bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From collecting to sharing information: the Theatre Library in a changing world
Authors: Krotkova Lyubov
Published: July 2016

The Theatre Library in Moscow, attached to the theatre school of the Maly Theatre, was founded in 1922. It contains books on theatre and the performing arts, magazines, newspaper clippings, theatre programmes, and graphic items. The scope of the collections embraces both Russian pre-Revolutionary and Soviet post-Revolutionary theatre and drama. Illustrative materials (not confined to theatrical subjects) include some 40,000 engravings, and many postcards. The Library compiles albums of visual source material for specific productions. Video recordings have been collected since 1988. Library services include the maintenance of several card indexes, the publication of specialised indexes, the provision of a small reading room, an enquiry service, assistance to users and the organisation of exhibitions.
Acquisition and use: British architectural books before 1800
Authors: Harris Eileen
Published: July 2016

Architectural books in use in England – and specifically in the Royal Academy Library – in the second half of the 18th century included translations of the major Italian treatises; Sir William Chambers’ Treatise on civil architecture (the first work of its kind by an English author); volumes recording actual buildings by English architects; archaeological works documenting the remains of ancient buildings; and works by Fréart and Perrault on the classical orders. The latter were complemented by Henry Emlyn’s eccentric Proposition for a new order of architecture published in 1781. The contents of Sir John Soane’s private library included a number of works not available at the Royal Academy, which he criticised for providing only a “very limited collection of Works on Architecture”. Soane’s library can be seen to have anticipated the professional architectural library, including more practical books (intended in many cases for the use of builders and carpenters), which was founded at the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1834 — today’s British Architectural Library.
The nineteenth-century art book: Content, Style and Context
Authors: Fawcett Trevor
Published: July 2016

Although ‘art books’ of various kinds existed before 1800, art publishing grew significantly and with increasing speed through the 19th century. Two key factors, each encouraging the other, were the growth of interest in art among a heterogeneous public, and developments in printing technology, especially in methods of reproducing illustrations. Increasing numbers of illustrated art books contributed to the dissemination of awareness of an ever-broader spectrum of works of art, and of the decorative arts, throughout society, and nourished the historicism and eclecticism practised by contemporary artists and designers. The Romantic Movement’s cult of the individual artist prepared the way for the emergence of the artist’s monograph as a significant category of art book, made possible by the capacity to reproduce an artist’s works. The growth of art historical scholarship, informed by a new rigour, brought about the publishing of scholarly works incorporating documentary research, and of previously unpublished or newly-edited source material; art reference works, of several kinds, also multiplied. By 1900 art publishing had set all the precedents it would need until well into the second half of the 20th century.
Art book publishing: minority interest, popular entertainment, or kudos?
Authors: Stangos Nikos
Published: July 2016

Due to a number of factors, including lower educational standards and the pressures on publishers and booksellers to maximise profits by exploiting the mass market, the climate for publishing serious art books has become less favourable in recent years especially so far as commercial publishers are concerned. Art books are being published in greater numbers than ever before; many are of a popular and/or general nature; many too are produced specifically for the remainder market; yet these include some worthwhile books which are reaching a wide audience. The revolution in printing technology since the 1960s has facilitated large-scale mass production, but at the same time offers benefits to publishing of all kinds. While university presses are able to perform a crucial role in publishing scholarly works, there remains a need for commercial publishers to continue to publish quality art books which are accessible to the public.
L’edition d’art en France
Authors: Picot Nicole
Published: July 2016

Public interest in art is encouraging the publishing of art books and exhibition catalogues, although many of these publications focus on the same subjects. Some 1,200 art books are published in France each year, selling on average some 6,500 copies. Two large publishers dominate French art publishing, but many others are also involved in producing quality art books including titles which help to fill the gaps left by the big general publishers. Because production costs are all but prohibitive, and because the size of the home market is limited, some of these publishers have published books with texts in more than one language, or as co-editions with publishers in other countries.
Art book publishing in the Netherlands
Authors: Wishaupt Maggy
Published: July 2016

Probably only about 5% of books published in the Netherlands are art books. There is a very limited demand for art books in the Dutch language; in order to sell in greater numbers, books have to be produced in English or in several languages, and/or as co-editions, while the domestic market is flooded by foreign imports including cheap remainders. In these circumstances the publication of art books depends on grants or on the income which some publishers earn from bookselling, printing, or other activities. Nonetheless a few, small, specialist publishers are producing art books of high quality, while some general publishers also publish the occasional art book. Museum publishing activities are considerable but are largely confined to exhibition catalogues.
The time traveller opens the bookcase: trends in academic art & design in the United Kingdom
Authors: Kirby John
Published: July 2016

