bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
History of Western sources on Japanese art
Authors: Allen Nancy S.
Published: July 2016

Learning about Japanese art has been difficult for Westerners. Limited access, language barriers, and cultural misunderstanding have been almost insurmountable obstacles. Knowledge of Japanese art in the West began over 150 years before the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853. Englebert Kaempfer (1657-1716), sent to Japan as a physician for the Dutch East India Company, befriended a young assistant who provided information for a book on Japanese life and history published in 1727. By 1850, more ethnographic information had been published in Europe. Catalogs of sales of Japanese art in Europe exist prior to 1850 and collection catalogs from major museums follow in the second half of that century. After the Meiji Restoration (1867) cultural exchange was possible and organizations for that purpose were formed. Diaries of 19th century travellers and important international fairs further expanded cross-cultural information. Okakura Kakuzo, a native of Japan, published in English about Japanese art and ultimately became Curator of the important collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The advent of photography made visual images easily accessible to Westerners. Great collectors built up the holdings of major American museums. In the 20th century, materials written and published in Japan in English language have furthered understanding of Japanese culture. During the past twenty years, travelling exhibitions and scholarly catalogs have circulated in the West. Presently monographs, dissertations and translated scholarly texts are available. Unfortunately, there is little understanding in the West of the organization of Japanese art libraries and archives which contain primary source material of interest to art historians.
History of posters in Japan and the present state of their documentation
Authors: Okubo Itsuo
Published: July 2016

In recent times Japanese posters have increasingly been appreciated all over the world. Their history is traced from the Edo period (the 18th and 19th centuries) in relation to Japan’s economic and commercial development. Only a few museums and libraries in Japan have established poster collections; these collect posters either as ‘art objects’ or as examples of graphic design. Methods of acquiring, arranging, and accommodating posters are described.
The People’s Art
Authors: Cooper Emmanuel
Published: July 2016

‘The People’s Art’ is a project, originally titled ‘Visual Arts and the Working Class’ and funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which aims to locate and document visual art produced by working class people in Britain since 1750 and especially from 1870 to the present. A lot of material, including work from the home and the workplace, ranging from paintings and photography to decorative and domestic arts of all kinds, has been located in museums (often in storerooms) and in private collections. An exhibition and an illustrated publication are planned. ‘The People’s Art’ demonstrates that the making of art can have a role in people’s lives which is too often overlooked, neglected, or denied, and which is not adequately represented in publications, exhibitions, museums, or libraries.
The visual document
Authors: Roberts Helene E.
Published: July 2016

In addition to merely substituting for ‘original’ images and artefacts, reproductions and photographs constitute evidence of the history of, and of attitudes towards, works of art, and of the technical means of documenting their appearance. However, the visual document may have intrinsic value and aesthetic worth, giving it a life, a power of influence, and a depth of association, entirely its own.
Characteristics of art bibliographies from Britain and the U.S.A.: a Soviet perspective
Authors: Luk’yanova O. N.
Published: July 2016

Art bibliographies published in the USA and the UK are notable for their quantity and diversity, for the breadth of their overall scope, and for their aim to document art of the whole world. However, their selection of material tends to favour both publications from their own countries, and art which, along with associated publications, benefits from commercial promotion; their approach to art and art scholarship in socialist countries is biased and inadequate. (Originally published in Russian, in Bibliotekovedenie i Bibliografia za Rubezhom no. 109, 1986, p.41-48).
Towards an Italian art libraries’ association
Authors: Leckey Eve
Published: July 2016

The momentum which it is hoped will lead to the launch of an Italian art libraries’ association began with the IFLA conferences at Tokyo and Brighton. Subsequently, librarians in Florence joined together to organise the 3rd European Conference of the IFLA Section of Art Libraries which was held in Florence in November 1988. Meetings of Italian art librarians, called to discuss the formation of a national association, were held at Florence and, one month later, in Rome; as a result, a working group has been set up to consider a constitution. In spite of the lack of a strong tradition of cooperation, the progress which has already been made seems certain to continue.
Bibliothecaire et patrimoine religieux
Authors: Albaric Frère Michel
Published: July 2016

Religion and culture are inseparable; religion constitutes the living context to which many works of art belong and without knowledge of which they cannot be understood. Although the librarian who is responsible for religious material need not be a believer, some religious knowledge, preferably combined with a degree of sympathy, is essential.
John Cotton Dana: a contemporary appraisal of his contributions and lasting influence on the library and museum worlds 60 years after his death
Authors: Dane William J.
Published: July 2016

