Section of Art Libraries

Annual Report
September 2000 - August 2001

Scope

Membership

Officers

Secretary & Information Coordinator - Geert-Jan Koot, Rijksmuseum Library, PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 20 674 7250; Fax: +31 20 674 7001; E-mail: g.koot@rijksmuseum.nl

Treasurer - John Meriton, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 20 7942 2388; Fax: +44 20 7942 2401; E-mail: j.meriton@vam.ac.uk

Meetings

Officerships 2001-2005

Standing Committee

The following retiring members of the Standing Committee having completed their terms were thanked for their contribution to the Section: Herlof Hatlebrekke, Anja Lollesgaard, Ulrike Michalowsky, Olga Sinitsyna.

The result of the postal ballot for Standing Committee Members was announced and the following new members welcomed: Eila Rämö, Rüdiger Hoyer, Jo Beglo, Kirstin Assarsson-Rizzi, A. P. Gakhar, Margaret Shaw, Jeanette Clough.

The following members of the Standing Committee were re-elected for a second term: Françoise Lemelle; Svetlana Artamonova; Ada Kolganova; Ana-Paula Gordo.

Election of Officers

The following were elected unopposed: Chair: Kerstin Assarsson-Rizzi, and Secretary, Information Co-ordinator and Treasurer: John Meriton

Kerstin Assarsson-Rizzi has a PhD in English literature and an MLS. She worked in the Royal Library at Stockholm from 1979 until in 1989 she took up her present position as Chief Librarian to the National Heritage Board. As well as her IFLA activities, she served on the Board of ARLIS/Norden from 1990, including a term as Chair from 1993-1996. She became President of the Swedish Association of University and Research Libraries in 1996, a position she has now relinquished. As Chair of the Section of Art Libraries her intention is to build on the work done to date, to strengthen mechanisms for networking around the world, particularly with a view to attracting young, new librarians into IFLA. She sees professionalism as the clue to achieving our aims. It is also her belief that because art librarians deal with different types of materials including artifacts we must concentrate both on the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage and create links between archives, museums and libraries. Seeking partners among other sections of IFLA will be one approach to achieving this end.

John Meriton is the Head of Public Services at the National Art Library in London where he is currently part of the troika which shares the management of the Library. This has included six months as Acting Chief Librarian. He has already served two years as Treasurer for the Section of Art Libraries. In accepting the office of Secretary he paid tribute to the high standard set by his predecessor, Geert-Jan Koot, and expressed his intention of supporting the new Chair. Following the practice of those elected to be Speaker of the British House of Commons, he allowed himself to be dragged reluctantly to take up the office!

Reports

Financial Report

The Treasurer, John Meriton, distributed the financial report. He reminded the Committee of the announcement made a year ago of the need to close three of the inactive projects. The Art Glossary Project, Artistic Archive Project (Sources of Information on Artists born post-1949), and Education / Training Project had now all been wound up and the project monies returned to IFLA Headquarters. The Art Libraries Directory Project alone remains officially active.

Publications Report

The Secretary and Information Co-ordinator, Geert-Jan Koot distributed the report. He commented on the problems raised by the change of the fiscal and reporting year from September - August to January-December. This will necessitate the up-dating of the annual reports presented to the Committee in August each year after the conference. The Committee complimented and thanked him warmly for his work in publishing and improving the Newsletter during his term in office. The Getty Research Library was heartily thanked for its continuing financial support for the Newsletter.

• Section of Art Libraries Newletter, edited by Geert-Jan Koot. (No 47 November 2000, 12 pages; No 48 April 2001, 12 pages). 1100 copies were printed for each issue. The mailing list now comprises 325 addresses. Approximately 700 copies were dispatched together with the Art Libraries Journal. The Newsletter is also published electronically on IFLA's website.
• The IFLA Section of Art Libraries Annual Report Sept. 1999 - Aug. 2000, published in Section of Art Libraries Newsletter, no. 47 (2000/2) p.5-8. Available electronically http://www.ifla.org/VII/s30/annual/ann00.htm (expanded version Sept. 1999 - Dec. 2000)

• Problems of Electronic Art Reference / Rüdiger Hoyer in Art Libraries Journal 26/3 (2001) p.24-26. Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla 66/papers/076-109e.htm
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• Are the Latest Exhibition Ephemera Available? Problems and Solutions for a Neglected Material in Museum Libraries / Javier Docampo and Rosario López de Prado in Art Libraries Journal 26/2 (2001) p.29-37. Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla 66/papers/069-165e.htm
• Artists in Canada : a National Resource / Jo Nordley Beglo and Cyndie Campbell in Art Libraries Journal 26/2 (2001) p.38-42. Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla 66/papers/067-165e.htm

International Directory of Art Libraries Project Report

The editor, Thomas Hill of Vassar College, was unable to attend but sent in a report. Vassar College will be able to continue to host the Directory online. College students have been using the corrections submitted to bring the data up-to-date. They have also been making corrections from directories. So far 318 of 2882 institutional entries have been corrected and links to web-sites added. Australia has been completed and the Spanish material is ready for in-putting. This task will take the students more than two years to complete.