A time traveller visiting a British art school library in the 1840s, the 1970s, and the 1990s, would recognise a significant degree of continuity linking the library of the 1840s with that of the 1970s, but would be startled by the changes which have taken place in the last 20 years. Rapid change has resulted from several factors: increasing numbers of students; a growth in the demand from the public for art information; changes in the content and delivery of the curriculum; and not least, new technologies. This rapid pace of change is destined to continue into the foreseeable future, so much so that, instead of adapting to change bit by bit, librarians need to envisage and plan the new art libraries of tomorrow.
Regional or national centres of excellence: the unofficial and endangered Canadian art resource
Authors: McKenzie Karen
Published: July 2016

Canada’s primary art libraries, centres of excellence by virtue of their specialized collections in Canadian art and architecture, support a readership geographically beyond their primary clientele. They have come about through the individual commitment of librarians or subject specialists, not because of institutional commitment. Consequently, many lack an appropriate share of institutional support and are threatened by shrinking government funding at all levels. Art librarians are isolated from each other, which makes it easier for institutional administrators to be unaware of their ranking among art history libraries, to impede the sharing of collections, and to ignore the potential for adding prestige to the institution through support of centres of excellence.
A national strategy for Canada: visual resources collections concerns
Authors: Bien Linda
Published: July 2016

Canadian visual resources professionals believe a national strategy would raise the profile of their group who, although well known elsewhere, are not well known in Canada. Technology has made networking to share cataloguing and participation in electronic communications feasible, but many libraries do not have access to national utilities. Although digital capture and interactive electronic image storage and retrieval hold great promise for visual resources, there is a need for funding for retrospective conversion, imaging and the like. Networking makes authority work more important than it has been: a national strategy should include the formulation of a Canadian artist authority tool. Canadian iconography must be a component of any tools developed to describe art objects and their surrogates. In cooperation with CHIN Canadian art archivists and librarians must develop international standards for descriptive cataloguing. In addition, pressure must be brought to bear to end restrictive copyright for library users.
From the archives; or, how it all began
Authors: Fawcett Trevor
Published: July 2016

Arlis was established as a result of this letter which Trevor Fawcett, then Sub-Librarian at the University of East Anglia, published in the Library Association Record, March 1968. (Reproduced here with permission.)
Art and the Internet: some notes on resources and trends
Authors: Dempsey Lorcan , Lennon Ann
Published: July 2016

The Internet is a worldwide network of electronic networks which is growing rapidly. Access to resources is facilitated by a number of ‘systems’, including Gopher and World Wide Web. Improvements in the organisation of and access to Internet resources are certain to be developed, and librarians may have a rok to play. Meanwhile libraries are involved in introducing users to different kinds of information resources including those available on the Internet. Art librarians should be aware in particular of five sites which are useful starting points foi looking at art resources in the Internet: ArtSource, Art Navigator, ArtWorlc Online, World Arts Resources, and Fine Art Forum Online.
The Vilnius Academy of Arts Library
Authors: Šimiené Dalia
Published: July 2016

The Library of the present-day Vilnius Academy of Arts was founded at the beginning of the 1920s to serve the newly created Faculty of Arts of Vilnius University. The Faculty became the autonomous Vilnius Academy of Arts in 1941. During the years when Lithuania was part of the USSR, the Library acquired Russian art books but was unable to purchase art books from other countries, and access to some material was strictly limited. Since Lithuania became independent in 1991, political restrictions have been removed but funds, and space, are lacking.
Twentieth century Latin American women artists, discovery and record - a work in progress
Authors: Puerto Cecilia
Published: July 2016

The work of Latin American women artists is not adequately documented, nor is it sufficiently recognised in the major art reference works and bibliographies which thus fail to facilitate access even to documentation which is available in the USA. The author has been working towards a bibliographic apparatus that will bring together readily available sources on 20th century Latin American women artists. Much material has been found in the Art Exhibition Catalog collection in the Arts Library at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Two Cuban artists, Ana Mendieta and María Martínez-Cañas, are just two of some 200 artists from 20 countries represented in this project. (The revised text of a paper presented to the IFLA Section of Art Libraries at the IFLA General Conference at Havana, August 1995).
Beyond the walls: taking the art library to the community
Authors: Andersen Josephine , Mjoli Nozuko
Published: July 2016

The South African National Gallery (SANG) Library has been making its resources available to school teachers since 1992. Now a new outreach project, which has been in a planning stage for some months, has been started with the loan of material to libraries situated at some distance from the centre of Cape Town.
The image processing and database system in the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: an integrated system for art research
Authors: Hatano Hiroyuki
Published: July 2016