John Cotton Dana, who died in 1929, had been Librarian of the Newark Public Library since 1902. Among many other achievements, he was responsible for the development of remarkable art collections in the Library, including a collection of prints, and of a Picture Collection of visual images; the programme of art exhibitions he organised in the Library led to the founding of the Newark Museum. The collections Dana initiated continued to grow after his death, guided by his inspiration: they are of regional and even national importance and, via library networking, serve the whole state of New Jersey; the scope of the print collection has been extended to include several categories of printed ephemera, including shopping bags.
Le vidéodisque ’image de la Revolution Française’
Authors: Beaumont-Maillet Laure
Published: July 2016

The videodisc ‘Images de la Révolution Française’, which draws on the extensive collections of the Département des Estampes et de la Photographie of the Bibliothèque Nationale, was conceived in 1982 as a means of preparing for the Bicentenary of 1989. Collaboration was established with a parallel project initiated by Pergamon Press, the aim of which was to publish a research collection of written source material on microfiche, and the joint venture was subsequently supported by the French government. The videodisc, comprising 38,000 images relating to the events, the ideals, and the cultural background of the Revolution, was produced, using specially created colour transparencies for the most part, to meet both PAL and NTSC standards; although designed so that it can be used by itself, both interactive software, and a scholarly printed catalogue, are also available.
Bibliotecas de arte en Madrid: una aproximacion
Authors: Martín Josefa Rapado , Capilla Javier Docampo
Published: July 2016

In 1989 the Art Libraries Journal published two reports on art libraries in Madrid, by Gabriele Musidlak-Schlott and Elena Santiago. The time is ripe to present a broader profile of this same topic, and this can be done by analysing and updating the information recently published in the Guía de las bibliotecas de arte de Madrid, a directory of art libraries in the city. The directory includes the libraries of those historic institutions dedicated to art teaching (academies and universities) and to the collection and preservation of works of art (museums); it also includes national, academic, public, and other kinds of general art libraries. Current problems faced by art libraries in Madrid are very much the same problems of all Spanish libraries: overcoming the difficulties experienced by users in seeking satisfaction of their information needs, achieving wider and more effective co-ordination, and catching-up with library automation.
The BHA: a review article
Authors: Weidman Jeffrey
Published: July 2016

On the basis of its first issue, and in spite of some initial shortcomings due to attempts to bridge the gap between this issue and the final issues of the two publications it subsumes (RILA and the RAA), the BHA is to be warmly welcomed. It is handsomely produced, well organised, and economically priced, and it has successfully solved the problem of its use of both English and French. It provides greater and wider coverage than both of its predecessors put together, with more emphasis on the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, and a scope which embraces “art anywhere in the world that reflects contact with the Western tradition”. It can be expected that many more titles will be indexed than those represented in the first issue. Although selective, the quality and extent of the BHA’s coverage of contemporary art (some 20% of its content) will challenge ABM; although both the BHA and ABM will be essential in libraries with a strong interest in contemporary art, in other art libraries BHA by itself may well suffice.
[no title]
Authors: Piazza Francesca Di
Published: July 2016

Working in an art library is a natural extension of my interests since I am an artist creating primarily in book form. I’m attracted to the intimacy of books as art: holding, opening, handling a book is very appealing. My box-books use a lot of found paper, including scraps of discarded books. War and Peace Fragments was made in reaction to the Gulf War and reading Tolstoy. My books are often a mix of personal and political concerns.
[no title]
Authors: Liros Alex
Published: July 2016

I work three days a week for the North York Public Library Board: one day at the Central Library’s Literature and Fine Arts Department, and two at the York Woods Library, a regional branch with high immigrant use. As a part-time librarian and as an artist focussing on the more traditional aspects of art, drawing and painting, I usually leave library thoughts at the library door. If anything, it’s the patrons themselves who have inspired my art. However, the Fine Arts collection at the Central Library provides me with resource materials to observe and connect what artists in the past have done to what I seek to do now.
[no title]
Authors: Snow Maryly
Published: July 2016

How did I come to be both an artist and a librarian? From the start, I never wanted to support myself with my art. Way back then my art was private. In order for the work to be true, it was best protected from the whims of the market. And since I had to work, I might as well contribute to the common weal, and do nothing that could harm the social fabric. After several years of experimenting with social work, sales, bookkeeping, cocktail waitressing, organizing Camp Fire Girls, census-taking, and other sundry occupations, it was finally librarianship that demanded the most of my top-notch liberal arts education and my desire to do good in a world so complex that it was often impossible to know what was good from what was not.
A survey of current design publishing
Authors: Bettley James
Published: July 2016