The Committee was asked to notify Thomas Hill (e-mail: thhill@vassar.edu) of suitable current regional directories which could be used as a source of information.

Until now it has not been possible to complete the planned mailing to libraries as part of the up-dating process. Over the coming year Thomas Hill and John Meriton will discuss means of completing this part of the project.

Once again, the Section of Art Libraries paid tribute to the work Thomas Hill has done in his maintenance of this essential resource.

Multi-lingual Glossary of Art Librarianship Report

Although this has been officially ended as a project, because it is now an online resource some necessary editing on a voluntary basis continues to be undertaken. Javier Docampo, Biblioteca Nacional de España, has completed editing the Spanish version but this has yet to be input. John Meriton and Rüdiger Hoyer are to discuss editing of the German version. There are delays in getting updates into the online version which will be exacerbated with the relocation of the IFLA web-site from the National Library of Canada. The Section of Art Libraries will need to negotiate with the new host and perhaps need to apply for additional funding if further inputting is to be achieved.

Imageline: An Online Bibliography of Image Sources - Report on a proposed project

At Jerusalem it was decided to begin investigation into the possibility of delineating this project. Since then an online mailing list for this project has been created. However, it was realized that person-to-person debate was needed at the beginning stages. The project was extensively discussed during the Boston Conference and a proposal developed.

• To undertake a scope and feasibility study to assess the potential usefulness, users, cost and functionality of an international web gateway providing access to sources of images in art, architecture and design.
• With the aim of making recommendations on precedents and content; methods and functionality; operation and quality control.
• Report to be tabled and discussed by the Standing Committee at the next meeting in Glasgow 2002 and a decision made on the extension of the study and publication.

A request for funding as a Section project will be made with the 2001 financial report. The feasibility study should be conducted by a qualified person and take up to one hundred hours to complete. At the final meeting of the Co-ordinating Committee of Division II (Special Libraries) the project was discussed and considered to have relevance and wider application for special libraries in general. It was recommended that the project be put forward as a Divisional project with the proposal being developed to that end. The project team headed by Marie-Claude Thompson and co-chaired by Eila Rämö will develop the proposal which will then be put to the Professional Committee in December 2001.

Proposed project

Online publication of John Walker, Glossary of art, architecture and design since 1945, 3rd edition, London: Library Association, 1992. The author would like to prepare a new edition online where it could be regularly updated. ARLIS / UK & Ireland had discussed the publication with the author but considered the project suitable for IFLA Section of Art Libraries to undertake. Salient points noted were, that it covers art terms, has a different approach from Grove's Dictionary of art, covers a specific time period, is confined to the English language only. Al Willis of Hampton University Library undertook to do a brief comparison between the Walker glossary and Grove and post his findings on IFLART discussion list.

Future Conferences

Glasgow 2002

The Section of Art Libraries decided to hold both an Open Session and a Workshop. A range of suitable topics were proposed and debated at Boston resulting in the call for papers above. Debbie Shorley, Chair of ARLIS / UK & Ireland and Margaret Young, Chair of ARLIS /UK & Ireland Organising Committee issued an invitation to attend the Satellite Conference / ARLIS / UK & Ireland Annual Conference at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Thursday, 16 - Friday, 17 August. (See the full announcement below.) The programme will also include visits to some of Glasgow's art sites including Hillsborough House. Account will be taken of the Section's Standing Committee Meeting on the Saturday by scheduling things for ARLIS members which would not be essential for IFLA delegates. The meeting will be held at the University of Strathclyde and student en-suite accommodation will be available at ca. £25-40 for bed & breakfast. 150 rooms have been booked.

Berlin 2003

Rüdiger Hoyer, on behalf of German art librarians, issued an invitation to attend the 2003 IFLA Conference in Berlin. A programme is being developed in conjunction with AKMD (The German Art Libraries Society) and the Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen in Berlin. Because the Art Libraries Society in Germany has a number of small meetings throughout the year, rather than a major conference, and because attending both a pre-conference and IFLA occasions great expense in some parts of the world, it is planned to integrate an off-site workshop into the main conference together with a very interesting cultural programme.

A small organising committee comprising the Chair of the AKMD (Art Libraries Society), a representative of the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin and including Dr. Hoyer and Section representation will be responsible for arrangements. A general call for papers will be issued.