In Japan, art museums have created databases for management, educational and promotional purposes, rather than for research. At the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, a group consisting of a librarian, three curators, and a systems specialist, embarked in 1984 on a four year project to assemble and test a system which, utilising machine-readable thesauri and classification systems developed in Western countries, will, it is hoped, facilitate research into Western art.
Libraries are not for burning: international librarianship and the recovery of the destroyed heritage of Bosnia-Herzegovina
Authors: Riedlmayer András
Published: July 2016

In the past three years, the cultural heritage of Bosnia-Herzegovina has suffered major destruction. The result is what a Council of Europe report has called ‘a cultural catastrophe’. Historical architecture (including 1,200 mosques, 150 churches, 4 synagogues and over 1,000 other monuments), works of art, as well as cultural institutions (including major museums, libraries, archives and manuscript collections) have been systematically targeted and destroyed. The losses include not only the works of art, but also crucial documentation that might aid in their reconstruction. Our Bosnian colleagues need the assistance of the international library community to help them recover and rebuild some of what has been lost and to rebuild the buildings and institutions that embody their country’s cultural heritage. Librarians outside Bosnia, through their institutions and professional organisations, can provide material and technical assistance, training, and documentation, to help undo the destruction of memory.
Collecting archives: changes and consequences
Authors: Kelly Serena
Published: July 2016

The dynamism of elements of the archive profession has been particularly apparent over the past two decades as change and innovations have shaken up a profession previously perceived, perhaps not always unfairly, as pedestrian and static. The impetus for change has come both from outside and within the archive community. The lack in the UK of a national legislative framework covering the collecting of all types of archives, and an increased awareness of both the research and commercial value of historical records, have encouraged an expansion both in the types of organisations collecting archives and in the types of archives being collected. The shifting focus of attention of professional historians away from a preoccupation with ‘official’ records and the encouragement of more source-based teaching, both in schools and at undergraduate level, have facilitated such changes. The archive profession, however, is very aware that collecting by itself is not enough, and while lack of resources means that most archivists are still embarrassed by backlogs of material that have not been catalogued as fully as they would wish, greater attention is being focused on issues such as the need to widen access to archive collections, to increase security within repositories and to promote a greater understanding of conservation techniques.
Le AAT: son adaptation en français par l’equipe du Repertoire de vedettes-matiere de l’Universite laval
Authors: Fournier Michel , Boucher Rémi
Published: July 2016

Since the 1950s, the Library of the Université Laval has devoted a great deal of effort and time to its subject headings list. This list, the Répertoire de vedettes-matière (RVM), is an adaptation of LCSH. Sources from specialised thesauri such as the MeSH and AAT supplement the headings. Following a brief historical overview of the RVM, the methodology for integrating AAT descriptors into RVM is discussed.

This article is a revised version of a paper delivered to the 23rd Annual Conference of ARLIS/NA, Montréal, March 10th-15th, 1995.
Les revues d’art canadiennes de langue française
Authors: Dauphinais Marie-Josée
Published: July 2016

Art periodicals reflect the image of the day by their writing style, the artistic forms noted and the ideas communicated. They are essential documents to the researcher as they reveal the critical values at the time of publication. Journals are often the first venue to publish emerging theories. The journals have expanded their coverage, both linguistically and geographically, to appeal to a wider readership. Fourteen Canadian French-language and bilingual art journals are reviewed, of which six are discussed in depth.

This article is a revised version of a paper delivered to the 23rd Annual Conference of ARLIS/NA, Montreal, March 10th-15th, 1995. An English translation of this article appeared in Art Documentation, vol. 14, no. 3, Fall 1995, p.3-5.
The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunst- und Museumsbibuotheken (AKMB): a review one year after its foundation
Authors: Schild Margret , Steffens Monika
Published: July 2016

Obwohl der Wunsch dazu schon länger bestand, kam es erst im Februar 1995 dazu, daß deutsche Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken — zum ersten Mal über-haupt — ihren eigenen Verband, die AKMB, schufen. Die Ziele, Pläne und die allerersten Aktivitäten der neugegründeten AKMB sind weitreichend. Sie spiegeln auch die spezifischen Bedürfnisse in der Landschaft deutscher Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken wider.

Even though the desire had existed for quite a while, it was not until February 1995 that, for the first time ever, German art and museum libraries created their own association, the AKMB. The aims, plans, and the very first activities of the new founded AKMB are very ambitious. They also reflect the specific needs of the German art and museum library scene.
Art and museum libraries in Switzerland
Authors: Meier Nikolaus
Published: July 2016

Die Situation der Kunstbibliotheken in der Schweiz ist durch verschiedene historische Faktoren geprägt. Die Kulturhoheit der verschiedenen Kantonsrepubliken und die vier Landessprachen haben in der Vergangenheit die Entwicklung einer einheitlichen Bibliothekslandschaft erschwert. Ebenso wenig mündete die von großen Persönlichkeiten geprägte Entwicklung der Kunstwissenschaft und des Museumswesens in eine vielfältige Landschaft von Kunstbibliotheken. Die drei Zentren für Kunstbibliotheken sind Basel, Zürich und Genf. Eine Kunstbibliothek für die italienischsprachige Schweiz, wie u.a. in einem kürzlich enstandenen Grundlagenbericht für Kunstgeschichte empfohlen wird, ist immer noch ein Desiderat.