In comparison with architectural books, books on design have a relatively recent history, although not as recent as might be thought since many of today’s design books had antecedents in the 1930s. The publishing of design books in the 1930s followed the emergence of design as a profession; the rapid expansion of design publishing in the last two decades has been stimulated by the design boom of the 1980s, by the rise of design history as an academic discipline, and by new varieties of and issues in design such as computer graphics, design education, and “green” design. Publications from this period include some major new bibliographies and reference works, but also a good deal of transient material which will nonetheless possess some documentary or curiosity value in time to come. Writings about design by designers themselves are still in short supply.
Through native eyes: American Indians write about their art
Authors: Davis Mary B.
Published: July 2016

During the 20th century, and particularly since its adoption of easel painting, the continuing development of American Indian art has resisted attempts to contain and circumscribe it within definitions and categories imposed by outsiders — art critics, art historians, and the authors of many of the most readily available books on the subject. Native Americans are determined not only to remain in control of their art but also to have a say in how it is interpreted. A bibliography of sources follows an introductory survey of Native American statements about Native American art.
Old and new problems of Russian art libraries
Authors: Sinitsyna Olga
Published: July 2016

As a result of the momentous changes taking place in Russia, people and institutions have acquired a new freedom which they have not been prepared for. Art libraries can offer opportunities for people to use their freedom well, but their collections are inadequate and they are desperately short of money. At the same time, prices of books have risen sharply, and the introduction of charges for inter-library lending is inhibiting smaller libraries from borrowing material for their users. Library collections are being depleted by theft, sometimes perpetrated by hard-up librarians. Cooperation between art libraries could help, but libraries accustomed to a rigid centralized system scarcely know how to begin to cooperate voluntarily; nonetheless, some first steps have been taken by a number of Moscow’s art libraries. Russian art libraries are of several kinds, notably museum libraries, serving their own institutions in the first instance, and art departments of large public libraries, but there is no national art library to serve as the focal point of a network; in the absence of cooperation and networking, collection development and stock-editing are guided only by the immediate needs of particular libraries. Russian libraries, not least the Library of Foreign Literature, desperately need not only to develop networking at home, but also to establish links with libraries abroad.
10 Years of ARLIS in the Netherlands
Authors: Koot Geert-Jan
Published: July 2016

Reviving the spirit of an earlier phase of cooperation, art librarians in the Netherlands joined together informally at the end of 1982 under the title ‘Overleg Kunsthistorische Bibliotheken’ (OKB); although this title remains in force, for international purposes the acronym ARLIS/NL was adopted in 1992. Meetings are held at least four times each year. The group helped to organise the 2nd European Conference of the IFLA Section of Art Libraries, at Amsterdam, in 1986, and prepared the contents of a special issue of Art Libraries Journal devoted to art libraries in the Netherlands, which appeared the following year. ARLIS/NL has also concerned itself with shared cataloguing, favouring TINLIB, and with coordinated collection policies, in association with Dutch university libraries and the Royal Library, while as a result of an ARLIS/NL initiative all member libraries are to submit periodicals holdings data to the Central Catalogue of Periodicals.
From the exhibition catalogue to the art book: the voyage of BiArte from Florence to Oxford
Authors: Todros Rossella
Published: July 2016

The Italian art libraries association, BiArte, first came together at the 3rd European Conference of the IFLA Section of Art Libraries at Florence in 1988, and was officially launched at Prato the following year. Through participation in book fairs and other activities, BiArte is actively seeking to develop relationships between art libraries, publishers, and the providers of bibliographies and databases.
Twentysix gasoline stations that shook the world: the rise and fall of cheap booklets as art
Authors: Phillpot Clive
Published: July 2016

The term ‘artists’ books’ has been used since about 1970 to denote inexpensive booklets produced by artists in ‘unlimited’ editions, but can legitimately embrace a variety of artefacts; the word ‘bookwork’, coined in 1975, carries the more specific meaning of a work of art in book form. Ed Ruscha’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations, published in 1963, was a pioneering bookwork; it was followed by more bookworks from the same artist through the next ten years; however, Ruscha’s innovatory productions had been preceded by a number of experiments with the book format, by Bruno Munari, Åke Hodell, and others, during the 1950s and early 1960s. Bookworks flourished in the 1970s as a means of making actual works of art available to a wide audience, but in the 1980s this ideal was gradually overtaken by a growing tendency towards making bookworks as precious, costly collectables, in limited editions, while some of the earlier, once cheap bookworks began to sell for inflated prices on the secondhand market. Nonetheless, many artists are continuing to produce relatively inexpensive bookworks, sometimes using photocopiers, or to publish artists’ magazines. The work of Telfer Stokes demonstrates that the multiple book format remains an exciting and accessible medium in the hands of a committed artist.
The Creswell Library of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo Part Two: The Evolution of a Teaching Library 1973-1992
Authors: Tovell Joyce Pressey
Published: July 2016

From 1973 until early 1992, the Creswell Library of Islamic Art and Architecture, first established at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1957, evolved from a restricted research library dominated by its original owner, K. A. C. Creswell, into a teaching and research branch library integrated within the university’s library system. International politics and university-wide library needs delayed improvements, but the Creswell collection was fully catalogued and interfiled when the new Main Library opened in 1982. As use of the Creswell Library accelerated, stacks nominally closed were opened to faculty and trusted students until standard procedures resumed after a 1989 budget and staff increase, anticipating the library’s 1992 incorporation in AUC’s new Rare Book and Special Collections Library.