It was noted that Rare Books & Manuscripts Section are planning a pre- or post-conference in Leipzig on the preservation, protection and presentation of rare materials. The Chair of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section will be contacted about SAL participation. Such collaboration has been successful in the past. Susan Allen, Getty Research Library will provide reports as the Rare Books programme is developed.

SATELLITE MEETING

Sponsored by the New England Chapter of ARLIS / NA, IFLA's Art Libraries Section and ARLIS / NA 16-17 August 2001.

An exciting and varied programme of talks, visits and tours in some of the most interesting locations in Boston, as well as lavish receptions by Ars Libri Bookstore in Boston and at the Fogg Art Museum by Worldwide Books.

Following the theme "How do I find a picture of ...?" keynote papers were given by Robert Campbell, critic and architect, and by Henry Pisciotta, Arts and Architecture Librarian at Pennsylvania State University. Reports on imaging projects from around the world were given by Marie-Claude Thompson, Database and Digitization Projects Co-ordinator, Department of Prints and Photographs, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Helena Zinkham, Head of Technical Services, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, and Graham Jefcoate, Head of Early Printed Collections, British Library. For further information on the conference and papers visit www.library.yale.edu/arlis-ifla-2001

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Section of Art Libraries, Boston 16-25 August 2001

Open Session

1. How to formulate the photographic question: a context for architectural and topographical photographs in England
   IAN LEITH (Acquisitions and Documentation Officers, National Monuments Record, English Heritage, Swindon, UK)
2. Graphic resources in the Spanish Art Libraries
   ALICIA GARCIA MEDINA (Librarian, Instituto Patrimonio Histórico Español, Madrid, Spain), TERESA COSO (Librarian, Biblioteca General d'Historia d'Art, Madrid, Spain)
3. Teaching students the art of retrieving architectural information
   KAREN LATIMER (Deputy Science Librarian, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland)
4. SOS (Self-help or Spoon-feeding): the need to teach students of art of retrieving architectural information
   KARIN LATIMER (Deputy Science Librarian, Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom)

Workshop

1. The role of the Archives, Library and Museum Records department at the Guggenheim Museum, New York: the Hilla Rebay exhibition test case
   DEIRDRE DONOHUE (Librarian, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Archives Library and Museum Records Department, New York, USA)
2. Art libraries and information services network: integrating resources and attaining visibility
   MARIA CHRISTINA BARBOSA DE ALMEIDA (Professor, Library Science and Documentation Department, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
3. Spreading the word: libraries as vital players in the information age
   SUSAN V. CRAIG (Art and Architecture Librarian, University of Kansas, Murphy Art and Architecture Library, Lawrence, USA)
4. Training in the National Art Library
   JOHN MERITON (Head of Public Services, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library, London, UK)

NATIONAL REPORTS

Australasia - ARLIS / ANZ (Australia & New Zealand)

Over 40 delegates attended which is a record for ARLIS /ANZ. Building projects in the ANZ region: Te Papa Tongerewa Museum of New Zealand. The library at Te Papa closed its doors on 30 May 2001 for the last time as the Hector Library. On 18 June 2001, it re-opened as Te Aka Matua Te Papa Library and Information Centre. The literal meaning of Te Aka Matua is "parental vine". In Maori mythology, Te Aka Matua was the vine that Tane held to ascend the heavens to obtain the ancestral baskets of knowledge, and in usage this phrase is rich in metaphor and allusion. It is currently undertaking a three-month trial of having the library open seven days a week.

The Auckland Museum Library re-opened recently after being closed for over a year. They are also allowing open access in the renovated library, but only in the afternoons, Monday - Friday. The Research Library at Auckland Art Gallery also increased its public opening hours not so very long ago from one day weekly to two.

The National Gallery of Victoria is being refurbished and a new Australian Art building is being developed. The Reference Library continues to serve staff from temporary quarters. The Queensland College of Art Library will open on a new site in November 2001. The planning for the new building included a great deal of staff and client consultation.

The National Gallery of Australia Research Library is in the very early stages of planning a new space with the current readers' ticket system expanded to allow full public access. National Initiatives: The launch of the Picture Australia database by the National Library of Australia has established a single access point for searching a range of databases hosted by cultural institutions holding material depicting Australia's heritage. There is no charge for this service at http://www.pictureaustralia.org The Australian Prints database produced by the National Gallery of Australia contains 16,000 images, 25,000 records and 5,000 pages of information. It includes details of prints and biographical information on artists and bibliographies. There is no charge for this service which is located at: http://www.australianprints.gov.au or may be reached through the NGA web-site at http://www.nga.gov.au