The situation of Swiss art libraries is determined by different historic developments. The different Swiss cantons, with their sovereignty in cultural matters, and the four official languages of the country, have impeded the development of a homogeneous libraries’ scene. The development of art libraries has been constrained by the slow and erratic growth of art history and museology. In Switzerland there are three centres for art libraries: Basle and Zurich, and Geneva, in French-speaking Switzerland. An art library for Italian-speaking Switzerland - as once again recommended in a recently published Grundlagenbericht für Kunstgeschichte (= Basic Report for Art History) - is still desired.
Copper-engraving in China: The First Chinese-European Co-Operative Project in the Field of Art
Authors: Walravens Hartmut
Published: July 2016

While copper-printing can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty in China, the art of copper-engraving was introduced by the Italian missionary, Matteo Ripa, in 1711. The first work to be printed with this new technique was Illustrations of 36 Vista ofthejehol Palace (1712). The Qianlong emperor wanted pictures of his military campaigns in Eastern Turkestan engraved on copper, and so he arranged for a series of sixteen engravings to be executed in Europe. Following the success of this initiative, pictures of his subsequent military exploits were engraved on copper by Chinese artists. Thus, while the West learned a great deal from China about paper and printing, copper-engraving is a technique which China acquired from the West in spite of a supposed lack of interest in the West.
Inside the discipline, outside the paradigm: keeping track of the New Art History
Authors: Korenic Lyn
Published: July 2016

From the point of view of a student of art history in the 1980s re-entering the discipline as a graduate student, the ‘new’ art history represents a dramatically wider field of enquiry involving new methodologies, although ‘old’ art history is still pursued by some academics. The ‘new’ art history employs an interdisciplinary approach which embraces materials far beyond ‘traditional’ art historical sources, and so information has to be sought outside the art library and via the Internet. Librarians responsible for supporting art history studies need to keep in touch with teachers, with curriculum developments, and with the discipline itself; it may also be helpful to get involved in staff/student use of the Web, and to collaborate with other Humanities librarians. The way in which the ‘new’ art history branches out in all directions parallels the hypertext linkages of the Web and the complexity of our globally-connected world.
The Visual Arts Library & Information Plan (VALIP): history of a campaign
Authors: Monie Ian C.
Published: July 2016

The concept of a Library and Information Plan (LIP) as an aid to better management and improved services was proposed in England in 1986, when gaps in library provision and the inadequacy of services were becoming apparent. In 1991 the Council of ARLIS/UK & Eire obtained a grant to draft a proposal for a research project, arguing the need for a LIP covering art, design and architecture information in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Further funds were found to appoint a Steering Committee and a research consultant, and a Visual Arts Library and Information Plan (VALIP) was published in 1993. An Executive Committee was formed to negotiate the inclusion of VALIP in whatever national machinery came into existence. During that year the Secretary of State for National Heritage announced plans to create a new Library and Information Commission, but despite encouraging signs, government support was not given to fund a VALIP Manager. Progress was made with some parts of the VALIP programme of work, but the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee disbanded in 1997, leaving ARLIS to find other means of improving access to visual arts materials.
Nova Scotia College of Art & Design Library: past, present, and future
Authors: Leja Ilga
Published: July 2016

Although the Library of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) can trace its history to the origins of the College itself, its metamorphosis into a modern library began in 1972 when two professional librarians were hired to establish a library resource to match the expanding programs of the College. John Murchie was hired as Director of the Library and Mary Snyder was hired as the Slide Librarian. Largely through their efforts and those of the library staff, the NSCAD Library has grown to become the premier library collection for the visual arts and design in Atlantic Canada. As a member of the Novanet consortium of university libraries, the NSCAD Library has joined the ranks of Nova Scotia universities in offering a full-scale library service to its immediate community and to practising artists, academics, and the general public in the region.
Un fantome dans votre bibliotheque: l’artiste face a la bibliotheque d’art, du besoin d’information au besoin de reconnaissance
Authors: Oddos Jean-Paul
Published: July 2016

Le public des bibliothèques d’art est très largement un public étudiant et cela oriente forcément la politique documentaire de celles-ci. Sans renier ce rôle, ces bibliothèques devraient se soucier davantage des liens qu’elles devraient entretenir avec les artistes en activité. Ceci passe par une offre documentaire adaptée et des services, notamment autour de l’actualité de la vie artistique internationale, et demande des compétences particulières.
Netwerk Collectie Nederland: an intranet for Dutch museums
Authors: Scholten Steph
Published: July 2016