A marked increase in MA degrees awarded in the discipline and in use by visiting researchers during the library’s final years testifies to its effectiveness in supporting the study of Islamic art. Assessments of the library’s overall contribution, however, must balance the value of a core collection of beautiful books, little used, against an incalculable loss: the records of Cairo buildings no longer extant that would have resulted from the larger student group a more accessible library would have encouraged.
The Indonesian Archaeology Photograph and Documentation System (IAPDS)
Authors: Hinzler H. I. R.
Published: July 2016

On December 1st 1989 the Indonesian Archaeology Photograph and Documentation System (IAPDS) was launched in Leiden. The project, which is scheduled to last three years, has both a photographic and a documentary aspect. The photographic aspect concerns firstly the conservation of the collection of black and white photographs of the Archaeological Service of the Netherlands-Indies, made between 1901 and 1941, and of the Indonesian Archaeological Survey, dating from 1945 to 1955. This collection consists of more than 25,000 photographs, of which 21,855 are kept in various institutions in Leiden. Secondly, the project envisages making a set of negatives of the complete collection, and of new, large prints which will be used by students and researchers. These will be kept at Leiden University Library. The documentation aspect of the project will involve the creating of a database in which data on the photographs, including information regarding the subjects depicted as well as bibliographic references, will be held. In a later phase it is intended to add other archaeological photographic collections, from elsewhere in the Netherlands and from Southeast Asia.
Le projet de Bibliotheque nationale des arts a Paris
Authors: Melot Michel
Published: July 2016

When the Bibliothèque Nationale moves into the new Bibliothèque de France, leaving behind only six specialised departments, the opportunity will arise to use the buildings of the Rue de Richelieu site to bring together a group of art history libraries and research centres. Priority will be given to the remaining Departments of the Bibliothèque Nationale, which need more space than they presently occupy; they will be joined by the inter-university library of art and archaeology from the Rue Michelet, the central library of the national museums, from the Louvre, and the older collections of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. The architectural holdings of the latter might be identified as the foundation for a major architectural collection to satisfy the demand for such a library in Paris. The collections thus brought together will not be merged, but will be exploited by means of shared services, including a union catalogue, and will be developed by means of a common acquisitions policy This concentration of resources on one site will not in itself constitute a ‘national art library’, but will provide a central node for a wider network. (An English version follows the original French text).
Education for art librarianship in Australia
Authors: Boaden Sue
Published: July 2016

The growth of art history and art practice courses in Australia has been remarkable over the last 20 years. Unfortunately training for art librarianship has not matched this growth. There are eleven universities in Australia offering graduate degrees and post-graduate diplomas in librarianship but none offer specific courses leading towards a specialisation in art librarianship. ARLIS/ANZ provides opportunities for training and education. Advances in scholarly art research and publishing in Australia, the development of Australian-related electronic art databases, the growth of specialist collections in State and public libraries, and the increased demand by the general community for art-related information, confirm the need for well-developed skills in the management and dissemination of art information.
Committee for the National Co-ordination of Art Library Resources
Authors: Varley Gillian
Published: July 2016

ARLIS’s awareness of its national role and the necessity for a nationwide response to the needs of art library resources found expression in the work and research activities of the Committee for the National Co-ordination of Art Library Resources. The Committee first established itself as an influential voice in the debate on the National Art Library in the late 1970s and early 80s and later in discussions with the British Library which led in due course to the setting up of the BL Standing Committee on Art Documentation. An initiator of some of ARLIS’s major publications (the Union List of Art Periodicals; Art & Design Documentation: a Directory of Resources), the Committee has also seen notable success in the work of the Exhibition Catalogue project and more recently in the Visual Arts Library & Information Plan (VALIP).
The Moscow Association of Art Libraries (ARLIS/MOS)
Authors: Sinitsyna Olga
Published: July 2016