British Isles - ARLIS / UK & Ireland

Full details of ARLIS / UK& Ireland's activities over the past year are contained in the Annual Report published in its News-Sheet March / April 2001, so this is but a brief account of some key activities and initiatives which exemplify the broad spectrum of its work during the past year. Our Cambridge Conference in Summer 2001 was a huge success: idyllic surroundings, a strong programme and, above all, the chance to meet and talk. It was particularly pleasing to welcome so many delegates from overseas; their presence enriched the experience for everybody. Specialist art libraries are increasingly under threat, so ARLIS does all it can to sustain interest in our specialism. The newly formed Student and Training Group is already building contacts in library schools to encourage would-be art librarians and help them focus their early careers. ARLIS members of the future can see for themselves the benefits of professional solidarity and support. (And it is gratifying to see that the number of visitors to our website www.arlis.org has tripled over the past year, with the Working in Art Libraries its most popular page.) The ARLIS discussion list arlis-link@jiscmail.ac.uk grows ever busier and provides a unique forum for colleagues to share experience in their specialist area

The award of a grant of over £50,000 from the British Library's Co-operation and a Partnership Programme and the UK's Research Support for Libraries Programme (RSLP) to create an electronic Union List of Art, Architecture and Design Serials based at the National Art Library is a source of particular pride for the Society. It is a tribute to the reputation of ARLIS that this is the first such initiative to be funded jointly by these two bodies.

Our links with art library professionals in other countries grow stronger every year. Last year's highlight was a study visit to Germany by an ARLIS delegation in response to an invitation from the AKMB, whose warm welcome and generous hospitality made the week-long trip unforgettable. This was reciprocated by a visit by a small group of German colleagues during July 2001.

A special international issue of the ARLIS / UK & Ireland News-Sheet was published at the beginning of 2000. It contains information about art library societies in over 25 countries and is an invaluable source of reference for colleagues all over the world.

2000 was an exceptionally strong year for the ARLIS publishing programme, with Guidelines for stock disposal published in both electronic form (available free on our website) and traditional printed format. The interest shown in this title shows how important the issue is becoming as ever more is published and libraries haven't the space or the staff to keep less used materials.

Debby Shorley, Chair ARLIS / UK & Ireland

Canada - Organization of Canadian art librarians

In 1967 a small group of Canadian art librarians held an historic meeting at the National Gallery of Canada, which led to the organization of CARLIS (Canadian Art Libraries Committee). Over the years CARLIS evolved into ARLIS / Canada, an organization which includes the Canadian members of ARLIS / NA, and is chaired by the Canadian representative elected to the ARLIS / NA Board. Canadian members meet annually, at the ARLIS / NA conference. ARLIS / Canada is subdivided into three regional chapters, which hold separate meetings: Montreal / Ottawa / Quebec, Ontario, and the Northwest chapter.

Canadian art libraries and activities: The ARLIS / Canada website (www.banffcentre.ca/library/carlis/) reports research projects, news updates and an artists' necrology. It is linked to the ARLIS / NA and chapter websites: ARLIS / MOQ (http://library.concordia.ca/arlismoq); ARLIS / NA Ontario (http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/people/affiliated/arlisont/); ARLIS / NA NW chapter (http://www.halcyon.com/hnear/arlisweb). The special international issue of the ARLIS / UK & Ireland News-sheet (no. 148, 2000, p. 4-5) published a brief history of ARLIS / Canada, by the Chair, Carole Goldsmith. This can also be read on the ARLIS / Canada website. Art Libraries Journal has published a series of special issues on art librarianship, visual arts and architecture in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Western Canada (vol. 19, no.1, 1994; vol. 21, no. 3, 1996; vol. 22, no. 4, 1997; vol. 24/no.3 1999).

Melva J. Dwyer Award: The award was established in 1985, in honour of Melva Dwyer, a distinguished Canadian art librarian and founding member of CARLIS. The award recognizes outstanding reference works on Canadian art, produced by Canadian authors. The Dwyer Award for the year 2000 was presented to Kathy Zimon for her history, The Alberta Society of Artists: the first seventy years (University of Calgary Press, 2000).

History of Art Libraries in Canada is a project of ARLIS / Canada, coordinated by Jo Beglo, general editor, working with a team of twelve regional editors. The objective is the publication of a volume of essays on art librarianship in Canada, anticipated in 2003.