As of the first of January 1997, Dutch museums have been able to hook up to the computerised service called Netwerk Collectie Nederland. The NCN is a closed network, an intranet on a subscription basis, meant for a limited group of professional users. It was created as a joint venture by several museum and governmental organisations and developed by the Instituut Collectie Nederland (Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage). Its initial aim was to facilitate mobility of collections, i.e. the exchange of objects between collecting institutions in the Netherlands. The experience of the first operational year has shown that this focus is too narrow to enable the service to become financially self-supporting within four years, which is the goal. An intricate combination of push and pull factors of a political, technical and cultural nature has contributed to a disappointing take-up of the NCN by its intended users. New directions are currently being studied to improve this situation. As a case study, the story of the NCN can serve as an example of the complexity of such endeavours.
La sous-section des bibliothèques d’art de l’Association des Bibliothécaires Français a trente ans
Authors: Picot Nicole
Published: July 2016

L’Association des Bibliothécaires Français est la plus ancienne association de bibliothécaires en France. Elle fut fondée en 1906 et reconnue d’utilité publique en 1969. Elle compte environ 3 800 adhérents répartis dans deux sections: Bibliothèques d’ étude et recherche et Bibliothèques publiques. Les bibliothèques d’art représentent une sous-section des bibliothèques d’étude et recherche au même titre que la BnF, les bibliothèques spécialisées, les bibliothèques universitaires, les bibliothèques de musique. Le dynamisme et la spécificité des bibliothèques d’art ont nécessité la constitution de cette ‘sous-section’.

Notre première réunion eut lieu à la bibliothèque de l’École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, le 16 novembre 1967, à l’initiative de 24 bibliothécaires d’art et historiens d’art. Grâce à la clairvoyance de tous ses membres et à l’enthousiasme de Suzanne Damiron, Jacqueline Viaux, Huguette Rouit, Denise Gazier, Geneviève Bonté, Annie Jacques, Catherine Schmitt, cette sous-section a affirmé sa personnalité. Elle est maintenant riche de plus de 130 membres. Nos thèmes de réflexion sont toujours d’actualité: coordination des acquisitions et des échanges, réalisation de répertoires, de catalogues collectifs, enrichissement de l’indexation, affinement des systèmes de classification, évaluation des ouvrages de référence, pédagogie de l’accueil des lecteurs.
“The grand programme of Providence”: a British art librarian in Rhode Island
Authors: Smith Wilson
Published: July 2016

For six months between July and December 1997 Wilson Smith, a Faculty Librarian at Edinburgh College of Art, acted as Reader Services Librarian in the library of Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI. Here he gives his impressions of the School and its ambience, and describes the library and its collections, along with the work he undertook there. An Appendix gives details of some of the other art libraries he visited in the United States.
The book in the museum
Authors: Gordeev Sergey
Published: July 2016

Books are an extremely significant part of our cultural heritage. For this reason visual propaganda on their behalf is very important, since so many of them are treasures in storage. And the problem of their low profile could be solved by organising temporary book displays and creating special museums for books. The Vladimir-Suzdal Museum in Russia is setting an award-winning example.
Electronic Resources on Art in Thailand (ERA): experiments at Silpakorn University Library
Authors: Veraprasert Poot
Published: July 2016

Since its establishment in 1934 Silpakorn University has been recognized as the oldest, and one of the best, institutes of art and design education in Thailand. The University Library is believed to contain the foremost collection on art and art education in the country even though, in the past, its capacity to serve the public was constrained by inadequate bookstock and limited physical space. In order to expand its ability to serve the public and to enhance the development of art education in the country, a research project entitled ‘Electronic Resources on Art in Thailand (ERA)’ was launched in 1998, with the objective of creating an online source of information which would be useful both to the public and to professional artists and designers.
A decade of development: the visual arts in Ireland 1989-1999
Authors: Hodge Anne
Published: July 2016

Ireland’s visual arts have always been overshadowed by the prominence of her verbal and literary culture. Over the last decade permanent, tangible developments have occurred within the visual arts. General prosperity has led to increases in arts funding and more disposable income means more people buy art and attend musical and theatrical peformances. Government arts policy is gradually becoming attuned to the needs of the sector. The establishment of a number of important museums and libraries is discussed in the context of Ireland’s booming ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy.
Maximising art resources: the common goal of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and its Art Library
Authors: Gordo Ana Paula
Published: July 2016