Emerging from an epoch of severe constraint, Russian libraries needed to experience freedom and independence before entering voluntarily into cooperative arrangements. Art libraries in Moscow, and also in St Petersburg, are now working together; in Moscow, informal cooperation preceded the foundation, by five institutions, of ARLIS/MOS in 1993, and the association has embarked on a programme of activities. (The text of a paper presented to the ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference in London, April 1994).
Art libraries in Romania
Authors: Danga Mihaela
Published: July 2016

Specialised art libraries emerged in Romania during the 19th century. Today, all of Romania’s art libraries are facing similar problems, the result of years of isolation from the international community and from one another, compounded by an absence (until recently) of education for librarianship, and by a continuing lack of money and adequate accomodation. In addition, different kinds of art library are confronted by problems specific to their functions. However, the renewal of contact with the wider world is bringing many benefits; work has started on a common automated system, initially involving a handful of art libraries; and three art libraries are trying to establish a Romanian art libraries society. (The text of a paper presented to the Annual Conference of ARLIS/NA at San Francisco, January 28th — February 3rd 1993. Please note that this report dates from over two years ago. We eagerly await further news.)
Artists and art libraries
Authors: Stam Deirdre C.
Published: July 2016

Asked about how artists use libraries, art librarians confirm that artists gather ideas from a wide spectrum of subjects and sources, beyond the scope of the art library; they also need images and other, specific, information which art libraries often can supply. Their approach is typically exploratory and intuitive; they are compulsive browsers, but are likely to be impatient of catalogs and only occasional users of standard references tools. They expect a lot of help from specialist librarians. Art libraries serving artists generally provide access to a wide range of images, and invariably house their collections on open stacks. Photocopying, including color copying, is an essential service, and other visual and ‘studio’ facilities may also be provided. As more and more visual and other relevant information is made available through electronic networks, art libraries can provide artists with assisted, convenient access to it.
Latinoarte: information on Latin American art
Authors: Barberena Elsa
Published: July 2016

Latin American culture is very rich, yet there is insufficient documentation on Latin American art, and much of the documentation which does exist is not adequately covered by the major art indexes. A number of magazines have set out, especially since the 1940s, to disseminate information about Latin American art, but most have been short-lived. The LATINOARTE project, based in the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), aims to develop and to network a database including citations to documentation available in 62 libraries and information centres inside and outside Latin America. Already, some 1,500 records are available on contemporary Latin American art. (The edited text of a paper presented to the IFLA Section of Art Libraries at the IFLA General Conference at Havana, August 1994.)
Early ‘art libraries’ in Turkey
Authors: Atasoy Nurhan
Published: July 2016

Early Turkish libraries, attached to such institutions as mosques and medreses, comprised collections of manuscripts including many of great artistic value. Medreses and their libraries were endowed by the Ottoman rulers, who as patrons of the arts were also responsible for causing many manuscripts to be produced. Scholars owned private libraries, and libraries for the public existed in every district of Istanbul. Many of the collections of these libraries survive, in some cases in museums and in libraries of later origin, in Istanbul University Library, and in the National Library at Ankara.
The formation of an Islamic art library collection in an American museum
Authors: Lawrence Deirdre E.
Published: July 2016

The Brooklyn Museum’s collection of Islamic art, gathered from early in the 20th century, represents the full range of Islamic artistic production, with objects dating from the earliest periods of Islam through the 20th century, from Spain and India, and executed in a variety of media. An extensive library collection of over 5,000 titles has been developed since the establishment of the Museum Libraries in 1923. The collection was enhanced by the acquisition of the personal library of Charles Edwin Wilbour, and by the bequeathing of the library of Charles K. Wilkinson, and it continues to benefit from the generosity of foundation and individual support. The Library is open to the public by appointment, and bibliographic records of its collection are entered on RLIN.
The Research Libraries Group: new initiatives to improve access to art and architecture information
Authors: Martinez Katharine
Published: July 2016

This survey of the achievements of the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and its Art and Architecture Group shows the effectiveness of a collaborative approach in developing best practices and standards, and implementing new methodologies and technologies, to benefit the international art library and research communities. RLG members in Europe, North America and Australia include many of the major art research libraries. RLG offers services such as the RLIN bibliographic database and the MARCADIA retrospective conversion service in conjunction with projects documenting sales catalogue records (SCIPIO), preserving serials (the Art Serials Preservation Project) and facilitating the interloan of material between members. More recently the partnership between the RLG and the Getty Information Institute has made available an enormous range of art documentation work carried out by the Getty: standards and authority control work such as the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, the Union List of Artists’ Names and the Thesaurus of Geographic Names. In the 1980s the RLG conducted a survey identifying information needs in the humanities, which has led to resources such as the Bibliography of the History of Art becoming widely accessible, with the Provenance Index to follow shortly. This partnership is now active in the museum field, attempting to bridge the gap between the domains of secondary and primary materials in the field of art research. The REACH project (Record Export for Art and Cultural Heritage) is experimenting with the export of existing machine-readable data from heterogeneous museum collection systems, and testing the feasibility of designing a common interface for access which will complement RLG’s other resources.
Now on-line: Dutch nineteenth-century exhibition catalogue contents
Authors: Cuypers Constant
Published: July 2016

