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This article considers the artists' book collections in two academic libraries: New York University, where books circulate routinely, and Cornell University, where books circulate by special arrangement. The authors examine how these collections were formed, their evolution, the challenges and advantages to having open collections, recommendations for libraries considering making their holdings available to patrons in the open stacks, and how these initiatives can contribute to a more equitable and inclusive library environment. The authors focus on how these endeavors can bridge gaps between patrons from marginalized communities and academic libraries. [This article is a combination of two papers presented at the 50th annual ARLIS/NA conference held in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2022] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University libraries have a range of exhibit spaces used to promote their own collections that they also make available to different communities. The American Library Association Library Bill of Rights provides guidelines regarding exhibits and exhibit spaces to assist libraries in upholding free speech and rights. The author provides a review of library exhibit policies in the context of the Library Bill of Rights and examines whether these policies support the principles of intellectual freedom and freedom of expression. The policies reveal limits on academic freedom that question the concept of library neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first Art Libraries Society of North America conference was held in New York City in 1973. The final session of the conference posed the questions, "Who are we? Where are we going?" Now in 2022, five long-time members of the society reflect on those questions, providing some perspective on the origins, early years, and accomplishments of ARLIS/NA. What was the impetus for a stand-alone organization, given the many other library associations with art librarian members? Who were the leaders who made it happen? How did regional chapters develop? Who were the exhibitors and sponsors? How did the publications advance the profession? What were some of the highlights along the way? [This article presents the talks from a special panel at the fiftieth anniversary ARLIS/NA Conference held in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2022.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study offers a small liberal arts college perspective in its discussion of a series of successful collaborations between an academic art museum and library. The decade of art-driven collaborations described here reveal important synergies between museum and library professionals' work and goals, with implications for best practices in more intentional and effective approaches to art education on college campuses. The authors chose to focus on the breadth, depth, and impact of these collaborations at the local level, specifically as they relate to the discovery and access of book collections, creation and curation of digital projects and online collections, curriculum integration and faculty engagement, and exhibitions with public programming. The authors' intent in sharing these experiences is two-fold: first, to offer a possible model for other institutions and practitioners, and second, to broaden the literature for and about collaborations among galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the structure and content of collection development policies from twenty-five American art museum libraries. The compilation of the data set, iterative development of principal components, and systematic comparison across policies, generates salient statistical information without being evaluative. Results suggest that the specialized nature of art museum libraries guides their collection development policies and that increasing access to policies can benefit both direct stakeholders and the professional community at large. Acknowledging that the data collection and assessment took place prior to the coronavirus pandemic and the United States' most recent reckoning with racial justice, professionals at the selected institutions were invited to share policy adjustments, new initiatives, and updated practices. The article concludes with a summary of these responses, considering if and how the collecting practices and/or policies of art museum libraries changed as a result of the events of 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past year, there has been a global reckoning with systemic racism, misogyny, transphobia, and xenophobia. As institutions look inward at the ways they can dismantle ongoing systems of oppression, academia must also look at how it codifies these ideologies through Eurocentric canons. Art history is one such field. However, as a highly interdisciplinary subject, it presents a unique foundation on which to restructure these frameworks. This article dissects the role that cataloging plays in reinforcing the canon within art libraries and how a radical cataloging approach can diversify research and representation within art history as a field. [This article is a revision of a paper presented at the "New Voices in the Profession" session during the 49th annual ARLIS/NA conference held virtually May 11–13, 2021.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Frick Art Reference Library in New York launched a pilot project with Stanford University, Cornell University, and the University of Toronto to develop an algorithm that applies a local classification system based on visual elements to the library's digitized Photoarchive. As a test case, the Cornell/Toronto/Stanford team focused on a dataset of digital reproductions of North American paintings and drawings and employed recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce automatic image classifiers. The results of this preliminary experiment suggest that automatic image classifiers have the potential to become powerful tools in metadata creation and image retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the disheartening news of a full closure of the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2019, the librarian and partners had the unpleasant task of dismantling and distributing the library's unique collection. This article outlines that process in the context of other library closures and offers ideas for best practices and project management procedures for other libraries to consider if facing such a situation. The article is also a tribute to the unique collection and space that needed to be disassembled and how the collection lives on to make contributions at other institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art libraries face unique challenges with collection care of their print monographs. In addition to being large, heavy, and densely illustrated, art monographs are at risk for accelerated wear and tear through routine use because of the construction and materials. At the same time, libraries everywhere face budget constraints along with increased demands on financial and human resources. This article describes the steps taken to design and implement a low-cost proactive collection care program in a non-circulating art library. High-use areas in the stacks were selected through analysis of use data and surveys of selected subject areas to determine condition and risk of