The importance of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the development of artistic projects and art institutions in Portugal should be seen in the context of the evolution of the political and cultural scene in this country during the 20th century. The Foundation houses two major art museums and, by developing art information resources, has helped fill cultural gaps at times when official support has been scarce. It has also played a key role in coping with the growing cultural demand of the last few decades, both in terms of art activities and art information. The Art Library and the Gulbenkian Museum are placing special emphasis on the need to integrate library and museum information resources, taking advantage of current technologies, in order to improve the services offered to users. Strategies envisaged by the Art Library demonstrate how this convergence can enhance the value of the different kinds of art resources each holds.
The cataloguing and indexing of images: time for a new paradigm?
Authors: Graham Margaret E.
Published: July 2016

Funding opportunities and digitisation initiatives offer libraries, galleries and museums the potential to exploit their image collections – photographs, slides, drawings, pictures and works of art – in new and exciting ways. Many different organisations are involved in developing standards for the formal description of images (e.g. artist, title, photographer) and some effort is being made to develop compatible standards for the digital environment. Indexing of images can be a difficult task because images are rich in information and may be used by widely different groups of users, who may not always express their information needs adequately. Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) technology, which allows the retrieval of images based on similarity to a query image, has enormous potential, particularly if it can be combined with text-based indexing.
Realizing a dual mission at the Library of the Canadian Centre for Architecture
Authors: Beasley Gerald , Haddad Rosemary
Published: July 2016

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal, devoted to the history and theory of the art of architecture, was founded in 1979 and opened to the public in 1989. It is defined in its mission statement as a museum and study centre, and its Library was conceived and developed by its Founding Director, Phyllis Lambert, to serve both halves of this mission. This article describes some of the ways in which its dual function permeates the Library’s operations and activities. It is our belief that the CCA Library adds value to its collections and services precisely by bridging the old, old gap between the traditional museum library and the traditional research library.
The Resource Discovery Network Creative Arts and Industries Consultancy
Authors: Porter Georgina
Published: July 2016

Following the work of ADAM, the Art, Design, Architecture and Media Information Gateway, was there scope for a new Resource Discovery Network (RDN) hub to support those studying the subject areas of the creative arts and industries within higher education? CALIM, the Consortium of Academic Libraries in Manchester, undertook a six-month consultancy to identify the thoughts of the arts and education communities within the United Kingdom.
France’s Archirès network and the potential for a partnership with the schools of art
Authors: Dufourg Anne , Dubos Claire
Published: July 2016

The Archirès network, linking the libraries and documentation centres in schools of architecture, has been in existence for more than 30 years. Over that time several institutions have joined it, including the Institut français d’architecture, the Ecole spéciale d’architecture, the Institut St. Luc, St. Gilles in Brussels, the Ecole d’architecture in Geneva and, last year, the Ecole nationale d’architecture in Rabat. The core task of indexing journal articles into a common database that is now searchable on the Web is only one of a number of co-operative projects which have improved access to information in this subject field. However the close relationship between architecture and art makes it imperative also to develop closer relationships with the schools of art.
Dr Drewe – a cautionary tale
Authors: Booth Jennifer
Published: July 2016

My mother-in-law thought I had been arrested; my boss called me paranoid, but there were even more surprising aspects of the Dr Drewe case. This is the story of a con-man who fooled the art world with paintings executed in household emulsion, backed by cut-and-paste photocopies serving as provenance. It sounds incredible but it could happen to any library or archive.
Integrating art – a Glasgow style
Authors: Tulloch Pamela
Published: July 2016

Glasgow’s Mitchell Library is one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe. Recently, the City Council’s Cultural and Leisure Services staff have implemented an innovative approach to providing art information for the general public in the ‘Library @ GoMA – the learning gallery’, which opened in 2002 within the Gallery of Modern Art. In addition to the support the library offers to the Gallery’s activities, an ambitious programme of digitisation is under way to enable access to more of the Mitchell’s treasures.
The Visual Research Centre at Dundee Contemporary Arts
Authors: Cumberlidge Jane
Published: July 2016

Dundee Contemporary Arts was created through a partnership between Dundee City Council, Dundee Contemporary Arts Ltd and the University of Dundee. Its unique building gives the University of Dundee’s Visual Research Centre scope for multi-disciplinary research, events and exhibitions, an archive and an artist books collection. But Gaelic culture, environmental issues and a library – just what, exactly, is the VRC all about?
The indivisibility of art librarianship revisited
Authors: Freitag Wolfgang , Mahard Martha
Published: July 2016

Wolfgang Freitag’s seminal article, ‘The indivisibility of art librarianship’, published in the Art libraries journal in 1982, occasioned a revisiting of the premises of that article for the historic joint conference of ARLIS/NA and the Visual Resources Association in St. Louis in 2001 to see how his thesis stood the test of time. The two articles that follow, one each by Wolfgang Freitag and Martha Mahard, are reflections on the original article and the course of events in the intervening twenty years. They are published jointly, here and in Art documentation.
Vitruvio: the network of architecture, art, design and urbanism libraries
Authors: Stramschak Julieta
Published: July 2016

Why create a network of architecture, art, design and urbanism libraries in Argentina and Latin America? Would it not have been better to join one of the existing networks in developed countries, which are more efficient? But do we have the same needs, requests and resources? The Vitruvio network originated in Argentina about 10 years ago and has spread, unplanned, to other countries in this region such as Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador, establishing its objectives to suit the libraries co-operating in the project. Sustainable products and services have been developed, in line with the needs of the region, using a minimum of financial, technological and human resources, and highlighting the profession’s determination and hard work.
The Manuel Solari Swayne Library at the Museum of Art of Lima
Authors: Henriod Gustavo von Bischoffshausen
Published: July 2016

This paper describes the collections and services, as well as the current and future goals, of the Manuel Solari Swayne Library, an information service specializing in the visual arts in Lima, Peru. The library is part of the Museo de Arte de Lima, an institution that holds more than 10,000 objects, providing a survey of Peruvian art from pre-Columbian times to the present day. The museum’s current renovation project includes plans to double the space available to the library and thus create better access to this valuable resource for art history, museology and the visual arts in Peru and Latin America.
Documenting Latin American art at the Museum of Modern Art Library
Authors: Caragol Taína
Published: July 2016

This article traces the history of the Latin American holdings of the Museum of Modern Art Library, one of the first institutions outside Latin America to start documenting the art of this geopolitical region, and one of the best research centers on modern Latin American art in the world. This success story dates back to the thirties, when the Museum Library began building a Latin American and Caribbean collection that currently comprises over 15,000 volumes of catalogues and art books. The launch of various research tools and facilities for scholars and the general public in recent years also shows the Museum’s strong commitment not only towards Latin American art history but also to the present and the future of the Latino art community.
Public domain art in an age of easier mechanical reproducibility
Authors: Hamma Kenneth
Published: July 2016

The current information environment presents opportunities for sharing information and enhancing the public domain of creative resources for education, research and the public good. Because the sharing paradigm for digital resources is fundamentally different from any we experienced in the analog world, practices of non-profit cultural heritage collecting institutions should be re-examined and re-evaluated with respect to aligning mission with new opportunities. One practice that deserves attention, particularly in this new environment, is the continued assertion of intellectual property rights in images of creative works that are themselves in the public domain.
Integrating digital technology into teaching: the MDID
Authors: Updike Christina B. , Rosen Allison L.
Published: July 2016

At the same time that visual media play an ever expanding role in culture and society, technology offers new opportunities for using them in teaching and learning, far beyond what was possible with traditional analog image collections. Faculty and staff in art and art history, the library and instructional technology at James Madison University have collaborated in the creation of the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID), an innovative online teaching and learning system, to accommodate the exploding need for visual information. MDID is an open source system for managing digital images including personal image collections and displaying them in the classroom. Its support for sharing image collections among institutions and the expanding community of users offers new opportunities for collaboration in providing visual media for teaching and learning.
Finding lost relations: identifying our ephemera files
Authors: Cooke Jacqueline
Published: July 2016

Art ephemera are an evocative resource that can document innovative art and convey diverse histories. This article looks at the relationship between such ephemera and contemporary art practices, and at the relative values given to ephemera by artists, curators and librarians and, in this context, considers integrated catalogues and online guides as methods of re-contextualising art ephemera in the library. Recent collaborative initiatives, and projects that identify and locate artists’ files are reviewed here and three themes are identified: the biographical approach, interfaces for distributed catalogues and the integration of art and its documentation.
Showing ‘what a woman has done’: the Beatrix Potter collections at the V&A
Authors: Laws Emma
Published: July 2016

A woman artist of wide-ranging interests, Beatrix Potter is less well-known for her activities in sheep farming, natural science and the preservation of the Lakeland countryside than for her much-loved children’s books, especially The tale of Peter Rabbit. But Potter scholars and enthusiasts can gain a broad view of her oeuvre at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London, home to the internationally-acclaimed original collection of Leslie Linder, the first curator and collector of her work. The world-wide popularity of the material gives rise to some challenging conservation issues that the V&A, in close association with Frederick Warne, is working to resolve.
Viewpoint: design well and the users will come
Authors: Latimer Karen
Published: July 2016

As the 21st century dawned, bringing with it an unprecedented explosion in networked electronic information, the doomsayers were predicting the end of libraries as we know them and a declining need for new library buildings. Certainly there has been a shift in focus from the collection-based libraries of the past to a more user-centred approach where access to information takes precedence over its storage, but the libraries in cyberspace have not had it all their own way. Peter Davey, writing in the Architectural review in September 2001 on the role of cultural and art institutions in the new age of the Internet, pointed out that despite the power of digitisation and the availability of a wealth of information in electronic versions, ‘we need physical libraries and the books they contain because culture is far more complex than acquisition and assembly of facts. It is about thought and sensation’. He went on to say, in the context of Snøhetta’s design for the Biblotheca Alexandrina, that ‘it must provide a place in which scholarship is fostered, not just functionally, but socially as well’.
James Christie and his auction house
Authors: McLeod Lynda
Published: July 2016

Mr James Christie (1730-1803) became London’s premier auctioneer in the 1760s and he was still at the top of his profession at his death in 1803. This brief history of the man and his auction house outlines his early career in Covent Garden, the setting up of his own auction rooms during the 1760s and some of his early successes. He came to rely less on the three D’s: Death, Divorce and Debt (still the primary reason for selling at auction in the 21st century) for the source of goods, and also moved away from run-of-the-mill anonymous household furniture sales. Christie encouraged a new breed of seller – the lords and ladies of the land together with princes and royals – and the article highlights a few of the varied characters who entrusted James Christie with the sale of their property.
Swedish internet resources for the study of the Sámi people
Authors: Roberts Maud
Published: July 2016

The Sámi, as Europe’s only indigenous people, have a cultural heritage which is being carefully preserved in all four of the Nordic countries. There are some 20,000 Sámi people in Sweden; they inhabit Laponia in Swedish Lapland, which is situated just north of the Arctic circle and was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1996. This article highlights websites for Swedish Sámi research at a national level.
The virtual cultural heritage of Finnish Lapland
Authors: Ihalmo Anne
Published: July 2016

Three successive projects – Digmo, Digmore and eLibrary & Culture without Borders – were carried out between 2001 and 2007. These aimed to make Lapland’s culture available in digital form to a wider audience, and involved co-operation between a range of institutions. Now another project, Arctic Culture (ACU), is being developed and promises to continue the momentum.
The library of the Fashion Museum, Province of Antwerp: a collection and an objective
Authors: Suls Dieter
Published: July 2016

Although the library of the Fashion Museum of Province of Antwerp is only five years old, it already boasts an exciting history. Evolved from the collection of the national Vrieselhof Textiles and Costume Museum, the Fashion Museum Library opened its doors in 2002, in the heart of Antwerp, the Fashion City. This article relates the history of this library, with a look at both today and the future, attempting to pinpoint the uniqueness of what it means to manage a collection on the phenomenon of ‘contemporary fashion’.
The Bibliotheca Wittockiana in Brussels: collecting and exhibiting bindings
Authors: De Coster Annie
Published: July 2016

The Bibliotheca Wittockiana in Brussels houses an impressive array of bindings that shows the glories of this very special decorative art. The collection does not aim to be an exhaustive historical survey, but reflects the taste of one man, Michel Wittock, beginning with his early interest in 16th-century Italian bindings and later those of 19th-century France, and culminating in many beautiful examples of abstraction in French and Belgian bindings of the 20th century. These works are housed in a purpose-built 1980s building designed by Emmanuel de Callatay and extended 15 years later by Wittock’s architect son Charly, and are shared with an appreciative public in the museum’s reading room and through regular displays in the three large exhibition spaces.
From a library for proof-readers to a bibliophile treasury: the library of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp
Authors: Imhof Dirk
Published: July 2016

In 1644, the famous Dutch scholar Nicolas Heinsius wrote to his friend Johannes Fredericus Gronovius that there were only two important libraries in Antwerp: that of the Jesuits and that of Balthasar Moretus II, the most important printer of his time, who had supplied him with some manuscripts of Ovid. At that point the catalogue of Moretus’s library comprised 2985 titles, nearly 400 more than the library of Leuven University with its 2600 titles. Heinsius tried several times to convince Moretus to sell his library but, fortunately for Antwerp, Moretus refused to do so. In this article I will demonstrate why we should be so delighted with Moretus’s decision to keep his library intact and preserve it for the future.
Mining the databases of the Vlaams Theater Instituut
Authors: Moreels Dries
Published: July 2016

In 1987 the Vlaams Theater Instituut (VTi) was born, as a result of the need to support and identify the ambitions of a new generation of performing artists in Flanders and Brussels, to document and investigate the context of this turbulent but artistically exceptional period, and to develop appropriate policy instruments for this burgeoning practice. Twenty years on, and the artistic and social context has changed radically. Initiatives that were played out on the fringes ‘back then’ we now see right at the centre of things. Today the need to keep documenting, investigating and reflecting is just as relevant as it was in those days. Moreover, the VTi can now explore the value of 20 years of metadata creation in new ways.