Recently it has become possible to get access, on the Internet, to a number of important items in CADENS, a work-in-progress project which is analysing the contents of all Dutch nineteenth-century exhibition catalogues of contemporary visual arts. As well as detailed information about the exhibition catalogues, a chronological compilation is available for each artist’s exhibits. In future it will also be possible, using keywords, to search the titles of the exhibits online.
Digital image libraries and the teaching of art and architectural history
Authors: Giral Angela
Published: July 2016

Can museums and libraries profit from sharing their information, visual or textual? Is direct access to digital archives a more logical or economic way to develop access to images for teaching and research than assembling local collections? Recent digital image library projects in the United States, and their impact on the teaching practices of art and architectural historians, show the advantages of focusing on issues such as licensing and intellectual property, metadata and evolving cataloging practice, image quality, and the different costs of creation and delivery. But there are other potential benefits such as document delivery and the dissemination of archival information, as well as the preservation of fragile illustrated texts through digital imaging.
Une experience de numerisation de dossiers d’artistes a la documentation du MNAM-CCI
Authors: Piton Jean-Pierre
Published: July 2016

A l’occasion d’une recherche documentaire en vue d’une exposition, la Documentation du MNAM-CCI a mené une expérience de numérisation sur l’un de ses 30 000 dossiers d’artistes, celui du groupe Supports-Surfaces. Le principe de navigation retenu permet, sans aucune difficulté, d’accéder à l’ensemble des ressources du dossier réparties en quatre sections. La recherche de l’utilisateur se trouve facilitée par une base de données donnant les références des documents numérisés, affichables à tout moment.
Artists’ Files: a digitisation experiment at the MNAM-CCI
Authors: Piton Jean-Pierre
Published: July 2016

Research in preparation for an exhibition provided the opportunity for the Documentation Centre of the Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne-Centre de Création Industrielle to carry out an experiment to digitise one of its 30,000 artists’ files, on the group Supports-Surfaces. The navigation principle adopted allows easy access to the file’s contents, which have been divided into four documentation types. A database giving references to the digitised documents facilitates user research.
Off the wall: libraries in Northern Ireland and the visual documentation of politics
Authors: Fitzpatrick Olivia
Published: July 2016

Librarians in Northern Ireland are very aware of the need to preserve the visual and written record of the recent troubles as they unfold. Much of this record is ephemeral and difficult to document and preserve. Librarians in Northern Ireland are working to ensure that the account of the visual arts in a time of political and social upheaval is available in the future to the community which created them and to researchers who wish to study them.
Arthouse: multimedia centre for the arts
Authors: Uhlar Antoinette
Published: July 2016

Arthouse, the multimedia centre for the arts, is one of the most eye-catching buildings in Dublin’s Temple Bar area. A cultural centre using the latest in communications technology and software, it is the home of the Bureau of Arts Information which among other things has developed Artifact, a visual database of contemporary artists throughout Ireland. This will be available on-line this year. The centre also holds regular exhibitions and multimedia events, and is contributing to making the work of Irish artists better known at home and abroad.
The impact of electronic developments on museum librarians
Authors: Koot Geert-Jan
Published: July 2016

According to a survey by Esther Bierbaum, museum libraries have poor status within their parent institutions, where they are often isolated entities. Yet current electronic developments as part of the information service model are resulting in a repositioning of such libraries within the organisational structure, as well as making them the best locations for museum information centres. Museum librarians are natural guardians of knowledge, and need to focus on supporting the development of information about the museum collections and taking on a leading role as information strategists.
Art libraries in Latvia
Authors: Everte Aivija
Published: July 2016

Latvian libraries have just begun to take their first steps towards automation and the introduction of new technologies. Implementation of a database of Latvian art catalogues will begin next year. The Association of Latvian Arts Libraries that would serve as a co-ordinating body, as well as a means of sharing experience and discussing future goals, has until now remained only an idea. But the enthusiasm of colleagues, as well the positive impact that art library societies in other countries have brought to art library operations, brings hope that it is not only a dream for the future.
The Fine Arts Information Centre of the National Library of Estonia
Authors: Sibul Mari
Published: July 2016