• Digitization of the National Gallery of Canada Bulletin (1963-1986): Contributes to Canada's Digital Collections (http://collections.ic.gc.ca), a national project to showcase treasures of federal institutions.
• Index to 19th Century Canadian exhibition and auction catalogues of art: The index provides access to more than 16,000 records in a local database, created under the direction of Jonathan Franklin, Head, Collections and Database Management.
• Exhibition history project: An online finding aid to the archival records (including installation photographs and slides, posters documentation files) for over 1900 exhibitions held between 1880 and the present at the National Gallery of Canada, is available through the Library's catalogue (http://bibcat.gallery.ca). The project is managed by Cyndie Campbell, Archivist.
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• Finding Aids Project: Finding aids to the holdings in the National Gallery of Canada Archives are in the process of being converted to EAD (encoded archival description) and will soon be available on the Gallery's website (http://national.gallery.ca/library/index_e.html).
• Library and Archives exhibition program: Directed by Murray Waddington, Chief Librarian, an ambitious roster of exhibitions, installed in a new exhibition space within the Library, highlights research materials held by the National Gallery Library and Archives.
• Artists in Canada: Compiled and maintained by the National Gallery of Canada Library, Artists in Canada is a bilingual union list that identifies the location of documentation files on Canadian artists in 23 libraries and art galleries across Canada (www.chin.gc.ca).
• Website development: The web version of the National Gallery of Canada Library catalogue was launched in 2000 (http://bibcat.gallery.ca). Plans are underway to enhance web access to local databases, such as the 19th Century Index, and materials in special collections, such as more than 12,000 items in the Art Metropole Collection, which documents the development of Conceptual Art in Canada.
• Research Fellowships Program: Five competitive fellowships supporting advanced research emphasize the use and investigation of the collections of the National Gallery Library and Archives. A new fellowship in European Art was added in 2001. Application procedures are described on the National Gallery's website (http://www.gallery.ca/library/index_e.html).

Jo Nordley Beglo, National Gallery of Canada

France - Abf: Research libraries section: Art libraries group

Autumn 2001 update: Nicole Picot has handed over the Chair after six years at the head of the Art libraries group. We thank her for her open-minded approach and the energy which she has brought to our group since 1994. Amongst other achievements, three very successful conferences and the wonderful celebration of our 30th anniversary in Paris in 1997 were organised under her guidance. She was succeeded in January 2001 by Monique Nicol, documentation librarian at the Villeurbanne Institut d'art contemporain.

Publications of research tools and directories: A programme of four manuals on architecture has been undertaken in collaboration with the library of the future Cité de l'architecture. Two of these are nearing completion and will shortly be published; the Directory of collections on architecture in France, and the Bibliography of reference works on architecture. A Bibliography of architecture journals and a Directory of photographic collections are still in preparation. The Cité de l'architecture will be sited in a wing of the Palais de Chaillot, Paris, and will bring together the present Institut français d'architecture (Ifa) and the Musée de monuments français. It will be organised in three departments: a museum, an agency for action in architecture (which will take over the work of the Ifa) and a multimedia library. The library will be a public reference library confined to the 20th century (the Institut national d'histoire de l'art will be covering the preceding periods). The collections will attain 40 000 volumes (25 000 at opening).

Conferences in 2001: A pre-conference study day preceding the Abf national congress was co-organised at the Nîmes Carré d'art with the Nîmes Public Library on the theme of "Art and libraries: the right to culture". The proceedings will appear in the next issue of the Abf Bulletin d'information. Conferences in 2002: The next conference of the Art libraries group will be held in Bordeaux (CAPC) on the March 2002. The theme will be "Networks, exchange and partnerships".

International collaboration: The group was represented at the Arlis UK meeting and at the "International Cooperation in Action: First Colloquium of Working Groups in the Field of Art ant Museum Libraries" organised by the AKMB en March 2001 in Berlin. The group is also a member of the Congrès interprofessionnel de l'art contemporain (CIPAC), a federation of associations which will be organising the third congress in Nantes (Palais des congrès, 15-16 November 2001) on the theme "Art, artists and professions".

Monique Nicol, Chair, Art Libraries Group (with Marie-Claude & John Thompson, Bibliothèque National de France)

France - Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA) / National Institute for Art History

Update: The project began several years ago after political agreement was reached between the differing views of the government ministries of Culture, of Education of Research, of Finance and lastly the views of the Prime Minister. At the beginning of July 2001, following many discussions, the document setting up the Institute was published. The new body should begin operating from the end of this year.

1. Research - to organise and enable more efficient research in art history
2. Documentation - to create a new large library to sustain the research.

• Bibliothèque Centrale des Musées Nationaux
• Bibliothèque de l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
• Bibliothèque d'Art et d'Archéologie Jacques Doucet

• Preparing the new building (which is, in fact, the main reading room of the old building of Bibliothèque Nationale de France and all the areas around)
• Functional organisation of the library
• Co-ordination of acquisition policies
• Choice of a common indexing system (which is very important since a large part of the collections of books and serials will be on open access. Library of Congress Classification has been chosen.) Work will continue in the next months and years which the new library scheduled to open by 2006.