damage. Finding that the high-use areas have a higher percentage of at-risk books, the article outlines the process and decisions involved in a collection care program that prioritizes items most likely to be used, while also minimizing costs, staff time, and required expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Webcomics are an increasingly popular format for comic artists and creators that should be collected by libraries and archives to both complement and expand existing comics and artist collections. The unique nature of webcomics production requires that libraries and archives consider the ways in which these materials intersect with current collections. This article presents both the opportunities and challenges of collecting webcomics materials, situating the argument within the larger context of web archiving and evolving collection practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discovering that a traditional classification scheme was not working for a departmental branch library, Seattle Art Museum research library staff embarked on a multi-year project to create a special-subject classification system with a special class scheme. Three key areas—user-specific taxonomy, cataloging and classification expertise of the library staff, and the department’s particular information-seeking behaviors—were key in the development of a successful scheme. This article describes the process by which the new classification scheme was developed, discusses its challenges and successes, and emphasizes how the library staff and departmental branch users are committed to the scheme’s continuous review and expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author explores how the redesign of the Canadian Centre for Architecture website and its custom search tool fit within the vision of the institution by blurring the line between what the CCA produces and collects. The article describes the challenges of working with data from different sources and different standards, including library, archives, and non-collection resources, as well as the issues still to be resolved and future plans. Working with staff outside the library and archives can push boundaries that allow information professionals to reconsider their understanding of collection discovery and access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spring of 2015, the author was asked to organize and direct a comprehensive inventory of the large and distinguished collection of prints at the Boston Public Library. Working with the staff of the BPL and a corps of graduate students, the team located, described, and prepared for digitization a diverse collection of prints, posters, chromolithographs, drawings, and ephemera, once regarded as among the best collections in the United States. The collection was understaffed, neglected, and adrift in a great public library that struggled to balance its commitment to public service with its status as a major national research library. This article describes the project and the next steps for the collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-access MFA theses give students the opportunity to publish and establish their work in the public sphere. While providing visibility and preservation of their work, they also serve as a resource for future scholars and their university communities. This article documents the process of working with the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts' Graduate School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis to disseminate and archive its written MFA theses and related files. Even with an established institutional repository, special considerations for visual art theses must be addressed, including image copyright and privacy and creative concerns. In addition to the team effort on campus, the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) community responses to a survey proved instrumental when approaching the school and developing an initial plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a resurgence of the do-it-yourself movement in the twenty-first century. As a result, libraries are becoming laboratories in which students learn to think, explore, and meet other like-minded individuals outside the classroom. Although makerspaces in public libraries have received much attention, many academic, museum, and special libraries are seeing the benefits as well. Makerspaces provide opportunities for self-driven hands-on learning that encourages creative thinking and builds problem-solving skills. This article describes the benefits of makerspaces for art libraries, highlights art libraries where "making" is happening, and provides practical examples of ways libraries can create high-impact low-cost makerspaces that engage and educate their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art in public spaces has a long, rich history. The Art in the Library collection at the University of Wyoming Libraries is a manifestation of the desire to enhance communal space and engage with the active local arts community. Since 2003, this collection has grown through changing spaces, digitization, and metadata enrichment to become a gem in the physical and digital landscapes of the libraries. This article shares the process of the Art in the Library project including its inception and history, stages of development, continued maintenance, and some lessons learned. Developing the collection created an opportunity for interdepartmental enrichment of the library and university communities, and its continuing support of relationships across campus more than justifies the time and work invested in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors show how inspiration by the creative process of contemporary artists can enrich one’s understanding of cultural institutions such as libraries. In their analysis of the library at MOCAK the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, Poland—the only art museum library in the country open to the public—and the educational activities conducted there, they describe an open form of institutional projects and the challenges they bring to art education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the result of the joint efforts of the Library and Documentation Center of São Paulo Museum of Art and the School of Communications and Arts at the University of São Paulo to develop a methodology to update, improve, and manage a controlled vocabulary to optimize access to art documentation. The linguistic, terminological, and documentary criteria support the construction of this controlled vocabulary to standardize the representation of specialized information in art libraries in São Paulo, Brazil. The project is supported by a grant from the São Paulo Research Foundation under its public policy program. As a final goal, the authors hope to implement this methodology as the best practices and guidelines for creating and maintaining controlled vocabularies within Brazil and to promote interoperability with other international controlled vocabularies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The section presents a revised research which assessed the state of digital imaging at the fine arts library in the U.S. in April 2005. Information on the available art history image collection owned by the Visual Resources Association are discussed. The transition in the state of imaging at the library is analyzed.