Key to the provision of art information in Estonia is the National Library’s Fine Arts Information Centre, offering services to some 60,000 visitors each year as well as producing the national bibliographic databases of maps, posters, postcards, sound recordings and sheet music. But co-operation with other major art libraries in Estonia is also flourishing, beginning with the selection of new material for the art and architectural history collections in consultation with scholars in other arts organizations, and culminating in 1999 in the foundation of the Estonian Art Libraries Society. This year, Estonian Book Year, marking the 475th anniversary of the very first known Estonian book, seems an excellent opportunity to describe what is happening in art librarianship in this country.
Artists’ names – dates – standards and the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon project
Authors: Kasten Eberhard
Published: July 2016

Successor to Thieme-Becker and Vollmer, those great standard reference works for art history, the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon is an even more ambitious undertaking which will eventually include entries for between 450,000 and 500,000 artists. The data will be published in a number of ways: in book format (including a couple of spin-off versions in hard copy), CD-ROM and, increasingly, online. This article describes the developments one AKL editor has witnessed in the production process for the projected 80 volumes of the complete work, and outlines its role as an authority for artists’ names.
Are the latest exhibition ephemera available? Problems and solutions for a neglected material in museum libraries1
Authors: Docampo Javier , Prado Rosario López de
Published: July 2016

Every museum generates a considerable amount of printed and graphic ephemeral material, which provides first-hand information on its permanent exhibitions and temporary activities. These can be exhibition brochures, didactic material, activity announcements, cards, etc. and they are frequently the only source of direct information on the active life of the organisation which precisely reflects its public image. However, few museums are devoting effort to preserving this material, whose retention is not always guaranteed. This paper aims to establish a classification of the different types of ephemeral publications common in museums (informative, educational, commercial, of internal use, etc). It sets forth an elementary system for dealing with them which, by using the MARC format (in those libraries using a standardised system) or a database in ACCESS (for those lacking one), should result in the establishment of a secure system for storage, retrieval and diffusion of this data.
Prospects for a single international
copyright law
Authors: Harris Lesley Ellen
Published: July 2016

The Internet is making the world a much
smaller place and when it comes to digital goods –
products that can be reduced to a series of zeros
and ones and squirt down a wire – there are no
international borders. One question often asked in
relation to the Internet and copyright law is
whether there should be a single international
copyright law. Is this likely in the near
future?
Art through the ages online: an evaluative webliography of art and art history timelines
Authors: Abbey Heidi N.
Published: July 2016

Art and art history resources on the Web abound. Yet the process of identifying scholarly art information online is typically inefficient, leading many researchers to abandon Internet sources for traditional printed reference works. Locating websites that focus specifically on art and art history timelines can be an even greater challenge: these resources simply have not been available on the Web in any large number or degree of comprehensiveness. In recent years, however, new Web-based art timelines have been published, most notably by art educators, museums and other non-profit organizations. This evaluative webliography of selected art and art history timelines not only highlights the variety of resources that are currently available, but also illustrates that the majority of these Web resources focus upon the art of the Western world.
Find it in London: a unique co-operative venture across libraries, archives and museums
Authors: Sykes Jean
Published: July 2016

Find it in London is the first pilot project of its kind in London. Using ten partner institutions across the archive, library and museum domains, it tests the concept of searching in one single step across these sectors for relevant collections. The pilot database, though currently small, allows an information seeker to choose a subject and find out which archives, libraries and museums in the pilot have collections which may be of interest. The next step will be to seek further substantial funding to scale the project up across the full span of London’s information treasure troves and create a world-beating web-based lookup subject tool.
Not my father’s auction catalog database! SCIPIO, 1980 to 2003
Authors: Downey Kay
Published: July 2016

Thirty years ago new computer technology made it possible for libraries to develop co-operative solutions for technical services. It was at that time that a small group of art librarians worked together to create SCIPIO – the Sales Catalog Index Project Input Online – in an innovative effort to streamline bibliographic control over their auction sales catalog collections. Driven by advancing technological changes and the move toward standardization, the database has since evolved to become the most comprehensive source for bibliographic control and access for auction sales catalogs.
Historical art sales catalogues and the IDC Lugt project
Authors: Hugenholtz Liesbeth
Published: July 2016

Much of the research which has been carried out in the field of art history would have been impossible without the use of art sales catalogues. Furthermore, the use of historical art sales catalogues would never have been possible without the impressive four-volume reference work, Répertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques intéressant Vart ou la curiosité, created by Frits Lugt. IDC Publishers have combined the strengths of both in their new publication.
Fluxion-structures: records for remote access electronic resources
Authors: Caudwell James
Published: July 2016

At the 2003 ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference,Creative partnerships, at the University of Sussex, a workshop entitledDocumenting electronic resources: standards and challengesattracted delegates interested in exploring the practical and theoretical issues raised by cataloguing electronic resources in traditional library environments. This article further details recent changes made to theAnglo-American cataloguing rulesto accommodate various types of e-resources. While quasi-established methods of representing such resources have undergone substantial revision, new metadata schemes are emerging and divisions between respective repositories containing different material types are disintegrating. Adapted or entirely new workflows for managing cataloguing of e-resources are under development (TrackER) and a fundamental restructuring of the very framework for relating data in bibliographic records to the needs of users (FRBR) may impact significantly on the representation of e-resources in library OPACs. Do these developments in any sense touch the library user whose ‘infosphere’ is underpinned by the seamlessness of Google’s PageRank algorithm and will the Research Libraries Group’s pilot service RedLightGreen sufficiently ‘Google-ize’ what libraries provide for these users?
Promoting access and availability at the Britten-Pears Library
Authors: Grogan Christopher
Published: July 2016

In line with the national agenda for archives, the Britten-Pears Library is pursuing a strategy of making its collections better known and more accessible to a wider public. For a library with strong traditions, located in an isolated corner of coastal England, there are many challenges involved in embarking on this path and careful balances to be struck between the demands of security and access, innovation and tradition. This article outlines the progress made so far, and discusses some of the issues that have arisen along the way.
A major art library in preparation: the Library of the Institut national d’histoire de d’art
Authors: Poulain Martine
Published: July 2016

The Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA) is still little known among library professionals, and still insufficiently known by researchers and its other potential users. Created by decree in July 2001, it has been extremely slow in gestation and researchers in the field of art have waited for it for a very long time. The Institution’s Library, comprising the largely complementary holdings of three of the main art libraries in Paris, is expected to open within a few years, and readers will be housed mainly in the beautiful Salle Labrouste, formerly occupied by users of the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale.
The alternative motorcycle diaries: an art librarian in Argentina
Authors: Minns Alison
Published: July 2016

In August 2004 an English librarian sets out on a trip to discover the real Argentina. As she sees the country, meets the people, visits libraries, galleries and museums, and attends a library conference, the diversity she encounters begins to reflect her own shifting perspectives. Her experiences awaken within her a growing sense of the richness of Latin American culture.
The Skowhegan Lecture Archive: an art historical survival story
Authors: Consolini Marella
Published: July 2016

The longer you ignore those boxes – of letters, diaries, papers, photographs, tapes – that are under your desk, in your closet, stashed in your storage room, the greater the danger of losing valuable history forever. This is the true tale of how one small non-profit arts organization saved an oral history of American art that was on the verge of, quite literally, fading into oblivion.
Fabulous at 50: the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art celebrates a Golden Anniversary
Authors: Kirwin Liza
Published: July 2016

Founded in 1954, the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art collects, preserves and makes available primary sources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items strong, its collections comprise the world’s largest single source for letters, diaries, financial records, unpublished writings, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and photographs created by artists, critics, collectors, art dealers and art societies – the raw material for scholarship in American art.
Historical trade literature at the H.F. du Pont Winterthur Museum
Authors: McKinstry E. Richard
Published: July 2016

Trade literature at Winterthur is broadly defined and is collected in many formats, including published trade catalogs, printed ephemera, drawings, manuscript account books, magazines and salesperson’s samples. Each kind of source contributes to a better understanding of America’s rich heritage in early handicraft, more modern production of goods, and domestic life. Examples of Winterthur’s holdings suggest a rich and much larger collection that is available for research.
Combined libraries: Aralis Library and Information Centre
Authors: Rämö Eila
Published: July 2016

Mergers and re-organisations within the world of art institutions have a substantial impact on art libraries, their collections and their services. Development of such combined libraries has been from small units with in-depth knowledge within a limited subject field towards a broader, more general approach to knowledge, comprising a wider variety of subjects and tasks. What impact has this had on art libraries, their parent institutions and their users and staff?
Upholding Bodley’s vision: the Google mass digitisation project at Oxford
Authors: Milne Ronald
Published: July 2016

For most of the 400 years of the Bodleian Library’s existence, users have had to travel to Oxford to use its collections. In recent years, Oxford has undertaken a number of focused, ‘boutique’ digitisation projects. Now, as a partner in the Google Library Project, an immense range of scholarly and other 19th-century out-of-copyright library materials from the Bodleian’s collections will be digitised en masse and will be made freely available over the internet to anyone who has web access. Millions of books and journals will be scanned in the course of the Project and the author contends that digitisation on such a scale represents a revolution in the dissemination of information that parallels the impact of the invention of printing from moveable type in the 15 th century.