Germany

During the past year, the German art libraries society, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken (AKMB) has organized several conferences: On October 27-28, 2000, in the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin, international speakers lectured on "Neue Organisationsformen in Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken". In December 2000 the traditional annual software workshop took place in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, this time under the title "Allegro in Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken und urheberrechtliche Fragen des Internet". In April 2001, we participated in the Deutsche Bibliothekartag in Bielefeld, where Geert-Jan Koot delivered his paper recently published in AKMB-news, 2001, vol. 7, no.2, p. 13-19.

Especially noteworthy was the study tour of Germany arranged for ARLIS/UK & Ireland members, from 23-30 September 2000. This group visited Karlsruhe (ZKM and Staatliche Kunsthalle), Munich (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte), Dresden (Sächsische Landesbibliothek) und Berlin (Kunstbibliothek). Reports were published in AKMB-news, 2000, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 36-41, and in Art Libraries Journal, 2001, vol. 26, no. 3, p. 27-32. A reciprocal study tour of German art librarians to London was organized by our friends from ARLIS / UK & Ireland in June 2001, just before the ARLIS / UK & Ireland Annual Conference, 28 June - 1 July 2001. All the participants returned from London, grateful and enthusiastic.

As for international contacts, we also hosted an informal meeting of representatives of European art libraries in Berlin from 14-16 March 2001. This meeting was attended by six colleagues from Belgium, Finland, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. A short report has been published by Deborah Shorley in the ARLIS / UK & Ireland News-sheet, no. 151, p.14.

These AKMB events and those mentioned further down were organized with the help of the special libraries service of the Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut and its successor, Evelin Morgenstern's Berlin-based Initiative Fortbildung für wissenschaftliche Spezialbibliotheken und verwandte Einrichtungen. The programs are always accessible on the AKMB website (new domain: www.akmb.de). Many of the lectures are published in the AKMB-news, published three times yearly. The mailing list of the German art libraries newsforum (akmb@biblhertz.it) also welcomes international contributions, preferably in English. Access details are to be found on the AKMB homepage (www.akmb.de).

As some readers probably know, the art libraries network of the three German research institutes Kunsthistorisches Institut, Florence, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, and Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome, forming the Kunstbibliotheken-Fachverbund Florenz-München-Rom, has been entering subject headings, including individual names, directly into the main database of Germany's national library, the Deutsche Bibliothek, since 1999. This has built up the national authority files for persons and subjects. In the meantime, the Florence-Munich-Rome network has become one of the most prolific producers of authorities, with ca. 4.500 newly entered authorities in 2000 (see Bibliotheksdienst, 2001, vol. 35, no. 5, p. 591-601). The library of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich is responsible for the final validation and therefore represents the interests of German art libraries in the relevant meetings organized by the Deutsche Bibliothek, especially the expert groups PND (persons) and SWD (subjects) of the recently created national agency for cataloguing standards, the Arbeitsstelle für Standardisierung. Furthermore, the Florence-Munich-Rome network has introduced automatic indexing, based on the software MILOS. The results will soon be integrated in the forthcoming new interface of the union catalogue (www.kubikat.org).

The search engine for art libraries Virtueller Katalog Kunstgeschichte (www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/vk_kunst.html) has been augmented. This specialized search engine is administrated by the working group of art libraries funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ("AKB") and shall soon be transformed into an international bibliographic tool taking into account the most interesting and distinguished art historical target systems.

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken (AKMB) elected a new board in April 2001. Our new chairperson is Mrs. Ruth Werner from the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. See AKMB-news, 2001, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 27-29. The priority of the new board is the improvement of the AKMB website, including the adoption of a proper domain name (see above). The new board will also promote activities furthering knowledge in the handling of electronic resources and the creation of consortia. A two-day conference was dedicated to this topic on 19-20 October, 2001: "Keine Angst vor der digitalen Zukunft - Beschaffung, Erschließung, Bereitstellung elektronischer Ressourcen in Kunst- und Museumsbibliotheken". This successful conference was also held in the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin.

On the occasion of the Deutscher Bibliothekartag which will take place in Augsburg in April 2002, the AKMB will make presentations on German art libraries abroad, for example in Florence and Paris. International guests will also be invited. This could be supplemented by a study tour to Italy, especially to Florence.

In order to help preparation for the Section of Art Libraries' contributions to the IFLA 2003 General Conference in Berlin, a local working group will be constituted. As at Jerusalem 2000, there is unlikely to be a pre-conference, but instead a number of off-site events during the main conference.