Born out of an institutional desire to build library usership, court donors, and promote rare book research, librarians initiated special collections research at The Ringling Museum. In the fall of 2013, they began studying the personal library of John Ringling, the museum founder. The ultimate goal of this project was the creation of substantive public programming that would amplify the library's profile in the community while providing a historical narrative that would accompany that hidden special collection. The added exposure to these collections was also meant to grow the Friends of the Library group and boost daily statistics. This article demonstrates how programming, in so many ways, is the best form of special collections education and should be considered a valuable addition to a library's mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2011, the RKD—Netherlands Institute for Art History—took the first steps in preparing a modest yet important part of its collection of art ephemera for digitization. This project is still underway. Many art libraries consider digitization a useful tool for enhancing the accessibility of this material, which is frequently difficult to discover. As is often the case at other institutions, ephemera have been the proverbial stepchild within the RKD's collections. However, with the growing use of the Institute's resources for the study of modern and contemporary art, the ephemera collection has proven to be of great value for researchers. This article discusses the Digitization of Ephemera 1800-1960 project as a case study within the context of the RKD's extensive and varied holdings of art ephemera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a large number of resources are now available in digital environments and platforms, art libraries still hold countless materials that can be found only in the printed word and image. With so many paper-based research collections still in high demand in art and design libraries, maintenance, repair, and care continue to be a high priority. Without the support of trained preservation and conservation professionals and units, small libraries may find it difficult to care for their paper-based collections. This article examines how one art museum librarian developed a preservation program with in-house repairs to support collections care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the state of libraries and authorship in response to the evolving landscape of electronic books. The authors discuss the topic through a conversation about the choice to self-publish an electronic book in the visual arts. Issues such as the primacy of the image as argument for research in design and the visual arts, the availability of e-books to libraries, the influence of publishers on the e-book medium and market, and implications for libraries and collection development are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A project by Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries to digitize a collection of 1940s-era original cartoons by editorial cartoonist Charles Henry Sykes (1882-1942) posed a number of interesting cataloging challenges. Many of the cartoons, with topics that ranged from local politics to World War II, lacked date information and dealt with subjects that were difficult to identify without further research. This article reviews some of the issues involved in cataloging editorial cartoons and examines solutions to address the lack of date information, complex subject matter, and the desire to provide access to unique characteristics of the cartoons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents a study which attempts to measure the availability to academic libraries of e-book content in the disciplines of art, architecture, and design. Theme thodologies used in the study include analyzing the e-books listed for subscription or purchase by academic libraries through EBSCO, JSTOR, and ProQuest and reviewing fifty-four publishers' websites for references to e-books. The study found limited access to e-books in these fields and underscores the importance of continued availability of print books for art, architecture, and design. The article also provides guidance as to the types of art e-books that may currently be found through EBSCO, JSTOR, and ProQuest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by the proliferation of alternative art spaces with libraries and reading rooms such as Half Letter Press Reading Room in Copenhagen, Reanimation Library in Brooklyn, Midway Contemporary Art Library in Minneapolis, Artexte in Montreal, Close Up Library in London, Contemporary Art Gallery library in Vancouver, Fillip Library and Reading Room in Vancouver, and Centre A Library in Vancouver, the author explores the educational value of alternative art library spaces and provides strategies for the successful creation of such spaces. While the article's main purpose is to challenge and offer a different perspective to art professionals, librarians may also find the creative strategies used for promoting these library resources informative for more traditional libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its opening in 2011, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has generated a great deal of interest from the public and other cultural institutions. From the construction of a 185,000-square-foot facility in the bottom of a ravine to the much-discussed art acquisitions, this attention is hardly surprising. However, beyond the building and the art, Crystal Bridges also has an art research library with many rare books and the most important collection of American color printed books in North America. This article focuses on the genres and methods of color printing in the Americas in the nineteenth century, then follows with a discussion of the challenges for this collection, as well as some guidelines for cataloging its items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art museum libraries provide unparalleled resources to the interested user. While specialized researchers have long been aware of these collections, the general public has not necessarily known of their existence and accessibility. With the advent of the web and the digitization of collections, institutions have the opportunity to increase a collection's visibility. However, increased visibility does not inherently translate into increased accessibility or use. New patrons may not be aware of the norms associated with special research collections and may be intimidated by the process of accessing information. Using a codebook to perform content analysis, this study quantitatively evaluates use and visiting policies on art museum library web pages. By studying the existence of these policies, the author hopes to explore one aspect of library accessibility and provide librarians and museum professionals with a framework for understanding the utility of making these policies publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic library collections have largely reflected the dominance of text for teaching and scholarship, though our culture is increasingly visual. The authors developed a survey to answer questions about the demand for images in academic libraries and how librarians are adapting services and collections to a more visual culture. The survey was distributed to nine electronic mailing lists related to academic librarianship, resulting in 225 unique responses from diverse institutions. Survey responses indicate librarians embrace images and are finding creative ways to access both individual images and collections, though aspects of visual resources pose challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenges of digitization and preservation of oral histories on magnetic media. It highlights the factors which influence the preservation and storage of digital surrogates including software and hardware migration, the preferences and needs of the users, and the physical deterioration of digital media. It stresses the critical threat to nearly all magnetic tapes due to the instability of a medium that is prone to the chemical breakdown hydrolysis.

The article presents a discussion on resources for research on decorative arts, adapted from the session "What Art and Architecture Isn'tL The Decorative Arts" at the 34th ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in 2008.

A biography of Otto Frederick Ege, a teacher, collector, biblioclast of Pennsylvania is presented. He was born in 1888 in Pennsylvania and studied at Reading High School. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio and spent 31 years as a resident of that city and served as the Cleveland Institute of Art dean. Otto Ege's intention was to sell his boxed manuscript portfolios to public and university libraries so that many people could learn about the history of bookmaking and decoration in the pre-modern period.

The article focuses on a study conducted by Mychaelyn Michalec which analyzes the functionality and effectiveness of electronic art libraries. Based on the study, only 82 of the 166 web-based art libraries surveyed provide satisfactory contents. The Web sites are graded in terms of the availability of critical information about the library, web site design, number of related web links and graphic images.

This article offers information about art ephemeral collections. Organizing and providing access to ephemeral collections can be challenging because the time and resources needed competes with the same resources required to process and make accessible a library's other materials. Several formats of art ephemera include private view cards, exhibition announcements, press releases and newspaper clippings, artists' correspondence, posters and flyers, and artists' multiples and three-dimensional objects. Libraries affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution Libraries dedicated to supporting art programs and research are listed.

This article focuses on a survey of primary visual arts resources that was conducted in Tennessee in 2004 for the completion of a master's degree at the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences. Available resources for scholars looking for primary documents on the arts are highlighted. Private universities in Tennessee that contain online descriptions about primary art collections include Fisk University, the University of the South, and the Vanderbilt University. Several reasons for the lack of resources and limited accessibility of existing art records are discussed.

Reports on the renovation of the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives. Historical background of the library; Information on the library renovation plans; Development of fundraising strategies to support the renovation; Goals of the renovation.

Focuses on study collections of architectural drawings conducted at Virginia Polytechnic & State University in Blacksburg. Distinction between a study of collection of drawings and archival collections; Employment of case-study method as an instructional tool in architecture courses; Information on architectural drawing sets.

Attempts to provide an estimate of what is presently known about the damage done to collections in Iraqi museums, libraries and archaeological sites during the April 2003 U.S.-led war against Iraq, as of spring 2004. Account of the looting and destruction at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad; Estimated numbers and types of library items that are missing or lost in several Iraqi libraries; Description of the damage to archaeological sites; Efforts of the Iraqi librarians, archaeologists, scholars and their associations to restore the damaged facilities.

Presents an overview of an informal survey of small art museum libraries conducted in March-April 2002. Aspects of librarianship; Principal findings of the survey; General observations on small art museum libraries.

The article presents a study which determined the factors affecting controlled vocabulary usage in art museum information systems. Examples of controlled vocabularies in use for museum collections include the "Getty's Art and Architecture Thesaurus" and "Union List of Artist Names." Explanation was given as to how the interview protocol was designed and on how participants were selected. Findings on the attitudes and behaviors toward collections management were analyzed.

The article discusses various ways in which libraries, museums and historical societies provide access to cultural heritage information in a technological world. Many institutions make it their mission to preserve and provide access to cultural heritage information. Museums establish classification and description practices based on their mission of preservation and display of artifacts. Libraries, on the other hand, have a mission to provide access to information that influences their development of shared cataloging practices.

Explores approaches to the development of image indexing for multiple needs. Information on the departments of the School of Design at North Carolina State University; Discussion on the relationship between language and visual images; Basis of the mechanisms for comparison of queries and document representations; Structural approaches to images.

This article provides information on the process of collecting artists' books by libraries. Artists' books seem to form a small, though not insignificant part of many art libraries' collections. The average collection size was 1,096 items. Artists' books are most often thought of and treated as unique art objects requiring special strategies for their care and handling. A library's circulation policies for special collection materials are restricted to promote preservation and conservation.

The article forecasts the future of art librarians and image curators. Libraries and visual resource collections will continue to exist, there will continue to be a market for the professions and the information explosion will continue unabated. Old instructional issues such as bibliographic citation formats exist alongside the crucial student need to know a variety of electronic searching protocols. Professional organizations and alliances for book librarians and images curators have changed a great deal in the past thirty years. The advent of online catalogs has dramatically changed access to materials. Catalogers of art materials are currently working on core-level standards for exhibition catalogs.

Presents updates on several state chapters of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) as of October 1983. Topics that were discussed at the summer meeting of the ARLIS/Arizona chapter at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona on June 18, 1983; Art collections that are available at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D. C.

Highlights the evolution of the Brooklyn Museum of Art Libraries and Archives in New York. Need for a library by the people of Brooklyn in the early 1820s; Provision of a reading room to Brooklyn citizens by the Apprentice's Library Association; Availability of library acquisition funds.

Provides information on the evaluation of the art approval plan at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. Determination of the use, cost-effectiveness and relevance to the curriculum of the art approval titles of its library; Questions that the evaluation sought to answer; Cost comparison.

The article provides an overview of the information needs, library service issues and programming for the African American art community. A brief background in African American history and art history is presented as well as a discussion of the new art history and its relationship to African American students. It addresses the particular information needs of the African American art community and suggests library service programs, including ways of encouraging diversity among library staff.

A list of articles and books related to collection development is presented including "Me and My Shadow: Vendors As the Third Hand in Collection Evaluation," by Dana L. Alessi, "Conspectus As a Tool for Art Libraries in Australia," by Margaret Shaw and "Collection Development and Collection Evaluation: A Sourcebook," by Michael R. Gabriel.

The article presents the criteria for employing and retaining employees for art libraries and visual resources (VR) collections. It stresses the importance of setting goals and objectives for the library or visual resources collection. The category of arts library or VR collection staff are professional, paraprofessional and technical and other support staff. It states the staffing needs of various types of art libraries/collections including art museum libraries.