Section of Art Libraries

Annual Report
September 1998-August 1999

Scope

Membership

Officers

Secretary & Information Coordinator - Geert-Jan Koot, Head, Rijksmuseum Library, PO Box 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Tel: (31) 20 6747250; Fax: (31) 20 6747001; Email: g.koot@rijksmuseum.nl

Treasurer - Catherine Heesterbeek-Bert, Librarian, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 9, rue du Musee, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium. Tel: (32) 2 508 3211; Fax: (32) 2 508 3232; Email: pc29@fine-arts-museum.be

Membership of the Committee 1999-2001

Svetlana Artamonova

Jeannette Dixon

Javier Docampo

Véronique Goncerut Estebe

Ana Paula Gordo

Herlof Hatlebrekke

Ada Kolganova

Geert-Jan Koot

Francoise Lemelle

Anja Lollesgaard

John Meriton

Ulrike Michalowsky

Michiel Nijhoff

Deborah Shorley

Olga Sinitsyna

Nancy Stokes

Marie-Claude Thompson

Corresponding Members, Observers, Special Advisers

Josephine Andersen

Veronica Lavin Isax

Elsa Barbarena

Margaret Shaw

Meetings

Chair: Jeannette Dixon (as above) Secretary and Information Coordinator: Geert-Jan Koot (as above) Treasurer: John Meriton, Head of Public Sercvices, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom. Tel: (44) 0207 9422388, Fax: (44) 0207 9422401. Email: j.meriton@vam.ac.uk

Financial Report - Geert-Jan Koot reported on behalf of the Treasurer, Catherine Heesterbeek-Bert, circulating a summary he had prepared of her detailed report. No project money was spent during the year. Administrative funds were augmented by the sale of the distribution list and the Getty=s sponsorship of the Newsletter. Money was spent primarily on the production and printing of the Newsletter. The financial report was accepted as circulated. It was noted that the Section still has funds available. Newsletter report - The editor, Geert-Jan Koot, reported on the Newsletter production. Two Newsletters, numbers 43 and 44 were issued.

• Increase of circulation up to 1200 copies.
• Increase of print quality by the new printer Titus Wilson.
• Decrease of printing costs.
• Mailing list count 320 addresses.
• Issue no.45 to be published in November 1999 [closing date for copy 30 October, 1999].

The editor was complimented on the wealth of information they contained and members were asked to continue to submit their reports.

Projects

Sources of Information on artists born in 1950 and later

• In countries with no information sources in the area, or with some but still incipient and scattered, where there are professional associations or other institutions capable of undertaking the work of collecting, organising and making available the information, the basic work of compiling from scratch should be promoted, resulting in one or several databases concerning the artists of the nationality or region.
• In more advanced countries, where there are already available several information sources in the field, what should be done is a work of compiling and harmonising such sources, in order to improve their usability and usefulness to the entire community.

A Working Group comprising Ana Paula Gordo, Olga Sinitsyna, Anja Lollesgaard, Margaret Shaw, Marie-Claude Thompson, Jeannette Dixon and Poot Veraprasert, was asked to met and reported to the Standing Committee. The original proposal for the project was abandoned, and a new proposal will be drafted taking into consideration the variations of source material available in different countries. It was decided that one approach to the issue of access to contemporary artists' documentation is to promote standard cataloging of artists' ephemera, and to encourage the participation of libraries in on-line cooperative cataloging. Next year's open session for the conference will be devoted to this issue.

Multilingual Glossary for art librarians

International Directory of Art Libraries

Because of the high number of on-line edits, a new mailing is not felt necessary for two to three years. Delegates reflected a high number of regular usage of the Directory.

Translations of the Art Section Brochure

Future Conferences

Jerusalem 2000

Boston 2001

Publications

Section of Art Libraries Newsletter, Edited by Geert-Jan Koot (No. 43, 1998, No. 44, 1999). Also available electronically at:
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s30/news/4302.htm and 4401.htm

• Papers presented at the Amsterdam conference Section of Art Libraries workshop and open sessions were published as follows:
  

Art Libraries Journal, vol. 23 (1998) no. 4:

• Digital image libraries and the teaching of art and architectural history / Angela Giral (p. 18-25) revised paper.
  

Art Libraries Journal, vol. 24 (1999) no. 1:

• Censorship of art books in the Soviet Union and its effects on the arts and on art libraries / Olga Sinitsyna (p.4-9). Also available electronically at
  http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/067-101e.htm

• The Dutch library in Paris / Anneke Kerkhof (p.23-27). Also available electronically at:
  http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/037-101e.htm

• Museum libraries: from hidden treasures to treasured information centers / Michiel Nijhoff (p. 28-32). Also available electronically at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/108-145e.htm

INSPEL, vol. 33 (1999), no.1:

• Museum libraries: from hidden treasures to treasured information centers / Michiel Nijhoff (p. 29-34). Also available electronically at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/108-145e.htm

• Censorship of art books in the Soviet Union and its effects on the arts and on art libraries / Olga Sinitsyna (p.35- 42). Also available electronically at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/067-101e.htm

• The Dutch library in Paris / Anneke Kerkhof (p.43-53). Also available electronically at:
  http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/037-101e.htm

• Kaleidoscopic classifications: redefining information in a world cultural context / Barbara Mathé (p. 54-60). Also available electronically at:
  http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/109-145e.htm

Conference Programme, Bangkok, 20-28 August 1999

Open Session

The Open Session was held on Tuesday 24 August on the theme Electronic art information - creating it, disseminating it, archiving it - is it worth the cost? Over 80 people attended this session, although no simultaneous interpretation was available. John and Marie-Claude Thompson prepared French translations of the papers which were distributed before the session.

Connecting art images and bibliographic data: creating a tool for distance education through collaboration
Roger Durbin, The University of Akron Libraries, Akron, USA

Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/007-112e.htm
To be published in Art Libraries Journal, vol. 25 (2000) no. 2.

ABSTRACT: Collaboration and cooperation with other agencies is about the only way a small non-profit art museum and its library can hope to create and disseminate its collections through a web-based program, and to use the product for off-site education in the surrounding community. Creating a web site and database is a difficult process, considering the number of constituencies involved B the art library itself; the Museum staff, curators, and administration; plus, the other collaborators and sponsors. Keeping the page up to date is another factor. At some point, the partners disappear, while the ongoing work that must be done (without all the expertise required to set up the thing in the first place) is still there. Such issues go to the point of whether all the effort is worth it. Planning is crucial. This paper describes and focuses on one such project. The project is a joint effort sponsored by the Ameritech company through a sizeable grant, and involves the Akron Art Museum, The University of Akron (its Libraries, New Media Center, and education faculty), and the state-wide library and multimedia consortium, OhioLink. The project combines the machine-readable cataloguing of the museum's library with the creation of a web-site that includes images of the museum's permanent art collection. The purpose of the grant was to find the necessary software to connect bibliographic information with image data in both the library's catalogue (which it shares with the university) and the web-based database. Once completed, parts of this art/library web product can be refashioned into an important and accessible educational tool for use within the museum itself, out in the greater metropolitan area, and wherever Internet-based web resources can reach.

Network access to visual information: a study of costs and uses
Howard Besser, UCLA School of Education & Information, Los Angeles, USA

Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/021-112e.htm
To be published in Art Libraries Journal, vol. 25 (2000) no. 2

ABSTRACT: This paper summarizes a subset of the findings of a study of digital image distribution which focused on the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project (MESL) -- the first large-scale multi-institutional project to explore digital delivery of art images and accompanying text/metadata from disparate sources. This Mellon Foundation sponsored study evaluated the costs, infrastructure, and efforts involved in implementing the MESL project, as well as user reaction to functionality. The study also examined costs of running analog slide libraries and compared these to costs and functionality associated with digital image distirbution. The paper will briefly discuss the cost-center models used to examine the distribution of digital and analog images, including: creating digital images and metadata, mounting and distributing digital images, maintaining a distribution house, running a slide library, and an analysis of hybrid image libraries. It will present a comparison of user interfaces and search engines from the MESL universities. It will also report on the results of focus groups discussing faculty adoption of digital images for classroom use.

Las bases de datos sobre artes plásticas y arquitectura mexicanes: necesidad, logros, problemàtica = Mexican art and architecture databases: needs, achievements, problems
Elsa Barbarena, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Mexico D.F., Mexico

Spanish version available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/087-112s.htm
English version available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/087-112e.htm
To be published in Art Libraries Journal, vol. 25 (2000) no. 2

ABSTRACT: Mexico has played an important role in art and Architecture since the prehispanic, colonial, modern and contemporary periods, and has contributed not only to spread mexican culture but to enrich the art world. The core of the artistic and architectural research is the work itself, painting, sculpture, monument, followed by critical studies and finally reinforced by the bibliographical tools, such as indexes, abstracts, encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, etc. At the international level , it has been detected a lack of diffusion of Mexican art and architecture in indexes and abstracts. The reasons could be, among others: lack of continuity in their publications, the use of the Spanish language, lack of interest in mexican art and architecture, and sporadic financial resources. Nevertheless, even though conditions are not the best, the database development in these disciplines has achieved several goals, among them: the index of the magazine Artes de Mexico in CD-ROM, the database Pepenar ( a union catalog of Latin American art and architecture periodicals), the databases Latinoarte, Mexicoarte, Inbart, Artex, Bexart, and recently the cultural information system of the Mexican cultural ministry, besides the inclusion of approximately 2,000 Mexican contemporary artists in the union list of artists names and the participation in the international directory of art libraries. The problems are centered on the standardization of the information, and in the compatibility of the computer program, together with the lack of a continuous support of the interested organizations. People who elaborate databases are certain of the cultural richness of their countries, and they commit themselves to spread it in spite of the difficulties involved.

Workshop

The Workshop was devoted to the memory of Jacqueline Viaux. In 1973 Mme. Viaux first began organizing an art libraries sub-section within IFLA. By the 1977 IFLA meeting in Brussels, there was a round table of art librarians within IFLA. By the 1981 conference in Leipzig, this had become the official Section of Art Libraries, chaired by Mme. Viaux. She died at the age of 85 on Saturday October 10, 1998.

The interactive Workshop was held on Thursday 26 August at the Silpakorn University on the theme Blurring the boundaries: Should art librarians work with archivists, curators, educators, or become more specialized?
The session opened with an overview of work being done to document contemporary artists in Thailand. In a Powerpoint demo, Mr. Poot Veraprasert presented highlights of a new CD-ROM produced by Slipakorn University. Following this presentation, the other two speakers presented the main points of their papers, and formulated four provocative questions for group discussions. The participants divided up into small groups of about 10 each for 30 minutes of discussion. These discussions were very animated, and it was very interesting to discuss practices in art libraries in the different countries. In this format, everyone got to speak, and the exchange of ideas was very stimulating. Although the language problem was sometimes evident, the compelling nature of the discussion caused all to rise above their inhibitions to share with the group. A moderator from each group reported the major points in a plenary discussions. There was a bit of translating done in Russian, and a significant amount in French during the plenary reporting. Sixty-five people attended the Workshop, which was held at Silpakorn University.

Electronic resources on art in Thailand (ERA): a trial of Silpakorn University Library
Poot Veraprasert, Central Library Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/074-157e.htm

ABSTRACT: Since its establishment in 1934, Silpakorn University has been recognized as the oldest and one of the best educational institutes on art and design in Thailand. Its library is said to contain the best collection in the country of various kinds of materials concerning art and art education. However, in the past, the Silpakorn University Library had a limited capacity to serve the public due to the insufficient number of books and materials available and to the limited physical space. In order to expand its capability 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 online databases including information useful both for the public and for professional artists and designers. This paper describes the results of the research work performed so far. Our experience suggests that for faster and probably better results art librarians should work cooperatively with the experts from relevant fields rather than attempting to acquire this expertise.

The art librarian as mediator: the art of being a librarian
Wilbert Helmus, Rijksmuseum Research Library, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Petra van den Born, Library Amsterdam Historical Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/075-157e.htm

CONCLUSION: The real art librarian, we conclude, is one with the capacity to mediate and exchange: specialised in actively guiding clients to relevant sources, bridging gaps between clients and sources and clients and specialists. In other words, the librarian is a personal agent of information exchange with whom archivists, curators and educators should work.

Information literacy in the electronic arts library: strategies for the hybrid professional
Aniko L. Halverson, California Institute of the Arts Library, Valencia, USA and Joye Volker, Institute of the Arts Library, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Available electronically: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/999-157e.htm
To be published in IFLA Journal

CONCLUSION: It has been said that the electronic library will render the librarian obsolete. This is not at all the case; in fact, the proliferation of electronic resources available for use in art libraries has created an increased need for human interaction. Librarians have been called upon to re-invent themselves as Hybrid Professionals. The impact of the convergence of technologies which mediate knowledge, as it heightens educational potential, has compelled us to evolve. It falls to us as art librarians, in collaboration with academic and network staff, to translate new formats into a set of strategic actions to allow visual arts students to acquire the necessary skills to become information literate. This is our imperative not only as it relates to their studies, but also in their future careers as lifelong learners.

Relationships with other bodies

ICA/CLA International Guide to Literature and Art Archives in Museums
There has been no new development from this group.

Other Events

The Art Documentation Advisory Group was brought together again in May 1999 for a conference of art librarians in Moscow, supported by a grant from the Open Society of the SOROS Foundation. The presenters were a combination of Russian librarians and information specialists and members of the ADAG group. There was representation from Australia, Portugal, United States, U.K., and Denmark. Three days of conference sessions covered topics ranging from artists books to on-line art information. There were several papers about the history of Russian art libraries and the formation of their collections. It was an excellent opportunity to meet new colleagues and see all the changes in Russia since the IFLA meeting there in 1991.

Action Plan 1999-2000

In general, the Art Section will continue to explore ideas to bring together useful tools for use of art researchers and artists. The Section will also try to collaborate with other groups within IFLA, especially in the areas of cataloging, collection development and preservation.

The International Directory of Art Libraries on-line will continue to be updated, both with contact information, and with URL's for the libraries' Web page. The possibility of adding fields to describe a library's collection that doesn't have a Web page will be explored.

Working groups will develop plans for the documentation of contemporary artists; support the translations of the Art Section Brochure; and figure out how best to publish the additional language versions of the Multilingual Glossary on-line.

The IFLA Art Section mailing list has been developed to carry on communications during the year. It is being maintained by the staff of the Gulbenkian Foundation Library.

National reports of art librarianship in all the participating countries will continue to be solicited and published in the section's newsletter. These reports serve as a state of the art report on activities, associations, and projects in different countries.

Topics for next year's sessions:

1. Open session - Cataloguing ephemera in the art library: towards integrated access. Sub-topics include artists files, cataloguing standards, and integrated access.
2. Workshop - Art reference in the digital age. Sub-topics electronic reference, user training, library staff education, and providing access through on-line cataloguing.

Jeannette Dixon and Geert-Jan Koot
Chair and Secretary, IFLA Section of Art Libraries
September 1999