Rüdiger Hoyer, Bibliothek des Zentralinstituts für Kunstgeschichte

Iberia - Grupo de Bibliotecas de Arte de España y Portugal / the Spanish and Portuguese Art Libraries Group

Reports about the main activities of the Grupo de Bibliotecas de Arte de España y Portugal over the past year have been given in the last two issues of the Newsletter. Although the long awaited creation of a formal association has not yet happened, the enthusiasm of the Group is high. Second Seminar of Museum Libraries. Madrid , Museo Arqueológico Nacional, 2-4 October 2000: The programme of the Second Seminar of Museum Libraries, held in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Madrid in October last year, was published in the Newsletter, no. 47 and an abstract of what occurred appeared in no. 48. The central theme of the Seminar was the importance of libraries in museums, so it was interesting to note the assistance given by important Spanish cultural authorities which seldom worry about the problems besetting museum libraries. It was important that university teachers, mainly from Librarianship schools, as well as librarians from United States, Morocco and Germany attended and that they had the opportunity of sharing their experiences and knowledge with a large audience, composed chiefly of art and librarianship students. This allowed us to share ideas and experiences with both the theorists of librarianship and the practising professionals. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the director of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional Library, there has not been an adequate response from the Cultural authorities in Spain and so it is probable that this could have been the last Seminar in this highly interesting series. First Course on Art Libraries, Salamanca University, 22-23 February: Another important initiative was the First Course on Art Libraries (I Curso de Bibliotecas de Arte), held at Salamanca University. The course had teachers from Museum Libraries, the National Library and Universities and was the first specialized course on this topic given in a Spanish University. For this reason we tried to present a general view of the problems and future perspectives of this type of library. The first day was devoted to general aspects of art libraries (definition, topology, history, &c.), and to bibliographies and specialized information sources. The second day dealt with two aspects. Firstly, the functions and services provided by art libraries and, secondly, the impact the new technologies and the use of the Internet is having. The final two sessions presented the international situation of art libraries, describing the most important art libraries in the world, and the main international and national art libraries' associations. More than one hundred and fifty students attended and their appreciation allows us to consider offering further courses in the coming years.

IX Meeting of the Spanish and Portuguese Art Libraries' Group, Pontevedra-Santiago de Compostela, 9-11 May 2001: This year our ninth annual meeting was held on May in Pontevedra and Santiago de Compostela, two ancient towns in northern Spain. A preliminary programme of the meeting was published in issue no. 48 of the Newsletter. We enjoyed the usual range of visits to libraries, from the big, newly built University Library of Vigo, to the small and really beautiful library of the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, designed by the prestigious Portuguese architect, Alvaro Siza. The papers, devoted especially to library buildings, will be published in September. The most interesting part of the meeting was the final discussion among librarians and architects about library buildings and their problems.

1. That the web-site of the Grupo de Bibliotecas de Arte de España y Portugal must be renewed and improved in order to facilitate the exchange of publications and make possible the creation of a comprehensive Directory of Spanish Art Libraries. This task will be undertaken by the Library of Gulbenkian Foundation.
2. That a study of the relevant European Union Laws be undertaken preparatory to the creation of a formal Association of Spanish and Portuguese Libraries. Another interesting result of the meeting was the publication of Guía de recursos de arte en las bibliotecas de Galicia, a brief but helpful guide to the art resources in this part of Spain. The next meeting will be held at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. New buildings for the Prado and Reina Sofía Museums: The two main museums in Madrid are both about to begin important rebuilding work which will greatly affect the libraries of both institutions. The Prado is to construct a new building behind the back facade of the present museum. The author of the project is the prestigious Spanish architect, Rafael Moneo, who recently completed the Adrey Jones Beck Building in the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston. The new library is to have a reading room in the ancient cloister of the Jerónimos convent and stacks for two hundred thousand volumes. The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia has chosen the design of the French architect, Jean Nouvel. It is composed of three new independent pavilions, to be built in an empty space behind the main building. One will be the new library, and the other two galleries for temporary exhibitions, an auditorium, and coffee-shop. These new buildings could have the effect of raising the libraries to prominence amongst European libraries devoted to contemporary art.

Javier Docampo, Biblioteca Nacional, Servicio de Dibujos y Grabados

North America - ARLIS / NA

ARLIS/NA has had a busy year. The transition to a new management team, Elizabeth Clarke Associates, based in Toronto took place in March 2000 following our successful conference in Pittsburgh. The 2001 conference was held in Los Angeles in March and attracted over 600 attendees from 10 different countries. There were 12 program sessions ranging in topic from Copyright to the Arts & Crafts Movement is Southern California. There were six workshops with topics such as Approval Plans, and Space Planning. A Plenary Session on Hollywood design and glamour preceded the Welcome party which featured a live all-girl band!

