five years ago courses in art and music librarianship, which had given students some insights in art history, were discontinued. Beginning in the autumn of 1993 the education system in Sweden will be much freer, implying that every university and college will be permitted to make its own decisions about courses. And from now on courses in librarianship will be offered by the universities in Umeå, Stockholm (starting spring 1994) and Lund, as well as in Borås. Librarianship at the research level was established three years ago at Göteborg University in close cooperation with the college of librarianship in Borås
Training for art librarianship in Italy
Authors: Todros Rossella
Published: July 2016

The overall problem of professional education for Italian librarians arises from the lack of specific schools of librarianship. Librarians must learn ‘on the job’. However, the inauguration of BiArte, the Italian Art Libraries Association, in 1988, has provided a forum through which art librarians can share their experience, knowledge and enthusiasm, and further their professional education … even if it cannot of itself win for librarians the professional image which only a sound, basic training in librarianship can provide.
Beyond the gossip shop
Authors: Fawcett Trevor
Published: July 2016

Arlis arose in the late 1960s out of the need for British art and design librarians to have a specialist organisation to support their emerging professional concerns. The Society was independent from other library bodies and has remained so. From its original modest aim of ‘promoting art librarianship’ it has become a force for redefining this subject specialist area and creating international links, especially with sister organisations across the world; from ‘gossip shop’ for domestic concerns to an active participant in the IFLA Section of Art Libraries. The Art Libraries Journal has been the principal vehicle for promulgating this concern. ARLIS/UK & Ireland can look forward to extending its role and pursuing its activities with vigour in the next 25 years.

This article is a slightly revised version of a paper delivered to the 25th Anniversary Conference of ARLIS/UK & Ireland, London, 7th-10th April 1994.
Art libraries in Slovenia
Authors: Lipoglavšek Marjana
Published: July 2016

Present day Slovenia has inherited a number of historic libraries and collections, one of which provided the foundations of the National and University Library at Ljubljana, the major library for arts and humanities. There are also a number of specialised art libraries within and outside the University of Ljubljana, including the library of the University’s Department of Art History, the Library of the Academy of Fine Arts, and the libraries of the National Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Architecture, all in Ljubljana. Slovenian libraries have been or are being automated and linked together through the COBISS network; most of the academic libraries are connected to the Internet. Library training programmes are available at degree level, and students can study another subject, such as art history, as well. More art librarians are needed, as is an association of art libraries and art librarians.
What is the place for documentary videos on living artists in the art library?
Authors: Dixon Jeannette
Published: July 2016

Increasingly, video is the medium of choice for learning about art, because it is immediate and revealing. However, not all art libraries include artists’ documentary videos in their collections. For libraries, video presents problems of changing formats, fugitive qualities, lack of reviews, and insufficient information regarding their existence and their availability. Videos frequently accompany exhibitions on contemporary artists. What happens to this documentation when the exhibit closes? What resources besides the Getty’s Art on Film Database keep track of these independently produced videos? How can art libraries work together in a co-ordinated effort to acquire, catalog, and preserve documentary video work on artists?
Both sides of the fence, librarian and curator: forming a Latin American library collection
Authors: Kirking Clayton C.
Published: July 2016

The Department of Latin American Art at the Phoenix Art Museum was established on 1st January 1992, and the Librarian of the Museum accepted the additional role of Curator of the Department. Although the Museum has always collected Mexican art, the new Department is concerned with all of Latin America and especially with the 20th century. Similarly, the Library, which has long-established interests in Mexican art, is now expanding its coverage to reflect the scope of the new Department. Grant support has been forthcoming, and Library purchasing has been enhanced by the generosity of a private donor and by a strategy of using a proportion of each exhibition budget for Library acquisitions. Specialist suppliers have been identified, but it has also been necessary to travel. Better networking is needed between professionals in Latin America and the USA; exchange programs have the potential to be mutually beneficial. (The text of a paper presented to the IFLA Section of Art Libraries at the IFLA General Conference at Havana, August 1994).