The Convocation and awards ceremony was held on Sunday evening at the new Getty Museum- a spectacular site that featured a buffet dinner. Awards presented included a Getty Grant Program award presented by the International Relations Committee of ARLIS to Mr. Gu Yin-Hai, Associate Professor and Deputy Manager of the Library, Shanghai Museum, China. In addition, The Karno Travel award was presented to Beatrix MacGregor, Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City and The RLG Asia / Oceania Award went to Catherine Hammond, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand. The H. W. Wilson Foundation Research Award went to Jonathan Franklin, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and Lamia Doumato from the National Gallery of Art, Wash. DC. The George Wittenborn Memorial Book Awards were given to Pat Kirkham, editor, for Women Designers in the USA 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference, published by Yale University Press, 2000; Peter T. Nesbitt and Michelle Du Bois for The Complete Jacob Lawrence, Univ. of Wash. Press, 2000; and Roger S. Wieck, William M. Voelkle and K. Michelle Hearne for The Hours of Henry VIII: A Renaissance Masterpiece by Jean Poyet, Braziller in association with the Morgan Library, 2000.

An honorary Life Membership was presented to Jim & Anna Emmett for their long years of service to the art community.

The 2002 ARLIS/NA conference will be held March 21-26, 2002 in St. Louis at the historic Hyatt Regency Hotel at Union Station, a renovated 100 year old former train station. It is the first-ever, joint conference with VRA (the Visual Resources Association). The theme of the conference will be "Exploring the Digital Frontier." There will be 10 panel sessions, two plenary sessions including one on Art Image Databases such as AMICO and ARTstor, six smaller seminars, eight workshops including image production and 14 tours. The conference website is linked from the ARLIS / NA homepage which is: www.arlisna.org

Ted Goodman, Chairman of ARLIS / NA

Scandinavia - ARLIS / Norden

Annual meeting and conference. The Art Libraries Society Norden - ARLIS/Norden organized its 15th annual meeting and conference in Helsinki, Finland, 14-16 June 2001. The theme of the conference was Collection management. The theme was considered from many different angles in lectures and workshops: acquisition policy, classification systems, functional cataloguing, electronic material, and the electronic book in an art library.

The main purpose was to find means for closer co-operation between Nordic art libraries. As a result of the discussions we are going to investigate the possibility of having a Nordic licence for electronic materials - reference and full text databases. At present the Nordic countries do have national licences for such materials, but with a wider Nordic licence it should be possible to lower the costs.

The Finnish Virtual Library Project (http://www.jyu.fi/library/virtuaalikirjasto/engvirli.htm). The library of the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH) is producing virtual libraries on applied arts. What we are now trying to do is to avoid overlapping work!

The program of the conference with summaries of the papers can be found at: http://www.uiah.fi/arlis/program.html The papers will be published in ARLIS / Norden Info 2001: 2/3 and 4 (and also on ARLIS / Norden homepage http://www.uiah.fi/arlis/).

The next ARLIS / Norden conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 30th May - 1st June 2002. The theme will be Art Libraries and institutions - now and in the future.

Libraries and Architecture. As a result of the ARLIS/Norden conference in Stockholm in 2000 a book entitled Libraries and Architecture (Bibliotek och arkitektur, edited by Magdalena Gram in Arkitekturmuseets skriftserie, 9) was published autumn 2001. The book covers the conference papers as well as other articles on library architecture, interiors and library collections on architecture. The articles are written by Nordic art librarians and architects and are mainly in Swedish, but some articles will be in English.

Artists' books. For some years ARLIS / Norden has had a project called "Artists´ books". There has been a representative from each Nordic country in the project group. The task of the group has been to investigate which libraries hold artists´ books in their collections and to create a bibliography of the artists´ books. This project has now reached a point that it is ready to publish national lists of artists´ books. These lists will be published on the ARLIS/Norden website (http://www.uiah.fi/arlis/) so that anyone who is interested in Nordic artists´ books is able to take a look and download the lists.

Bibliography on the History of Art. The Nordic countries contribute to the international bibliography BHA through editors in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The editors send records on art literature published in their countries for inclusion in the BHA. Editorial meetings are held at the ARLIS / Norden annual conferences.

• ARLIS with books, articles, and exhibition catalogues on Norwegian art from 1992
• Bonytt with articles on Scandinavian design and interior decoration 1941-1970
• Falck with books, articles, and exhibition catalogues 1971-1986.

At present there are altogether 15,000 records in Kunstbib. The next project is to close the gaps in Kunstbib (literature up to 1970 and 1987-1991). For the period up to 1970 the bibliography is now being made available online and will be part of Kunstbib from autumn 2001. The National Library in Oslo hosts the database.

Eila Rämö, Information Specialist, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland