arlis/na celebrates 15th anniversary in nation's capital

ARLIS/NA CELEBRATES 15TH ANNIVERSARY IN NATION'S CAPITALAuthor(s): Caroline Backlund, Sheila Klos, Milan R. Hughston, Amy Navratil Ciccone, CathyWhitehead, Amy Lucker, Susan Annett, Ray Anne Lockard, Mary Graham, Jane Collins,Karen Meizner, Paula J. Baker, Kathe Chipman, Rosann Auchstetter, Rochelle S. Elstein,Martha H. Hall, Claire Petrie, Matthew Hogan, Jack Robertson, Lamia Doumato, Jean Hines,Kathy Zimon, Margaret Prescott, Antje B. Lemke, Sally Hanford, Therese Gurski, Jennifer...Source: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 6,No. 2 (Summer 1987), pp. 51-52, 54-62, 64-84Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27947744 .

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Art Documentation, Summer, 1987 51

ARLIS/NA CELEBRATES 15TH ANNIVERSARY IN NATION'S CAPITAL

ARLIS/NA members returned this year to Washington for their 15th Annual Conference after an absence of 12 years. And what a change it was! ARLIS was in its infancy in 1972 when 277 members turned up for the Third Annual Con ference. The schedule was relatively simple with five general sessions, three workshops, six committee meetings, three tours, a joint meeting with CAA, plus the membership meet ing and a luncheon. Room rates at the conference hotel, the

Washington Hilton, ranged, I hesitate to report, from $23 to $32 a night!

As we all know, it's not like that any more. Not only are ARLIS conferences more expensive to plan and to attend but they have grown greatly in size and complexity. The member ship expects increasingly sophisticated programs covering a wide range of topics to meet its greater professional diversity and subject specialization. This year 474 of you attended the conference, lured by the richness and variety of its programs. These included 25 main sessions (in which 35 outside speak ers participated), four workshops, nine SIG and TOL meet ings, 15 computer project demonstrations, and 14 special group and committee meetings. The latter were requested by SIGs, TOLs and other groups to address special concerns, adding greatly to the variety of conference offerings. In addi tion, there were 16 separate tours and scheduled visits to 11 area art and architecture libraries.

An important innovation was the Computer Project Dem onstrations planned by the Computer SIG under Henry Pisciotta's direction. Scheduled throughout the conference to enable members to observe varied computer applications in art libraries and visual resource collections, they included microcomputer programs written by ARLIS members, the In ventory of American Sculpture, and an electronic magazine.

Another first for the conference program was a meeting of first-time attendees and new members, planned by James

Boyles. President Susan Craig and past Board members stopped by to offer a warm welcome, explain the structure of ARLIS, and encourage the participation of new members in ARLIS activities and future conference planning. The meeting was well attended and there are plans to keep a dialogue going with the group throughout the year.

The social events at the conference got off to a spectacular start with a beautiful buffet reception held in the spacious main court of the National Gallery's East Building, following the convocation. Three loan exhibitions were open for mem bers to view, undisturbed by the usual crowds: "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice," "Alexander Archipenko," and the "Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent." The re ception was made possible through the generous support of Ars Libri, Ltd. and Harry Abrams, Inc. The next evening, mem bers were treated to a second splendid reception and buffet supper in the great hall of the National Portrait Gallery. Fol lowing a welcome from Director Alan Fern, members were free to view the Portrait Gallery's collections and visit the handsome library which serves the Portrait Gallery, the Na tional Museum of American Art and the Archives of American Art. Another truly memorable evening was had thanks to our friends at Ars Libri!

To provide an opportunity for ARLIS members to see some of the area's art museums and galleries, historic sites and research collections, 16 separate tours were scheduled. These included a trip to the White House (no waiting in line!), four opportunities to visit the Old Executive Office Building (surely one of the most beautiful architectural sites in Washington), the Department of State reception rooms furnished with ex ceptionally fine period furnishings of the 18th and early 19th century, and tours to Dumbarton Oaks and Georgetown, the Phillips Collection and the Textile Museum, the Dupont Circle area galleries, two trips to the Folger Shakespeare Library, Old Town Alexandria, the Seventh Street art galleries, and an art and architecture tour of Baltimore.

Events held away from the hotel included two oppor tunities to visit the National Archives: four special programs at the Library of Congress with visits to the Preservation Of fice, the Processing Services and the Prints and Photographs Division; and a presentation on resources in American art at the National Museum of American Art. A two-day trip to

Williamsburg was highly successful. Not only did Pat Lynagh, tour coordinator, drive the van but she also scheduled a rich program of special events at Williamsburg museums and libraries.

If members returned home stimulated but exhausted it was not surprising, and perhaps it was too rich a diet for some. But planning the conference was, in part, a nightmare of scheduling for the conference committee, trying to fit into a limited amount of time and into an already busy schedule the

many requests for sessions and special meetings. Some members complained (as happens every year) of over-sched uling and the frustrations of having to make choices. But no one was expected to attend every program and the planners assumed that members would welcome having a choice. At the same time, it is encouraging that there is such a high level of interest in attendance at conference programs and ac tivities. But I, for one, am very glad that program scheduling is going to receive careful scrutiny by the newly formed Task Force on Conference Planning. One important need, re quested by many of you and which I hope can be met, is the provision for more free time to give members the opportunity to meet informally with colleagues, to brainstorm and to

make new friends. Elsewhere in this conference issue, Milan Hughston reports

on the evaluations. I would like to add a few comments, as well. First, I want you to know how carefully your comments were read. Your praise, and there was a good deal of it, was enormously gratifying. But I looked, particularly, for ways in which improvements could be made. The Capital Hilton won high praise, in spite of its cost. Some of you lamented the lack of a coffee shop (a point very well made). As for overheated meeting rooms, if there is a way to guarantee proper room temperatures, I would like to know! It is not something, alas, that can be incorporated into ARLIS hotel contracts. In gen eral, hotel selection is a complicated process and not, unfor tunately, a very flexible one. When some of you suggested a smaller, less expensive hotel, I shared your concerns. There is no question that our conferences are increasingly expensive.



52 Art Documentation, Summer, 1987

However, when ARLIS meets in big cities, the choice is often, of necessity, a more expensive hotel. Small hotels are usually out of the question because ARLIS conferences, although characterized as small to medium in attendance, place excep tionally heavy demands on the hotel for meeting rooms of varying size. Our well-attended exhibits, for example, seem to require a larger area every year.

Speaking of exhibits, ARLIS has, as many of you know, an exceptionally loyal group of publishers and book dealers who regularly exhibit (see list in this issue). Their presence at our conferences is one of the features considered most important by attendees. We must, therefore, provide greater oppor tunities for members to spend concentrated time in the ex hibits area?something many of you have requested. This will receive increased priority, I am sure, in future conference planning.

The red-and-slate-blue conference publications with their book logo designed and produced by Kevin Osborn (1986

Wittenborn winner) of Research & Design Associates won extensive praise. The handsome graphics, clarity of layout, and useful content were mentioned by many of you. The matching badges with names in large type were very popular as well. This year's goal was to produce a distinctive and practical design package that could be used for future con ferences and thus provide considerable savings in time, effort and expense. A look at next year's conference graphics and the report from the publications subcommittee will indicate

whether this goal is being met. Finally, a word of special thanks to the many persons who

worked so hard to make this conference a success, par ticularly the individual program planners and the conference hosts-members of the local D.C./Maryland/Virginia chapter. I

wish also to express special gratitude to the National Gallery of Art for its support of my ARLIS/NA conference work these past two years. Serving as the conference chairman has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, chiefly because of the opportunity it provided to work with many of you and learn from your varied skills and expertise. Together we pro duced a conference of which, I believe, we can all be proud.

Caroline Backlund 1987 ARLIS/NA Conference Chairman

February 15

The auditorium of the National Gallery of Art was the set ting for the fifteenth annual ARLIS/NA convocation. Henry Mill?n, Dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, welcomed the conference attendees to Washington and to the National Gallery of Art. ARLIS/NA President Susan Craig welcomed the audience to the conference. She thanked Mr. Mill?n for the Gallery's most gracious hospitality in hosting the convocation and reception, and thanked Ars Libri, Ltd. and Harry N. Abrams for their generous support of the reception. Her thanks to Caroline Backlund, Conference Chair, for a truly outstanding conference were reinforced by enthusiastic ap plause from the audience.

Ms. Craig then began the program by introducing Lynette Korenic, Chair of the Travel Award Committee. Ms. Korenic announced the expansion of the awards during 1986, from one award to three, each with a distinct purpose (see inset). Marc Zeitschik from Clearwater Publishing Company pre sented the 1987 Clearwater Travel Award to Ute Wachsmann Linnan, a student at the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Charles Chadwyck-Healey presented the

Chadwyck-Healey Professional Development Award to Eliz abeth DeMarco, Public Service Librarian at the Munday Branch of the Onondaga County Public Library. Gail Gilbert was presented the G.K. Hall Conference Attendance Award by Donna Sanzon? of G.K. Hall. Ms. Gilbert is Head, Margaret M. Bridwell Art Library at the University of Louisville.

President Susan Craig then introduced Jack Perry Brown, Chair of the 1985 Wittenborn Award Committee, who pre sented the 7th Annual Wittenborn Award for three outstand ing publications. Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Co/lection of the Baltimore Museum of Art, by Brenda Richardson, pub lished by the Baltimore Museum of Art, was honored for being "a sparkling combination of biography and art history, with readable text, precise notes and scholarly detail, and excellent production." Peter Hastings Falk's Who Was Who in American Art, published by Sound View Press, was described as "a labor of love, a reference work of enduring value." The award to Edith Appleton Standen's book, European Post

Medieval Tapestries and Related Wall Hangings in the Metro politan Museum of Art, honors "a work of careful, insightful scholarship and a lifetime of connoisseurship, respectfully and elegantly presented." Karen McKenzie, Chair of the 1986

Wittenborn Award Committee, presented the 8th Annual Wittenborn Award to two publishers. Penumbra Press was presented an award of excellence "for its ongoing commit ment to the publishing of source documents in Canadian art history, together with excellence of design." Martha Sandweiss's exhibition catalogue, Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace, published by the Amon Carter Museum, was hon ored as "a work of scholarship, sensitive interpretation and elegant design."

The annual presentation of the Gerd Muehsam Award fol lowed. Jeannette Downing, Chair of the 1986 Gerd Muehsam

Award Committee, presented the award to Sigrid Docken Mount for her paper "Evolutions in African Art Exhibition Cat alogues." The paper covers the study and documentation of African art by tracing the development of the exhibition catalogue as a scholarly resource. Ms. Mount wrote the paper while earning her M.L.S. at Indiana University. She also holds a masters degree in art history and has studied and taught art in Africa. She is currently Arts Bibliographer at Vanderbilt University.

Caroline Backlund presented the second ARLIS/NA Dis tinguished Service Award to Antje Bultman Lemke (see inset). In accepting the award Ms. Lemke noted that she was par ticularly happy because she follows Bernard Karpel in receiv ing this honor. She said that the award is important to her "because the turning point in art librarianship from individual efforts to the systematic search for excellence came with the founding of ARLIS/NA fifteen years ago. ARLIS/NA has made it possible to increase our effectiveness and to broaden our

mission of bringing art to society." Janet Stanley, Librarian, National Museum of African Art,

introduced the keynote speaker, Sylvia H. Williams, Director of the National Museum of African Art. Ms. Williams began her address by referring to the landmark report, Museums for a New Century, which provides an excellent critical exam ination of the state of museums in the U.S. Lacking in the re port is explicit discussion of museum libraries. Ms. Williams stressed the inextricable link between museum collections, exhibitions, and libraries, asking whether our museum librar ies are more than simply adequate to support research: are they properly staffed, and can they service the attendance seen in today's museums? She then turned to a brief history of the National Museum of African Art and its current build ing project. She illustrated her discussion with slides of the Smithsonian building project and examples of African art scheduled for inclusion in the inaugural exhibitions in the new building. The textiles and sculpture which she discussed superbly illustrated Ms. Williams' final remark that "works of art are a profound record of human achievement and a mea sure of society's greatness."

Following Ms. Williams' address the audience adjourned to the soaring main lobby space of the East Building for a sump tuous reception, and to the museum's galleries where many conferees enjoyed the exhibitions, "Henri Matisse, the Early Years in Nice 1916-1930," and "The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent."

Sheila Klos ARLIS/NA Secretary Pro Tern




SNAPSHOTS OF THE 1987 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

Clockwise from upper left: Nancy Allen converses with Distinguished Service Award winner Antje .

Lemke; Conference Chairman Caroline Backlund, Krystyna Wasserman, Ralph Backlund; Neal Turtell and 1988 Conference Pro

gram Chairman Lois Swan Jones; 1987 ARU SI A President Jeff rey

Horre//takes office; 1986ARLISINA President Susan Craig addresses the Membership Meeting.




SNAPSHOTS OF THE 1987 WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

Clockwise from upper left: Con vocation Keynote Speaker Sylvia Williams; Conference Chairman Caroline Back/und receives ac

colades from conferees; Doris

Freitag and Conference "Roving Photographer" Wolfgang Freitag; Ute Wachsmann-Linnan receives Clearwater Travel Award from Marc Zeitschik; 1988 Conference Local Arrangements Chairman

Milan Hughston gives brief sketch of next year's plans.




ARLIS/NA DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

In 1984 the Art Libraries Society of North America estab lished a Distinguished Service Award, the purpose of which is to honor an individual who has made an outstanding national or international contribution in the field of art librarianship, visual resources curatorship, or a related field. The first recip ient of this award, presented posthumously in 1986, was Ber nard Karpel, former librarian of the Museum of Modern Art. The second such award was presented this year at the con vocation of the 1987 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference to Antje Bultmann Lemke, Professor Emeritus at the School of Infor mation Studies, Syracuse University. Caroline Backlund, Head of Reader Services at the National Gallery of Art and Chair man of the 1987 Annual Conference, presented the award to Professor Lemke after these remarks:

"We are honoring this evening the second recipient of the ARLIS/NA Distinguished Service Award, Antje Bultmann Lemke. Antje Lemke was born and educated in Germany. She graduated from the University of Leipzig and later became assistant librarian and instructor at the State Library of Thuringia. Escaping from the Eastern Zone of Germany at the end of World War II, she was rescued and befriended by the late distinguished art historian, Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, who

was living in Berlin at the time. Elizabeth Holt aided Antje's coming to this country after the war where she received a post-graduate fellowship at Bryn Mawr College. She then went to Syracuse University where she received her Masters Degree in Library Information Science.

Joining the faculty at Syracuse University, she first taught music librarianship and archive and records management. Antje later initiated the teaching in this country of courses in art and museum librarianship, a subject to which she has dedicated herself ever since. She received a Guggenheim Fel lowship in 1960-61 during which time she worked on a study of the Brothers Grimm. Further teaching included the instruc tion of librarians in Europe and in Africa in the importance of archival record keeping. In 1977 she introduced courses in art librarianship in Australia, returning there again in 1984. She is the author of many books and articles, including the transla tion from the Latin to English of Aldus Manutius and his The saurus Cornucopiae of 1496 and the Museum Companion. Re tired in 1986, Antje is currently pursuing research on the cultural history of books and libraries. Widely acclaimed as a teacher, it is appropriate that the

recommendation for this award came from a group of Antje's devoted former students from the Western New York Chapter of ARLIS/NA. Antje, it is a great privilege to present this award to you."

The following is the text of the award that was presented to Professor Lemke: We are a relatively new profession, and it is therefore good

that we recognize one whose greatest gift has been to deline ate the markings of the art librarian. Antje Bultmann Lemke, bearer of a great scholarly legacy, you migrated to our land and found your place as the sympathetic and loving teacher and mentor of those who would participate in the advance ment of knowledge and the enjoyment of art. For thirty-five years you toiled in this vineyard, and many are the fruits of your labors. Generations of students at the School of Informa tion Studies of Syracuse University carry with them the mem ory of you as teacher, librarian, scholar, and friend. Your rev erence for life, expressed as compassion, concern, and deep faith, has been combined with a commitment to excellence and a sharing of your knowledge of the culture of the old and new worlds.

Your dedication to the training of art librarians initiated the first course devoted to our profession, and has provided the example for other such training programs across the country. Your passion for the education of art librarians has also been expressed in committee work for ARLIS/NA and in publica

tions that lay out the parameters of the field. As art librarian ship grows and strengthens, your example and inspiration will shine before us.

This award is our attempt to let you know of our gratitude and affection.

MEMBERSHIP MEETING February 16

Following a delicious luncheon members listened to guest speaker Peter Blake, noted architect, critic, and former editor of Architectural Forum. Using "American Themepark" as his topic, Mr. Blake entertained the audience with speculation on the potential for improving our cities by their development as themeparks capable of attracting a never-ending stream of tourists and improving America's balance of payments. The movement has already begun, according to Mr. Blake, with Chippendale highboy skyscrapers in New York, Crypto-Egyp tian skyscrapers in Portland, Oregon, and ranch houses in the Bronx. All could be part of a smart promotional effort on the part of the American tourist industry. By setting a national goal of turning the entire country into a themepark by the year 2000 we would provide exciting opportunities for all of our architects and city planners. The unique potential of sev eral cities was more fully explored: with minor modification Philadelphia can become "Libertyland," San Francisco can be "Tremorland," New York City's Little Italy would become "Mafialand," Boston can remain as it is, and poor Houston will have to be torn down and started fresh! Few cities es caped Mr. Blake's lampooning comments and everyone agreed that success is near if only we can find the leadership to promote his idea of fantasy as reality.

The membership meeting was called to order at 2:10 by ARLIS/NA President Susan Craig. After introducing members of the Executive Board, Ms. Craig reported briefly on high lights of the preconference Executive Board meetings, includ ing Board approval of the recently established ARLIS/

Montreal-Ottawa-Quebec chapter. Treasurer William Dane reported that the Society's financial

position is solid, with our major expenses comprised of man agement fees, annual conference costs, and publication costs. Responding to concerns expressed at the 1986 membership meeting, Mr. Dane described how the Society's investments are currently allocated and confirmed that ARLIS/NA has taken care to invest in financial institutions which do not sup port repressive governments.

Pamela Parry gave the Executive Director's report, describ ing a major accomplishment of 1986?the move of ARLIS/NA Headquarters to a professional and more permanent space in offices owned by Association Managers, Inc., in Tucson. Ms.

Parry remains as Executive Director, working fewer hours and devoting more time to planning and coordinating the Society's operations, as well as continuing her responsibilities as production manager for the Society's publications. Con tracting with AMI for clerical assistance has allowed ARLIS/ NA to solve some of the cyclical personnel needs and to meet software needs cooperatively. Computer equipment, a recep tionist's services, mailing services, access to office equip ment, and support staff to perform duties specified in our contract with AMI have all contributed to a more efficient operation at the Society's headquarters. The space and staff ing provide the physical and pyschological benefit of genuine headquarters and will continue to form a good base for the second fifteen years of ARLIS/NA.

Saying that in his view the role of the Executive Board is to manage the transactions of the Society and the role of the membership is to advance our professional goals, Vice President/President-Elect Jeffrey Horrell spoke about three forthcoming projects to which members can make positive contribution. A membership drive is underway with public librarians and visual resources professionals targeted as groups ARLIS/NA would like to encourage to join in greater




numbers. A fifteenth-anniversary development fund drive is beginning. An Executive Board task force concerned with codifying planning procedures for future conferences has been established. Members are encouraged to speak with board members and committee members about any and all of these projects.

Results of balloting for bylaws changes were announced by Susan Craig. All of the following changes were approved by wide margins: change of the membership renewal deadline date from April 1 to March 1 to facilitate earlier production of the ARLIS/NA Handbook and Directory of Members from autumn to spring; a global change in the wording of the bylaws to cover the change in name of the periodical publi cations which the Society issues; change in terminology of the Society's executive officers from Chairman to President and from Vice-Chairman/Chairman-Elect to Vice-President/ President-Elect; all Executive Board members will be in formed by the Chair of the Nominating Committee of election results rather than only the President; increase in the number of signatures required on nominating petitions from two to ten; requirement that all candidates for office supply written statements of goals, biographies, and photographs by June 15 for publication in Art Documentation; change of name for the Education Committee to Professional Development Com mittee; and the change of the Development Committee and the Professional Development Committee from ad hoc com mittees to standing committees.

Susan Craig thanked the members of the Washington, D.C. Conference Committee for the extremely successful and stim ulating conference which they created. She thanked Caroline Backlund, Conference Chair, in particular for her high stan dards, persistance, and knowledge of the Society which pro duced a conference beyond our hopes. Conference evaluation forms were distributed and members were once again encouraged to fill out the evaluations as well as contact members of the Executive Board Task Force on Conference Planning with any comments or suggestions they may have. Members of the task force are Caroline Backlund, Eileen Markson, Ann Abid, Jeffrey Horrell, and Pamela Parry. Ms. Craig then introduced Milan Hughston who provided infor mation about the 1988 conference to be held in Dallas. Plans for the February 4-11 conference at the Dallas Sheraton in clude in all-day outing in Fort Worth to allow members to visit three museums there, a joint session with College Art Association to take place in Houston, workshops, and plenty of Texas hospitality.

Sheila Klos, Western Regional Representative, spoke briefly about plans for the July 9-10, 1987, Western Regional Meet ing to be held in Santa Barbara. Scheduled sessions will include photography and publishing, effective budget preparation, videodiscs, special collections in Southern California, architecture of California and the West, and an

architectural walking tour of Santa Barbara. Further details will be published \nARLISINA Update.

Mary Williamson provided information on the 1987 IFLA Art Section conference to be held in Brighton, England, in August and the news that the 1988 conference will be held in Sydney, Australia, with the theme of "internationalism in art libraries."

The locations for future ARLIS/NA annual conferences were announced and discussion ensued regarding ARLIS/NA's commitment to meeting in the same city as the College Art Association on a regular schedule. Jack Perry Brown moved that "the Executive Board schedule annual meetings regularly

with College Art Association and in years when we choose not to meet with them that we staff a booth at CAA to explain our society and its goals."

Opinions expressed by members in attendance varied. Some agreed with the statement that meeting with CAA could not always be possible because the society depends on volunteers from local chapters to plan conferences and the same chapters can not be regularly burdened with this re sponsibility. The Society would have to consider seriously contracting with a conference planning professional to solve this problem of repeatedly meeting in a few major cities and depending on the same pool of volunteers. Some visual re sources professionals feel a significant financial burden dur

ing those years when ARLIS/NA does not meet in the same city as CAA. Many are forced to make a difficult choice be tween attending the ARLIS/NA conference and CAA. Some members felt that ARLIS/NA should consider meeting in con junction with other professional organizations than CAA, many of which have concerns related to those of our profes sion, e.g., Society of Architectural Historians, American Li brary Association, American Association of Museums. Con cern was expressed over the increased expense that exhibitors bear in exhibiting at two conferences when ARLIS/ NA and CAA meet in different cities.

The recommendation was made that ARLIS/NA consider the appointment of a conference planning committee which draws not only on members working in the geographic area of the conference. Local people would handle only the local arrangements, but sessions and other activities would be handled by other members. This idea was supported by sev eral members' statements that local guides do not need to be completely revised for cities which might be more frequently chosen as the conference site if we meet regularly with CAA (New York City, for example). A further comment in support of non-local conference planning was that if ARLIS/NA would scale down the number of sessions at each conference it might be possible to plan programs from a distance and also provide some relief to attendees who feel that there are now too many programs in our conferences and too many difficult choices to make in selecting sessions to attend. It was recom mended that the conference be composed of fewer programs.

Mr. Brown's motion was seconded by Joyce Ludmer and approved. As discussion continued, President Craig explained the rationale behind the selection of Dallas and Phoenix for the next two conferences. This is based in part on CAA's failure to select conference cities far enough in advance for our planning needs, as well as the gracious extension of invi tations by chapters to have the Society meet in Dallas and Phoenix, once again raising the point that we are dependent on the hard work of local volunteers to plan conferences. ARLIS/NA is not yet in a position to meet in cities where members will not host a conference.

Wolfgang Freitag moved that "the ARLIS/NA Executive Board consider the comments heard at the membership meeting regarding ARLIS/NA annual conference locations and joint meetings with CAA, and that the Executive Board make a decision on this subject at the mid-year board meet ing of 1987." The motion was seconded by Robert Kaufmann and approved. The Board will convey its decision to the mem bership after July, 1987.

Lynette Korenic, Chair of the Development Committee, was introduced. She announced the fifteenth-anniversary fund drive, the proceeds of which will be used solely to support publication of occasional papers. The goal is to raise $15,000 to support the publications program which is already gaining momentum with the publication in February of Occasional Paper No. 5, The Historical Bibliography of Art Museum Serials in the U.S. and Canada, and the forthcoming publication of Occasional Papers No. 6, Symposium on Authority Control, and No. 7, Procedural Guide to Automating an Art Library. The costs associated with production of these publications are substantial, yet the selling price of the publications has provided little profit which could be used to support the fi nancial needs of future papers. The occasional papers are currently funded from the Society's general operating funds, with the interest in publications now outstripping the Society's financial ability to produce them. The establishment of a separate operating fund to support the publication of occasional papers will eliminate this problem. Ms. Korenic announced that the fund drive begins immediately and that pledges had already been received, totaling more than $750, a good start for an important goal.

John Werenko, Assistant Dean, Herron School of Art, made a brief announcement about the proposed establishment of an archives of American art schools. The Archives of Ameri can Art does not cover this concern in a comprehensive man ner. Members were requested to complete a questionnaire which surveys the need for such an archive.




Moving on to new business, Susan Craig asked for the guidance of the membership on the way in which ARLIS/NA is organized into groups. In recent years there has been an increase in petitions for establishment of additional Special Interest Groups and Type of Library Groups. There has also been an increased interest in formal establishment by other groups to identify members with similar interests and to facil itate program planning for annual conferences. Ms. Craig gave a quick history of SIGs and TOLs. This status receives special support and priviledges from the Society in terms of conference program space, column space in Art Documenta tion, and limited financial support. The proliferation of groups has led to longer conferences due to the need to accommo date so many varied sessions as well as the groups' business meetings. Valid petitions from the Indigenous Art and Culture Group and the Women in Art Documentation Group have been received by the Executive Board. Decisions on approval have been delayed pending discussion by the membership on the direction the Society should take regarding the current group structure of ARLIS/NA. The Society is now in the posi tion to re-evaluate the current structure, perhaps to reorganize the structure and the type or level of support for any kind of group. Discussion followed with the opinion expressed that the Society already has many sub-groups and that we may be splintering our efforts. It was recommended that we consider alternate-year conference sessions from groups to limit the number of programs and relieve crowded conferences. Con ferences focusing on library activity sessions developed by the Society's sub-groups could alternate with conferences

which focus oh one or two themes. Some members felt strongly that this is undesirable because the SIG and TOL programs are the heart of the conference. Others added that single-theme conferences would present their own problems in terms of developing sessions that would have wide appeal and usefulness for the many varied interests which ARLIS/NA members have. Alternate-year theme conferences may

provide relief for SIG and TOL moderators and session plan ners who currently have only a few months to plan sessions before the May 1 deadline set by conference chairs for sub mitting session plans. It may present obstacles for some members in receiving professional leave or financial assis tance from their institutions in those years when a conference theme does not appear directly related to their job duties. Ultimately, many members agreed that something needs to be done because many people belong to several groups and have difficulty attending all of the sessions that they feel are relevant to their interests. Clive Phillpot made the following

motion, seconded by Joyce Ludmer: "I move that the Execu tive Board re-examine the groups of the Society and their organization and consider alternative means of encouraging members' interests." The motion passed and the Executive Board will begin to address the situation by contacting the boards of professional organizations with similar interests to seek advice on the structures they employ for sub-groups.

Mary Ashe, Chair of the Nominating Committee, reminded members that the committee welcomes nominations for the following positions which will be vacant in February 1988: Vice-President/President-Elect, Treasurer, Western Regional Representative, and Canadian Regional Representative.

A final motion was made by Jack Perry Brown and enthusi astically approved: that Susan Craig be thanked for a year of service and an expeditious membership meeting. The meet ing adjourned at 4:15 p.m.

Sheila Klos ARLIS/NA Secretary Pro-Tern

1987 CONFERENCE EVALUATION? An Informal Look at an Informal Survey

A quick look through the Washington conference evalua tion forms revealed no big surprises: the large majority of the respondants praised the program, its publications, and the

Capital Hilton. However, it is important to note that 170 eval uations were received, which represents about 35% of the conference attendence. Previous return rates have hovered around 11-15%.

The evaluation form was written with the hope that future conference planners could benefit from its remarks, whether polled or unsolicited. As expected, almost all responses were from ARLIS members who attend annually or semi-annually. Therefore, many of the comments reflect opinions on pre vious conferences in addition to suggestions for the future. The issue of ARLIS/NA's relationship to CAA evoked 81 un solicited responses: 46 urged ARLIS/NA to meet with CAA on a regular basis, and 35 responded negatively?hardly a clear mandate.

The question concerning the conference issue o? Art Docu mentation serving as a sufficient record of the conference in lieu of separately published abstracts elicited 87 positive re sponses and 68 negative. Many wrote that they would be willing to pay for more for the abstracts if expense was the primary issue.

Even though the majority of respondents expressed satis faction with the conference planning and subject matter in general, those that did respond with more than a "yes" or "no" echoed several themes:

Scheduling 1) a desire for fewer formal sessions, and more informal

discussion groups or round-tables 2) no night sessions, especially late evening 3) more co-sponsorship of sessions by SIG/TOL groups 4) fewer early morning business meetings (especially

8 a.m.)

Subject matter:

1) more presentation and participation by non-ARLIS members

2) more sessions/workshops on preservation and conservation

3) salary needs and job status within library/museum ad ministration should be addressed

4) continued emphasis (or even more) on computers and latest technology

5) more sessions on collection evaluation/development. The majority of the responses used for this informal report

were polled midway through the conference, and should be interpreted with that in mind. Although no hard and fast di rectives emerge, those who did respond in detail should know that their answers are appreciated and noted.

Milan R. Hughston Amon Carter Museum

1988 Conference Co-Chair

WORKSHOP: SELF-STUDY PROCESS FOR ART LIBRARY AND VISUAL RESOURCES COLLECTIONS February 14

More than 40 people met on Saturday morning to partici pate in the Self-Study Process for Art Library and Visual Resources Collections Workshop, conducted by Herbert R. Kells of Rutgers. After an introduction to the purposes of the self-study process (e.g., to improve programs, provide the foundation for long-range planning, enhance communica tions among staff and management, stimulate review of pol icies and procedures), Kells led the group in a discussion of the methodology, beginning with establishing goals (what needs to be accomplished), analyzing the institution's strengths and weaknesses, comparing those against stan dards that say what should be done, how it is done, and what is needed to do it, collecting the data necessary to determine the reality versus the goal, and producing the final report.




The participants then broke into groups to analyze two case studies, applying the procedures and principles discussed earlier. The afternoon was spent presenting the results of the study groups, and analyzing the disparate conclusions.

Prior to attending the workshop participants were encour aged to read Kells' manual, Self-Study Processes: a Guide for Postsecondary Institutions (New York: Macmillan and the American Council on Education, 1983), which provided addi tional insight into the subject.

Amy Navratil Ciccone The Chrysler Museum

WORKSHOP: NON-BOOK DATABASE DESIGN February 14 and 15

Non-Book Database Design, a one-day workshop, was re peated on February 14 and 15, at the Computing Center of Gallaudet University. This workshop was planned by Pat Barnett, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amy Lucker, Brooklyn Museum, and Toni Petersen, AAT, and was run with the assis tance of Cathy Whitehead, AAT, and David DeLorenzo, Gal laudet University. Approximately 50 people participated over the course of the two days.

The workshop was geared toward slide librarians who are just beginning to automate their collections and are begin ning to assess the need for standards in their cataloging pro cedures. The advantages of shared cataloging in this milieu are just being realized. Many of the participants did not know, for example, that there are slide records on RUN, or that the MARC Visual Materials Format is being used successfully by several institutions.

The workshop introduced participants to a cataloging for mat developed using the MARCON database management system and thesaurus module. Field names and definitions were derived from the MARC Visual Materials Format. Sub ject fields corresponded to AAT facets. AAT staff, with help from AIRS, Inc. (the vendors of MARCON), loaded the seven completed AAT hierarchies into the thesaurus module. Four slide cataloging projects supplied sample records for input into the database. MARCON was chosen as the software for the workshop

because it is the only such software available which contains an interactive, hierarchical thesaurus feature. In addition, its data entry and searching are easy to teach in a one-day ses sion. At the outset, it was made clear to the participants that the format used in the workshop was merely an example

which would draw out the types of cataloging rules and au thority lists needed in a slide environment. The workshop was not intended to present a slide classification scheme nor a slide labeling system.

Toni Petersen introduced each session with a discussion of how the workshop was conceived and the advantages, de velopment, and implementation of authority control currently available. She described the types of authorities available and identified areas in which standard authority lists are weak or non-existent. She also noted the scarcity of subject indexing in slide collections, and informed the group of the experience of MIT and RPI in introducing subject terms into their databases.

Pat Barnett followed with a discussion of databases and what is available commercially. She tried to clear up prob lems with terminology in this area. Amy Lucker went over the particular fields and categories

of fields used in the sample database. It was pointed out that the purpose of building such a database was to aid in re trieval of information; therefore the types of information and the way and extent to which they are indexed are of utmost importance. The sample database, which was built by the workshop

planners prior to the workshop, contained 40 complete rec

ords, and 10 "skeleton" records which the participants worked on completing during the afternoon portions of the work shop. All of the completed AAT hierarchies were loaded onto one computer from which it was projected for all of the par ticipants to see. At their workstation terminals participants (3-4 at a terminal) had access to the sample database and the Materials hierarchy of the AAT. This gave them an oppor tunity for hands-on experience with MARCON's interactive ca pabilities and with the AAT.

During the afternoon parts of the workshop, Amy Lucker led the group in reviewing sample completed records and then had the participants catalog a few records on their own.

The workshop raised many questions and sparked discus sion among the group. It is clear that most slide librarians tend to see their collections as unique and with special needs. One of the aims of the workshop was to point out that local needs do not have to be relinquished in order to maintain universal standards. The lack of slide cataloging rules was obvious. For example, there was no consensus on how slide titles or structure names are established.

The workshop fostered communication among slide li brarians and raised questions regarding the development of cataloging standards in automated systems. Participants were very positive about the workshop, and expressed inter est in future sessions relating to, and expanding upon, the topics and questions brought up by the workshop.

Cathy Whitehead Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus

Amy Lucker Brooklyn Museum

WORKSHOP: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN USING ART SALES INFORMATION SOURCES AND PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS February 14

Rich in unique resources on art sales and photographic archives, the National Gallery of Art provided a propitious location for this one-day methodological workshop which

was organized by Lois Swan Jones (North Texas State Univer sity) and Christine Smith (Getty Center) and co-sponsored by the Education Committee and the Serials SIG. Caroline Back lund and Lynne Woodruff, both of the National Gallery of Art, served respectively as consultant and assistant for the

workshop. Ruth Philbrick (National Gallery of Art) talked briefly about

the Library and Photographic Archives. Founded in 1941, the Library functioned originally as a curatorial and staff refer ence library. With its move to the East Building in 1979 and with the establishment of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the Library expanded the scope of its collec tion to encompass all aspects of western art and architecture. The Photo Archives also covers the history of western art and contains nearly four million microforms.

Carol Terry (Art Institute of Chicago) gave an overview of sales information, noting that these sources tend to fall into three categories of providing bibliographical data, access points, analyses of the art market, or combinations thereof. Using an annotated bibliography prepared for the workshop, Ms. Terry described sales sources, including library cata logues, union lists, retrospective tools covering individual art ists, indexes providing broad or specific coverage of auctions, periodicals, yearbooks, microform collections, and online services.

Workshop attendees were then divided into six small groups for demonstrations of the major tools. The partici pants were provided with a worksheet of thirty representative




reference problems to evaluate which of the resources gave pertinent information. Ms. Terry also presented the features of SCIPIO, an online database of auction catalogues which exceeds 65,000 records. Developed under the auspices of RLG, there are currently five inputting libraries. Already an excellent tool for current sales information, SCIPIO will be come increasingly important for retrospective searching as more of the participating libraries convert their holdings. Al though SCIPIO does not index individual artists or art works, its indexes are constructed from title-page information and provide flexibility in searching by several access points. Ms. Terry distributed examples of SCIPIO's ability to search by phrase and word for auction houses, catalogue titles, and names of collectors or collections.

Milan Hughston (Amon Carter Museum) described the Knoedler Library on Microfiche which makes available the dealer's extensive holdings of salon, exhibition, and sales cat alogues printed before 1973. Because it is expensive and lack ing an index, only a few institutions acquired complete sets before Knoedler decided to make portions of the collection available. The exhibition section comprises 6,000 catalogues, while the auction and sales catalogue portion consists of 13,000 titles on 11,000 fiche. The sales catalogues are strong for both international auction houses and lesser-known galleries. Especially Useful for tracing provenance is the inclu sion of annotations?indicating purchase price and buyer? made by Knoedler staff present at auctions. Mr. Hughston focused on the problem of information retrieval, noting that the Knoedler Library must be approached with specific citations for sales, often gleaned only after searching such standard reference tools as Lugt, Lancour, or B?n?zit. A sub ject index is being prepared by the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Ted Dalziel (National Gallery of Art) demonstrated Art Quest, the online version of the British publication, Art Sales Index. Since 1970, the database has been building its files for oils and watercolors and more recently for drawings and sculpture. ArtQuest follows DIALOG protocol very closely. Al though most searches are accomplished by combining the artist's name and a word from the title of an art work, the system also provides access by subject of the work, medium, dimensions, and date and place of sale. Mr. Dalziel noted that while ArtQuest is expensive, it is an excellent resource for

providing easy retrieval of sales information and for indicat ing whether a work is illustrated in a sales catalogue. Katherine Haskins (University of Chicago) presented two

pictorial archive sources. The Courtauld Institute's Witt Library Photo Collection, which is held by only three in stitutions in North America, is comprised of over one million images representing 50,000 artists. Covering painting from 1200 to the present, the microfiche is arranged by national school. Access is provided by a separately published checklist of artists. Although marred somewhat by poor reprographic quality, the inclusion of articles from the library's files and location information on the original works makes the Witt Library a valuable resource. In contrast, inconsistent indexing, coupled with insufficient sales data, make Christie's Pictorial Archive, based on the auction house's files, a poor choice for academic libraries according to the presenter. William Harkins (National Gallery of Art) demonstrated the

National Gallery Database. A major goal of the Photo Ar: chives' online catalog, which utilizes OCLC's LS/2000 system, was to adapt the MARC format to the archives' established cataloging practices to ensure future sharing.of information. Cataloging is for art works rather than for photographs. Data on photo sources, however, are components of the main bib liographic record and can be retrieved, thereby allowing searches for all the images of a given work. The system has powerful indexing features, and the Boolean operator "and" can be used. The project has focused on the National Gal lery's permanent collection so that only a small percentage of this vast image bank is automated. The adaptability of MARC and the flexibility of the system to the complex cataloging, retrieval, and circulation needs of the Photo Archives should encourage other visual resource collections to explore computerization.

Jack Robertson (University of Maryland) demonstrated the Marburger Index, a photographic inventory of art in Germany from medieval to modern times. Consisting of a half million images, the fiche are arranged by place names. Subject access to the Marburger Index is through ICONCLASS, a multi-volume reference providing vocabulary control, index ing, iconographie classification, and bibliographies. Using ICONCLASS, Mr. Robertson led the participants through searching the Marburger for depictions of smoking in art to illustrate the multiple-step approach to using this complex tool.

The workshop's primary intention of providing hands-on

experience with some of the scarcer art sales and photo ar chive sources had practical value for those participants on restricted budgets who are now better informed to determine

which resources best meet the needs of their clientele. As follow-up to the workshop, Dr. Jones is summarizing the quality of the research tools in answering the thirty reference questions. This summary, along with one prepared by Ray Anne Lockard (University of Pittsburgh) of the participants' evaluation of the session, will be distributed to the attendees and the presenters after the conference.

Susan Annett Beverly Hills Public Library

COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION IN THE ART LIBRARY? February 15

Henry Pisciotta (Carnegie-Mellon University), the coordi nator of this session sponsored by the Computer SIG, pro vided background on computer-assisted instruction in the art library (hereafter called CAI) to which presenters Patricia

Arnott, Lois Swan Jones and J. Russell Sales responded. In his introduction to the subject, Mr. Pisciotta stated that

the use of computers as educational tools may constitute the most forceful trend among educational institutions in the 1980s. Some of the strengths of CAI were outlined: individu alized lessons, self-paced instruction, distribution of lessons to convenient locations and times, reduction of staff time in repetitive and low-level teaching tasks and, recently, the com bination of text and illustrations.

The speakers discussed the potential of CAI based on their personal experiences. Patricia Arnott (Coordinator of Bibli ographic Instruction at the University of Delaware) described the general library instruction project designed at the Univer sity of Delaware. The Library has employed CAI since 1981 to teach basic library skills to freshmen English students. Orig inally programmed for the PLATO system, four lessons have been converted to run on the IBM Personal Computer and are presently being marketed. Available lessons include: card cat alog, periodical indexes, newspaper indexes, and government document indexes. In addition, four PLATO lessons on the citation indexes have been programmed and are used by up per-division and graduate students at the University of Delaware.

Ms. Arnott carefully advised that successful use of CAI in libraries requires that several criteria be met. Very little high quality, educationally sound courseware exists applicable to the needs of academic libraries. Courseware developed in house is time consuming to produce and requires consider able expertise but may ultimately be the best solution, in which case, the support of administration, faculty and sup port services is essential.

Lois Swan Jones (Coordinator of Art History at North Texas State University) presented information on the joint proposal she is co-authoring with William Treese (University of Califor nia at Santa Barbara) to automate her text entitled Art Re search Methods and Resources (2nd ed.). The online database which they are developing is aimed at students in art and art




history and generalists from other disciplines seeking art his torical information. They are striving to make their software,

which will include three concurrent databases (subject, anno tated entries of reference works, and help) as "user-friendly" as possible. The program is being planned to function on an IBM PC/XT, IBM PC/AT or compatible equipment with a hard disc drive and a minimum memory of 256K. The program is expected to provide information on the use of specific art reference works and their relationship to other appropriate tools.

Dr. Jones set forth the following questions concerning the development of this online art reference tutorial: (1) com mand-line vs. menu-driven protocol; (2) general or context sensitive help files; (3) whether encryption would be for the program, database or a specific function; (4) whether pur chasers should be able to edit the database (e.g., providing call numbers and locations); (5) what type of scrolling should be available; (6) subject access by key-word or full subject entry; (7) feasibility of downloading from the database; (8) procedures for marketing such a program. If there is sufficient interest within the art library profession, the authors plan to develop a pilot program and ship it to general users for trial use prior to marketing the finished product. The audience enthusiastically endorsed the need for such software.

The National Gallery of Art?NCR Interactive Video Project was described by J. Russell Sales (National Gallery of Art). The current package is a prototype not yet available to the public. However, it will be available at an entrance to the West Building of the National Gallery soon. The project was in spired by the video disc of the National Gallery of Art pub lished by Video Disc Publishers in 1983. Components of the

NGA-NCR Interactive Video Project include a modified per sonal computer, MS DOS operating system, 256K memory, two 5Va diskettes, keyboard, a 12" color graphics high-resolu tion monitor with touch-sensitive screen, and laser videodisc system. The user is able to alternate between text and video sequences and information in the program includes a menu driven daily calendar of events at the NGA, floorplan and tour of the galleries, and inquiries about individual works of art. The package is designed to assist NGA staff in handling in quiries from their six million annual visitors.

Mr. Pisciotta ended the session by briefly describing the Graphics Database Searching Tutorial designed cooperatively by librarians and teaching faculty at Carnegie-Mellon Univer sity. The purpose of the package is to instruct individuals in employing searching techniques and to provide them with immediate feedback. Several developments suggest that attributes of CAI

may be useful in art libraries: reduction in staffing has put personal reader assistance at a premium, collection growth complicates the tasks facing users, the increased availability of computing machinery, and, in some libraries, distribution of online catalogs and similar databases to users outside the

library buildings, make instructional packages necessary.

Ray Anne Lockard University of Pittsburgh

SEEING WITH NEW EYES: Re-Viewing Historic Ethnographic Photographs February 15

This program, the first sponsored by the Indigenous Art and Culture interest group, involved two art librarians and two art historians. The various research situations described shared the common element of placing the art librarian and/ or art historian in the position of being an art detective.

Christraud Geary, Rockefeller Senior Fellow, National Mu seum of African Art, discussed dating works of art and historical processes through photographs. The photographs creating Dr. Geary's database for her study were taken by

German ethnographers, military men, etc., in the Bamum Kingdon in Cameroon between 1902 and 1915. Once a date is assigned, through written records, the photographs can help to establish a chronology for the depicted art objects or archi tecture and the analysis of stylistic changes.

George Corbin, Lehman College (CUNY) Art Department, discussed his use of photographs in "salvage art history." Dr. Corbin used prints of ethnographic photographs and photo graphs of museum objects in his field research of Baining and Sulka Art in Papua New Guinea. By using the photographs of art, especially those in ceremonial context, the artists were able to provide valuable iconograhic and contextual data about the pieces previously unknown. Dr. Corbin concluded with a plea to archivists to include contemporary photo graphs from field researchers as a way of documenting vital art traditions.

Curator of Photographic Collections, Smithsonian Institu tion, National Museum of African Art, Judith Luskey focused on a collection with which she used to be involved: the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropological Archives North American Indian Photographic Collection. Ms. Luskey discussed the "culture of imagining" and early American anthropologists as photographers of native peoples. Many photogrpphs from the 1850s to 1900 in the Smithsonian's col lection were taken at the same time material collections were

made. Photographs from this era served as historical docu ments and as propoganda to present a romantic "ideal" view of the West.

Virginia Lee Webb, The Robert Goldwater Library, The Met ropolitan Museum of Art, discussed the problems that arise in the process of consolidating and cataloging photographs of New Guinea art, specifically Sepik River ceremonial houses and related art objects. Ms. Webb used as a fascinating exam ple the still photographs and moving pictures from the 1928-1929 Crane Pacific Expedition sponsored by the Field

Museum, Chicago. Among the problems discussed were pho tographic attributions, dating, and village name changes. The sources of information used included expedition, missionary, and shipping records.

Mary Graham The Heard Museum

UNIFORM TITLES FOR MONOGRAPHS AND SERIALS February 15

Moderator Trudi Olivetti explained that the purpose of this session was to be a refresher course on a complex and con

fusing area in cataloging: rules 25.1 through 25.12 from AACR2's Chapter 25 on Uniform Titles. Ms. Olivetti then intro duced Bob Ewald of the Office of Descriptive Cataloging Pol icy at the Library of Congress who talked about uniform titles for monographs. Mr. Ewald began with a brief history of the use of uniform titles at LC. Next he outlined the five situations where uniform titles are needed: (1) translations, (2) two dif ferent works that have the same title and need to be dis tinguished, (3) "real" titles that are obscured by the opening

words of the title page title, (4) related works, and (5) the same work issued under different titles. He stressed that uni form titles are not used for a revised or updated edition of a work. He went on to say that LC creates authority records for uniform titles only when there is a need: (1) to trace a refer ence from a variant form, (2) to document special or extensive research, or (3) to make a related work added entry when the

work itself is not in LC's collection. James Gentner of the Serial Record Division at the Library

of Congress spoke next on uniform titles for serials. Mr. Gent ner explained that in serials cataloging there is a great need for uniform titles and that LC has changed its mind on how to construct them since AACR2 was first published. He handed




out examples of the types of qualifiers to be used for serials and series following LC's latest rule interpretation for 25.5B, as well as a new LC rule interpretation for 21.2A on changes not to be considered title changes of serials, which should cut down on the number of different bibliographic records cre ated for serials.

Ms. Olivetti then covered rules 25.1 through 25.12 in detail with an emphasis on their relationship to the cataloging of art materials. Her approach was to break up a complicated pro cess into logical steps: (1) consultation with Chapter 25 to confirm whether or not a uniform title is really needed, (2) construction of the uniform title according to the appropriate rule(s) if it is needed (i.e., choice of language, how much of the title to include, qualifiers, etc.), and (3) a decision on how the uniform title fits into the bibliographic record (i.e., as a main entry, title, added entry, subject heading or series). She passed out three handouts and based the discussion during the rest of the session on them: (1) photocopies of rules 25.1-25.12 including the latest rule interpretations from the Cataloging Service Bulletin, (2) art-related examples of bibli ographic records illustrating these different rules with explan atory titles and comments, and (3) the policy used by the Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Division for con structing titles for individual works of art, with examples.

Jane Collins National Gallery of Art

MAKING LIBRARY CATALOGS MORE RESPONSIVE TO USER NEEDS February 15

Peggy Seiden opened with a presentation on the use of verbal protocols as a methodology for studying searching behavior at an online catalog. As an example of the use of this methodology, Ms. Seiden cited her own experiences with user studies conducted at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Verbal protocols are the means by which a research subject provides a verbal analysis of a task as it is being performed. This type of analysis is valuable because it can be used to study a process, rather than a product; to study how people perform a task; and to probe a subject's mental state while that task is being performed. The Carnegie-Mellon University study focused on new users of Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) to determine common errors and to assess users' needs.

Verbal protocols can provide precise data on what happens when people search. The CMU studies helped researchers to describe mental models of searchers, providing insight into how people interpret questions or problems and set goals, how people develop and implement search strategies, and how people react to errors made while searching. The studies revealed that users tended to prefer an index-style approach to an online catalog, and tended to limit searches more quick ly than was appropriate. This discovery led to the redesign of the order of users' options in the menu-driven catalog, so that key-term searching was listed among the first of the options.

Karen Markey (University of Michigan) followed with a de scription of transaction log analysis, another important tool for studies of online catalog users. Transaction logs are soft

ware monitoring programs designed to track and record the interactions between a user and a computer program. They provide an accurate picture of everything a user enters and every response made by the system. This type of monitoring obviously provides a voluminous amount of data, and re quires computerized encoding and statistical methods to make it useable.

Dr. Markey listed the most important data elements needed on a transaction log, discussed the limitations of this type of analysis, then reviewed the questions which such an analysis can answer. In conclusion, Dr. Markey pointed to some of the modifications indicated by the results of some transaction log studies.

Limitations of transaction log analysis include the need for specialized software to handle every log from different sys tems, and the problem of determining when a transaction begins and ends. Also problematic are variations in the struc ture of online catalogs from system to system, such that search processes are different and cannot be compared. Fi nally, one cannot determine from a transaction log alone the characteristics of individual users (for example, as a factor in the success of failure of the transaction), nor can one deter mine the quality of the retrieval or search output.

Questions which transaction log analysis can answer in clude those which quantify system response and user activity. The analysis of these logs has provided clues about the use made of online catalogs and the expectations which users have for these catalogs. The majority of catalog users, for example, have been doing subject searches, a fact not antici pated from card catalog research. The most apparent needs revealed by transaction log studies include the need to cor rect spelling errors, and possibly the need to create a search tree, so that the system automatically gives the user some thing in response to a search, rather than nothing.

Dr. Markey had four suggestions to make the most of trans action log analysis. First, combine it with other methods to enhance the quality of the information. Second, use for accu rate records of users' search terms (for example, as an aid to correcting the vocabulary used by the system). Third, think ahead when developing software for computer monitoring and transaction log analysis (have a thorough understanding of the catalog, and of predicted use). Fourth, use transaction log analysis specifically to test design objectives and

assumptions. Linda Arret (Library of Congress) summed up the value of

the two research strategies discussed by Ms. Seiden and Dr. Markey in her concluding talk, "Incorporating User Needs into Library Catalogs." Ms. Arret described the uses we can make of this information to improve our catalogs, and the advan tages and disadvantages of some of the improvements available. We know: 1) that when users make errors, they continue to

err; 2) that users tend to stay in the same search state, repeat ing the same strategy even when it has proved futile; 3) er rors do decrease with time and familiarity; and 4) too many choices make searching too difficult.

The underlying theme of all the results from user studies has been control. Users have difficulty controlling knowledge of the search process. The questions arise, How independent can a user be? and, Can we permit users to make mistakes?

System designers can enhance control through: gateways, providing a path between the user and the system which eliminates the need to learn what's actually going on in a search process; by changing commands or modifying dis plays for clarity; and by improving training and documenta tion. But where do learning and expedience intersect? The consequences of a user's behavior have to be clear, consis tent and comprehensible for the user to learn the system

while using it. Ms. Arret cited Christine Borgman's research at UCLA, which made the important point that users with a mental map are better able to manipulate the system.

Finally, Ms. Arret noted that users have higher expectations of computers. They do trust computer systems, or want to trust them, implicitly. They would like independence in their use of the system, but with help. Any enhancements to assist the beginning user of a system must assist the experienced user as well, Ms. Arret concluded.

Karen Meizner Nelson Atkins Museum of Art




A CRITIQUE OF TECHNIQUE: An Evaluation of Art Technique Publications February 15

Moderator Elizabeth DeMarco (Onondaga County Public Li brary) opened this Public TOL-sponsored session with the comment that the ensuing presentations might be the first formal discussions ever organized on this topic. Art librarians have been troubled by a very real vacuum in the literature: there is little reviewing of current art technique materials, and few selective bibliographies exist to assist the conscientious librarian hoping to weed or build a useful collection. "It is imperative/' Ms. DeMarco noted, "that some guidelines be established to aid in collection development and mainte nance." Four panelists were asked to offer some initial guid ance in this effort.

Linda Swieszkowski (New York Public Library, Mid-Manhat tan Branch) briefly traced the very long history of art tech nique materials back to the writings of Pliny, but noted that no current bibliographic literature exists. Standard works such as those by Mayer, Chamberlin, Lucas, Arntzen and Rainwater include techniques as a category but really cover the histor ical angle, color, conservation and restoration rather than true technical works. Ms. Swieszkowski suggested that in the ab sence of critical collections or selected works, librarians must use Books in Print American Book Publishing Record, and pub lishers' catalogs in conjunction with four considerations: type of library, scope of the collection, perceived patron profile and depth of collection required. In addition, she recommended weeding titles older than ten years unless of historical signifi cance, replacing valued titles while still in print, and avoiding materials under 80 pages, which she considered more appro priate for the home market. These factors, combined with standard evaluation techniques must serve until a body of literature is created. For current acquisitions only Booklist provides adequate coverage. To supplement such paucity Ms. Swieszkowski prepared a bibliography for painting, drawing and sculpture, along with a list of suggested publishers and subject headings to use in Books in Print.

Stephen Van Dyk (New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Branch) discussed sources, reviewing problems and some overlooked bibliographies in the areas of architecture, interior design, landscape design and home renovation. He noted that standard bibliographic guides do not cover these fields and thus one must turn to specialized sources. Two notable ex ceptions are L. Banford's Design Resources and V. Bradford's Information Sources in Architecture. Vance Bibliographies can be used if carefully selected. Associations such as the Ameri can Institute of Architects and the Interior Design Education Council are excellent sources for publications concerning technique. Hobby groups can also serve as clearinghouses and publishing groups for specific types of needs. Examples of good publications come from the National Gardening As sociation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Homeowners Association. Mr. Van Dyk prepared a selected list of suggested materials as a handout and re minded the audience not to overlook bibliographies located in good books on the shelves as well as exam study guides. Reviews are hard to come by for most of this material and Mr. Van Dyk suggested a heavier reliance on approval ordering to counteract this problem.

Glorya Hale, editorial director for Watson-Guptill, shared with the audience the publisher's intentions: how art instruc tion books are created and for whom. Watson-Guptill has three imprints related to art technique. The Watson-Guptill line publishes about 20 titles a year, aimed mostly at the intermediate level for the person who is beyond hobby work and who regards his art as an avocation. The Whitney Library of Design imprint publishes about sixty titles a year aimed at the professional. Amphoto attempts to reach several levels of interest and ability. All three publishers use market surveys, feedback from booksellers and librarians, and mail-back cards

enclosed in books. Books are generally scheduled two years in advance and most are commissioned. The team method is used with an author assigned to a staff writer and production person who shepherd the project along. Artists used are those who have an "accessible style," neither abstract or super-realistic. Ms. Hale considers Watson-Guptill's work as "niche publishing."

A declared "book user," Susan Easton, an art teacher (grades 4-12) at the National Cathedral School for Girls, talked about her criteria for the art technique books she selects for herself and for her students. Ms. Easton uses books in her planning, refers students to them for researching their projects, and uses them for examples of work. She re quires clear step-by-step information, wants suppliers' lists, and avoids dated photos as do most librarians. She looks for a strong aesthetic sense, finds contrasts and comparisons extremely helpful when within the same book, desires good historical examples, looks for universality of expression, seeks contemporary approaches to traditional materials, and likes to see the work of other students reproduced. She com

mented that these criteria can be applied to video as well. Sources noted for good bibliographies were the National Art Education Association, craft guilds, Independent Art Teachers Association, and the College Art Association. Ms. Easton had one strong complaint. . .there is not enough being published on the safe use of materials.

Paula J. Baker Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

DOCUMENTING ARCHITECTURE THROUGH NON-PRINT SOURCES February 15

The session was opened by moderator Sally Hanford. Jack Boucher then spoke on photography as a documentation tool at the Historic American Buildings Survey. HABS is the oldest survey in the nation, having been organized under the WPA, and has as its goal the recording of architecture of another era, "from privies to palaces." HABS is administered by the National Park Service and deposits its records with the Li brary of Congress. Topics discussed included the need to show a building's original setting, photography of architec tural details, aesthetics, the use of objects for scale, the ad vantages of using a view camera, and the fact that 95% of their work is black-and-white photography. Mr. Boucher cited three elements as the keys to successful architectural pho tography: the photographer's knowledge of the subject of photography, the quality of the equipment, and the quality of the laboratory processing. He concluded with a statistic on the use of these photographs: 40% of the requests to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress are for materials deposited by HABS and its sister agency, Historic American Engineering Record.

Jonathan Lipman outlined the steps taken over a period of years in the organization of an architectural exhibition. "Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax Buildings" began as an architectural thesis several years ago at Cornell and grew into a substantial travelling exhibit. Mr. Lipman detailed the se quence of events in obtaining support from the Johnson Wax Foundation, the obtaining of photographs of Wright's original drawings from which he then worked, the importance of cor respondence in documenting the building, the good fortune of being able to interview the surviving employees associated with the design and construction, and the final stage of ob taining permission from Taliesin to borrow drawings for the exhibition. Mr. Lipman concluded with a report on the status of the Wright Foundation archives, including the availability of information on a database, the loaning of prints, encapsula tion of all drawings, and the involvement of the Getty Founda tion in increasing access to Wright archival holdings.




David Osterlund related the experience of producing a vid eo-tape as documentation of a building, which in this case was initially used as a fundraising tool with corporate donors. His example was Hillstead, located in Farmington, Connecti cut and designed by Theodate Pope c.1898. He outlined the personnel, financial, logistical, and promotional aspects of this project and emphasized the importance of producing a professional quality video. In such a case, the video then has additional uses, such as selling copies?which themselves generate possible interest?or expanding the original for use on cable television. The Hillstead video was shown to session attendees.

David A. Dashiel described his experience in preserving an existing architectural firm's history, with Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown as the setting. His comments and slides dealt with both the manner in which the firm's architects worked and used their space and the particulars of different catego ries of drawings and models. The way in which archives can be used at a later time in documenting the conceptual growth of a design was emphasized. The fragility and, in the case of CAD work, the elusive nature of architectural archive holdings are complicating factors for work in this field.

KatheChipman Columbia Univeristy

I I MARC-ING THE VISUAL DOCUMENT: Innovative Efforts in Visual Information

Management February 16

Eileen Fry, panel moderator, opened the session with the statement that this session was bringing together "two groups of ARLIS/NA members who have had in the past very little connection with each other: CISSIG and VRSIG." The session focused on projects which are using MARC formats for cataloging non-bibliographic materials, and particularly on the changes and adaptations in MARC formats which have been necessitated by the nature and number of the items involved in these projects. Richard Szary, Smithsonian Institution?SIBIS system,

provided a perspective on "non-standard" formats by dis cussing the efforts of the archives community in developing a MARC format for archival materials. Szary stressed that "when a specialized constituency enters the MARC arena, they must be prepared to defend [their] requirements for 'non-standard' capability on a continuing basis. . . The amount of resources needed to design, implement, and main tain such a system of processes and standards is not trivial, and is an on-going expense." Szary concluded by emphasiz ing that "there is nothing inherent in MARC process or format that precludes its use in the exchange of information about the whole range of cultural artifacts, including books, ar chives, museum objects, artworks, and visual documents. If the exchange of information about artworks ... is desirable, then MARC must be used or some substitute [for it] found."

Elisabeth Betz Parker, Library of Congress Prints and Photo graphs Division, reported on the changes which have taken place during the four years since the inception of the LC Prints and Photographs Videodisk Project. The lack of a standard MARC format for visual materials in 1983 forced the develop ment of an in-house system for the first videodisc project. The upcoming disc project will make use of the now-accepted Visual Materials (VM) format and will be incorporated into the LC national distribution system. This will be accomplished through "minimal level" access records containing a few fields that closely follow accepted MARC standards. Betz ended by emphasizing the advantages of following standard

practices in order to be integrated into the main LC system, including ease of patron access, administrative and technical support, storage capabilities, and national distribution via LC tapes.

Janet Parks, Avery Library?AVIADOR project, outlined the five factors that formed the basis of the Avery's prototypical application of MARC to architectural drawings (AVIADOR). These factors were: MARC format, AACR 2 and the revised Chapter Eight (Betz), the RUN implementation of MARC for mat, the Visual Materials format, and item-level control for videodisc access. Of these, "the MARC format is probably the most important. . . because it is the premise on which all the others are based, and it is the element that makes both the cataloging and the videodisc of 45,000 images practical and retrievable." Advantages will include shared information (via RLIN), improved reader access due to item-level description, multiple access points, and collection-level scanning of large numbers of drawings in a short time with limited handling. Although the Visual Materials format has been followed throughout, it lacks the "scale" field found in the Maps for mat, and the question of what constitutes "author" is more adequately met by the Archives format's interpretation of this term. Titles must often be devised, following in-house rules or Chapter Eight (Betz), from information scattered throughout an entire set of drawings. Ultimately, a MARC format tailored to the needs of this type of material will have to be formulated.

Christine Hennessey, National Museum of American Art, spoke on a new Smithsonian project, the Index of American Sculpture, and its unique implementation of the MARC for mat. "The MARC format devised [for this project] . . . drew heavily on the Visual Materials format, but also utilized fields from the Serials, Archives, and Manuscripts formats." In addi tion, several new fields were defined for the first time. Given these modifications, Hennessy stated "The MARC format is a viable option for recording art object information . . . The chief advantage of using the MARC format is that it allows for the possibility of network exchange of information, but equal ly important for our project is its flexible structure. It allows for repeatable fields of variable lengths, and . . . allows us to

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structure subfields as needed per record." Hennessey's con clusion stressed that MARC is still evolving, and that groups such as ARLIS/NA can be instrumental in determining its fu ture forms.

Patricia Barnett, Metropolitan Museum of Art?-Watson Li brary, addressed the relationship of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), subject indexing, and the MARC format. Barnett noted, "User communities are working with the AAT to develop application protocols and record formats for spe cific projects and systems. It appears that the MARC format will need to evolve to some degree in two important areas... (1) Authority formats?to accommodate the growing number of subject-specific thesauri, and (2) record formats?to permit more precise indexing and faceted categories of subject ac cess." Due to joint efforts among AAT, MESH, and LCSH, it is now possible to load hierarchically arranged thesauri into a MARC-formatted system. "AAT facets would be a logical ex tension of the MARC subject subfield." This would facilitate "knowledge retrieval" in contrast to document retrieval. Barn ett also noted that "Just as MARC has expanded to accom modate other media, it now needs to expand to accommo date much finer categories of knowledge, and it can do this by more finely defining the subject codes." Barnett concluded by observing that "the prospects for the Art and Architecture Thesaurus controlled vocabulary, accommodated by an ex panded MARC format that will allow for the sharing and ex change of visual documentation, are present [and are] very enticing."

Deirdre Stam, Syracuse University?School of Information Studies, provided an alternative perspective to the use of MARC as a medium of visual information exchange by noting the "desire of every system... to retain control... in order to meet local needs." Stam observed that unlike bibliographic cataloging, which historically has proceeded from a hetero geneous system to standard cataloging, then to a standard data format (MARC), and now to authority control, object and visual resources cataloging has jumped directly from hetero geneous systems to authority control without the intervening steps of shared cataloging and data transfer processes. "Co ordinated activity in the development of automated art infor mation systems is concentrating on the building of data files for use as authority lists on an international scale, and not upon record structure per se. . ." Cooperation on an interna tional level among art historical systems is very rare. (Stam noted that the one exception to this is the AAT.) After outlin ing a variety of national and international projects that are involved with creating standard data structures, Stam also noted that "while it does not seem quite time to push the MARC format for international communication of data re lating to objects and visual resources, it is time to witness the activities of CIHA and others to work on another piece of the communications puzzle: vocabulary control. This work sup ports the compatibility of systems and leads to communica tion among systems. When the record structures are ready, and MARC is in place, those systems with good internal con trolled vocabulary will be able to communicate with great effectiveness." To this end, Stam is currently working on a manual for the Thesaurus Artis Universalis (TAU) Project of CIHA which will analyze and discuss authority control work being carried out internationally on seven basic fields which correspond to MARC fields. However, it will emphasize more the content of the fields than the rules or structures.

Rosann Auchstetter Indiana University

MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE: Analysis and Evaluation of Art Libraries' Collections February 16

This session, "Mapping the Landscape," was introduced by Katherine Haskins, who remarked on the need to assess col lections especially carefully in light of reduced budgets and straitened circumstances.

Peggy Ann Kusnerz, in relating her experience with newly appointed faculty members making special demands of the University of Michigan's art collection, suggested ways of de termining a collection's boundaries. She gave a case history of a new faculty member's requirements and reminded us that libraries can be called upon to improve their collections in fairly obscure subject areas in order to support new courses and research areas. She described four approaches to collection evaluation: 1) listing, 2) quantitative approaches, 3) use, and 4) subject specialist review. She described a study she recently conducted, citing the bibliographies she found most useful and the cooperation she elicited from faculty at the University of Michigan. She concluded that there is value in "mapping the landscape," and further stressed that careful use of a few reliable sources can often provide a sufficiently detailed topography.

Philip Rees, of the University of North Carolina, reported on a project involving two surveys of art libraries in the South east done over a twenty-year period. The first project, in 1965, indicated a paucity of suitable literature in the libraries sur veyed. There was "too much junk" and too little money being spent. The Southeastern College Art Conference drafted a statement of principles for collection development, dealing with teaching loads and qualifications for book selection. Mr. Rees elucidated seven collection techniques and described the methods and results of the 1985 survey, in which several institutions who had participated 20 years earlier again re sponded to the questionnaire. In addition to the southeastern art consortium, four additional colleges and universities were added to the sample: Yale, Princeton, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Smith College. The findings in dicated much improvement over 1965. Some collections had grown as much as 200-300%. Serials holdings were especially noteworthy as was the increase in research-level titles. Despite the progress, he emphasized, the libraries must further improve to be considered truly adequate for the teach ing and research programs in the Southeast. Micheline Nilsen reported on the Pacific Northwest con

spectus database program. A foundation grant provided for a six-state review. The problem of isolation from the rest of the country can be solved only by enhanced cooperation among the libraries in the area. The academic libraries had more comprehensive collections, compared to the rest of the coun try, whereas the public libraries proved to be less than ade quate. Two hundred participating librarians were trained in collection assessment and, using a variety of methods, in cluding quantitative measures, applied certain criteria to their own collections. The study revealed that art and architecture materials were low on libraries' priority lists. Other subject areas, especially those dealing with business and manage ment, reflected the economic concerns of the region. A modi fied RLG-type questionnaire was distributed, followed up by




site visits. The database was completed in 1986. In theory, cooperative selection is now possible. Matching grants, also from the Fred Meyer Foundation, will be awarded, based on the assessment study. One of the major outcomes of the study was the realization that the task actually took much longer than anticipated. By now, much of the work has been completed. By November of last year, 165 participating librar ies had checked through 50,000 titles. There were four impor tant outcomes from this study: 1) a clearer view of collections was provided, 2) communication between libraries was es tablished, 3) a cadre of collection evaluators was created, and 4) long-range planning was facilitated.

Katherine Haskins discussed art history and the "long per spective" of literature. Art history, because of the nature of the discipline, requires both current and historic materials, which in other subject areas would be considered obsolete. She presented a retrospective analysis of the University of Chicago Art Library, noting that the art history program be gan in 1901 but that, to date, no collection statement for art exists. Faculty tended to be negative and unreliable assessors of the strength and weakness of the collection, remarking that it had once been excellent, but had deteriorated in recent years. As a new librarian, she undertook to study sys tematically art and architecture holdings. She did a macro evaluation using four standard art and architecture bibliogra phies. She also did a shelflist count on a sample of 3,600 titles. Based on her findings, she concluded that the collection grew at a uniform rate from 1890-1960, that holdings in creased 50% in the 1960s, and began to slip dramatically in the 1970s. She noted that other institutions would be con gruent, because book prices increased beyond the increases in book budgets in this period. Despite lamentable lacunae, especially in subject areas taught by new faculty, she con cluded that the library provides a solid base on which to build in the future. Mapping the collections, Ms. Haskins said,

would provide useful information, and such efforts would un doubtedly provide benefits for other institutions.

Jeffrey Horrell, Syracuse University, discussed collection assessment done on a national basis, noting that the publica tion of art books has increased. At the outset he emphasized that library self-sufficiency was a myth, given the demands, coupled with insufficient funds, that are the lot of most librar ies. He cited the results of RLG and NCIP projects and pointed out the difficulty of selecting, library-wide, from the 700,000 new books published annually. He noted that collaborating with like institutions requires a broad knowledge of one's own collections and he warned against building only on known strengths. The original RLG conspectus had 7,000 subject sub divisions and was completed by 90% of RLG members, with results being available online for members. The goal of link ing research libraries was tested by ARL in 5 areas. The NCIP (National Collections Inventory Project) produced a manual that was tested in 1984. Mr. Horrell identified several benefits accruing as a result of collection assessment: 1) informing faculty, 2) supporting grant proposals, 3) making a better case for increased budgets, 4) steering researchers to collections having major holdings, 5) comparing actual holdings with an ideal collection, 6) training selectors, 7) establishing process ing priorities. He concluded with several unanswered ques tions about present practices and their efficiency, and pro posed projects and their utility. He distributed a useful bibliography to the audience. A brief question-and-answer session followed the five papers.

Rochelle S. Elstein Northwestern University

NEW SERIALS IN REVIEW February 16

Sheila Klos (University of Oregon) introduced the speakers for this year's serials review. Darlene Tong (San Francisco State University) discussed ten new titles relevant to crossover trends in contemporary art. THE ACT. New York: Performance Project. (Winter/Spring 1986)? An irregular publication with only one issue to date, The Act

covers performance art and experimental theatre works. The first issue featured works by Alan Kaprow, performance writ ings, documentation of artwork, graphics, poetry, and the oretical writings. ACEN. San Francisco: Art Com Electronic Network. (April 1986)? ACEN is a quarterly online artists' network featuring full

text of the following periodicals in its "New Magazines" sec tion: ART COM Magazine, Spastic Culture, Metier Magazine, Impulse Magazine (Toronto), and Parallelogramme (Canada). In addition, it features artists' periodicals, special artists' pro jects, calendars, and a bulletin board where artists interact and exchange information and ideas. EMIGRE. Berkeley: Emigre. (1985)?

A visually exciting publication combining graphics, typog raphy, painting and drawings, fashion, poetry, and other forms of art, Emigre appears not more than four times each

year. Subtitled The Magazine That Ignores Boundaries, it is interested in how the cultural background of artists affects their work. Produced on Macintosh computers, Emigre has recently received recognition from computer and graphic de sign periodicals, as well as a desktop publishing award. EYE. New York: Eye. (September 1986)?

Formerly East Village Eye, it has changed title to indicate international coverage. Eye covers art, performance art, vid eo, fashion, film, music, and nightlife. Published monthly ex cept January, it is a good source for articles, interviews, and reviews of new art activities and should be considered for purchase by libraries outside the New York area. LAST ISSUE. Calgary. Last Issue. (1983)?

A quarterly journal which begin as a tabloid, it is now pub lished in standard periodical format including good color re

productions. Artist produced, with articles, interviews, artists' visual and literary works, Last Issue mixes irreverence, tongue-in-cheek humor, and serious writing. It covers perfor

mance art, visual art, poetry/literature, music, fashion, and other aspects of contemporary culture. MEDIAMATIC. Groningen, Netherlands: Stichting Mediama tic. Vol. 0, no. o (December 1985)?

Bilingual in Dutch and English, this is an exciting magazine on media art and hardware design with an emphasis on vid eo. International in scope, Mediamatic offers theoretical arti cles, historical overviews, technical essays, interviews with artists, coverage of important festivals, and new activities. Heavily illustrated, it is an important title for any library providing information on media and video art. SPLASH. Osprey, Florida: SPLASH. (1984)?

A journal of art and contemporary culture designed to pro mote literary dialogue on the arts and on life in the modern world, it is published bimonthly. SPLASH originally offered regional coverage, but has broadened its scope to include information of interest nationally. It includes articles, inter views, many color reproductions, and dramatic visuals. It clearly reflects the look and attitudes of 1980s pop culture.




STUDIO SYSTEMS JOURNAL. San Luis Obispo: Studio Sys tems Journal. (1985)?

This is a professional tabloid focusing primarily on innova tive computer graphics techniques by and for artists working in areas of video art, computer graphics, conceptual design, and related areas. In addition to articles this journal includes many visuals on new systems, projects, design applications in businesses, and artists' works utilizing computer design systems. It is free to professionals interested in computer design. TOUCH. London: Touch, distributed in the U.S. by Art in Form, Seattle and New Music, New York. (1982/83)?

Published irregularly, Touch appears in audio and paper format featuring contemporary art and music. All issues in clude an audio-cassette, and some issues also include printed text and illustrations.

Eileen Markson (Bryn Mawr College) reviewed new serials on archaeology and anthropology. ARCHAEOLOGICAL REVIEW FROM CAMBRIDGE. (ISSN 0261-4332) Cambridge: Department of Archaeology. Vol. 1 (1981)?

Less traditional than the other journals discussed, its goal is to concentrate on research in progress and on critiques and reviews of all theoretical aspects of the discipline. It is pro duced semi-annually by graduate students of the Department of Archaeology of Cambridge University. In addition to arti cles followed by bibliographies, the Review includes reviews and letters. Its audience is primarily professional archaeologists. OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY. (ISSN 0262-5253) Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Vol. 1 (1982)?

This quarterly journal covers material from the Paleolithic through the Roman periods in the Mediterranean, North, Cen tral, and Eastern Europe, and the British Isles. Each issue con tains five to seven illustrated articles preceded by summaries; all articles are in English. A section of short notes follows the articles JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. (ISSN 0278-4165) Orlando: Academic Press. Vol. 1 (1982)?

This journal appeals primarily to the professional an thropologist, particularly the cultural anthropologist. Illus trated articles on language, prehistory, material culture, biolo gy, customs, genetics, population, labor, and land use are followed by major bibliographies. Geographically it concen trates on Europe and the Americas. It is published quarterly and edited at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. ARCHAEOMATERIALS. (ISSN 0891-2920) Philadelphia: De partment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania. Vol. 1 (1986)?

This semiannual journal deals exclusively with the tech nological aspect of archaeology, publishing studies of prod ucts and processes which influenced historical and social trends before the modern era. Articles are written from a cultural perspective rather than a purely descriptive one. Il lustrations are in black and white.

AULA ORIENTALIS. Sabadell (Barcelona): Editorial AUSA. Vol. 1 (1983)?

A highly specialized and scholarly semiannual, it covers linguistic and archaeo-historical studies of the ancient Near East. Articles are published in many European languages and are illustrated in black and white. Each issue contains major articles, a section of notes on very specific topics, and book reviews. Each volume is indexed. It is appropriate for collec tions with scholarly depth in ancient Semitic linguistics and civilization. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC RESEARCH: A SCIENTIFIC JOUR NAL. (ISSN 8755-724X) Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. Vol. 1 (1985)?

The most general of the titles reviewed, it is devoted to reporting on research projects underwritten by the Society. Historical coverage ranges from the prehistoric to the present, with topics on anthropology, excavation finds from sites around the world, textiles, land use, fossils, archaeological

site reports, biology and botany. Extensive bibliographies fol low each article. Although lavishly illustrated, it is a serious, scientific journal with appeal for the specialist as well as the general reader.

Elizabeth Byrne (University of California, Berkeley) reviewed new design serials. AIGA JOURNAL. New York: American Institute of Graphic Arts. Vol. 1 (1981)?

This bimonthly is a reincarnation of the earlier American institute of Graphic Design Journal which ceased publication in 1974. It is printed on high-quality paper with articles by well known and literate graphic designers concerning the history of design and design theory. The book review section is ex cellent, including a recent historical survey of the best graphic design books. ART & DESIGN. (ISSN 0267-3991) London: AD Editions. Vol. 1 (Feb. 1985)? Available only by joint subscription with AD, this monthly

journal provides trendy, flashy coverage of painting, fashion, music, and art. It is so full of information on exhibitions, events, books, new products and graphic design gossip that it is sometimes difficult to find substantial articles. There are recurring problems with format, narrow gutters, and tear-out portions of the magazine which, when combined with the overall content, make it harder to take seriously than the other journals reviewed. ASSEMBLAGE: A CRITICAL JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN CULTURE. (ISSN 0889-3012) Cambridge: MIT Press. No. 1 (Oct. 1986}?

Published three times each year, Assemblage is devoted to architecture, design and allied arts that seek to intervene. It provides a forum for serious scholarly criticism and docu mentation of projects, perhaps trying to fill the gap left by Oppositions. DESIGN ISSUES: HISTORY/THEORY/CRITICISM. (ISSN 0747-9360) Chicago: School of Art & Design, University of Illinois. Vol. 1 (1984)? This is a semiannual journal of design ideas, theories and

criticism which deals with areas not covered by other jour nals. It includes articles, a section called "Documents" which discusses significant documents from the history of design, a good book review section, and good black-and-white reproductions. DESIGN PROCESSES NEWSLETTER. Chicago: College of Ar chitecture, Planning 8t Design, Institute of Design, Design Processes Lab. Vol. 1, no. 1 (Dec. 1984)?

A low-budget academic newsletter provided free to design and educational institutions, this journal provides up-to-date information unavailable in other journals. It deals primarily

with its own lab, but continues to broaden its scope. It de votes a lot of space to industrial design and includes articles, abstracts of NT design theses in progress, reports on con ferences and events, and a calendar of international conferences. HOW: IDEAS & TECHNIQUE IN GRAPHIC DESIGN. (ISSN 0886-0483) Bethesda: R.C. Publications. Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov./ Dec. 1985)?

How provides step-by-step information on how important designers achieve particular effects. Published bimonthly by the same publisher as Print, each issue has one article on a new technique as well as feature articles, book reviews, a section on techniques and tools, marketing briefs, and a direc tory of people and addresses mentioned in the issue. INTERNATIONAL DESIGN YEARBOOK. New York: Abbeville Press. 1 (1985)?

This is an annual review of domestic design guest edited by notable designers, thus reflecting varied perspectives on current trends. Fine arts, design, and industrial design stu dents and faculty will want to refer to the excellent color photographs, the articles on trends of the year, and the brief but excellent bibliography. JOURNAL OF DECORATIVE AND PROPAGANDA ARTS. (ISSN 0888-7314) Miami: Wolfson Foundation of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. No. 1 (Spring 1986)?




A quarterly journal which covers the period 1875-1945, it

places special emphasis on international and cross-cultural influences. It covers a wide range of design theory features an interview with an important design professional in each issue, and promises to be an important contribution to the literature of decorative arts.

TRIGLYPH: A JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRON MENTAL DESIGN. Tempe: College of Architecture & Environ mental Design, Arizona State Univeristy. No. 1 (Fall 1984)?

Published and edited in the Southwest with a goal of fea turing southwestern architecture topics infrequently covered by other periodicals, it covers more than architecture?urban design, landscape architecture and interior design. Articles are contributed by authors from all over the U.S. and are supplemented by book reviews, news of new buildings and projects, interviews with major architects, and an editorial column. It is published semiannually.

Sheila Klos University of Oregon

One of the films Mr. Meckstroth showed used visual and musical images that were inextricably intertwined. He indi cated that there was such a tight relationship between the music and the film that it was difficult for him to distinguish which came first.

Ms. Byrne, as a librarian, presented the final segment of the session. Her remarks were based on assignments given to students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. These assignments all made use of nonvisual resources from the library including materials in the disciplines of mathematics, philosophy, literature, psychology, and music.

This very sensory presentation clearly demonstrated the diversity of materials and breadth of subjects required of our libraries by artists, be they students, instructors, or practicing

artists.

Martha H. Hall Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts

IGNITING THE IMAGINATION OF THE ARTIST: Utilizing Science and Humanities Resources in the Art Library February 16

The quote, "Richness in art lies in igniting the imagination of the artist" by John Coleman, set the theme of the session sponsored by the Art and Design School TOL.

Nadene Byrne, librarian at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, moderated the session which illustrated how many facets of information and inspiration found in libraries initiate and sustain the artists' creative processes.

To demonstrate the diverse sources of inspiration that are available to artists in libraries three artists presented specific examples of the influence of library materials, other than spe cific visual and art-related materials, on their work.

Joan Boccino, a performance artist and video producer af filiated with Picture Productions, Inc., in Baltimore, has a groc ery store approach to her library searches. Ms. Boccino states that she often goes to the shelves to see what looks good that day. Her library needs, like her grocery shopping needs, have been interestingly varied. They have included material on such subjects as vitamins, electrical wiring, advice, and karate, to mention a few.

To Ms. Boccino librarians have instant validity because, like her, they think that "a bunch of books on a subject is impor tant" and nothing searched for is inconsequential or unim

portant. She sees librarians as wonderfully nonjudgmental, and that quality helps greatly in her search for materials.

AI Wunderlich, painter, sculptor and professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, told of three books that were pivotal in his career as an artist. They were: On the Road by Jack

Kerouac, Passage to India by E. M. Forster, and Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust. Slides of his work were shown, with comments by the artist, indicating how these books and others were influential in his thinking, artistic de velopment and creative process.

Mr. Wunderlich also discussed his current work with the Planetary Data Center, Brown University. This project enables an artist on earth, using microcomputers and lasers, to im print designs on objects in space. One can imagine the vast span of scientific information needed from libraries to reach this point in his endeavors.

Steve Meckstroth, a filmmaker and a librarian at the Milner Library, Illinois State University, was the third artist on the program. Mr. Meckstroth makes frequent and regular use of material from the humanities. He finds the humanities to be "mind expanders, imagination stimulators, navigational aids, sustainers, and comforters" in his life and creative work.

ARE STANDARDS AN ISSUE IN ART REFERENCE SERVICE? February 16

Moderator Paula Baxter (Museum of Modern Art Library) opened this session by describing the need for more sessions concerned with reference issues at ARLIS conferences. Some of the livelier past sessions she mentioned were "What Does an Art Historian Want?" (Cleveland, 1984) and "What Does an Architectural Historian Want?" (Los Angeles, 1985.) Ms. Bax ter hoped there would be more audience interaction in the evening's session. Each speaker was limited to a 12-minute presentation with time allotted for discussion among the pan el and the audience after each presentation.

Russell Ferguson (New Museum of Contemporary Art Li brary) began his talk, "Art Reference Librarians as 'Gatekeepers,'" by illustrating the art reference librarian as someone who not only has a grasp of standard reference works in the art field as well as his library's procedures and

policies, but also transcends these basic criteria by maintain ing a two-way informational process between himself and his client. (The speaker pointed out that the term "gateway" might well serve as a substitute for "gatekeeper" in de scribing the ideal art reference relationship.) Mr. Ferguson expressed the need for art reference librarians to meet as much as possible their clients on the clients' level by getting a grasp of the nature of their queries and offering more sophis ticated information. A "gatekeeper" librarian may presume that his faculty or curatorial staff have prior familiarity with standard reference sources and he should maintain his own files of materials collected from non-standard sources to en hance the information process. Items might include such ephemera as lists of personnel in art or art-related institu tions, pertinent articles, citations from conversations with pa trons, clippings from journals, and the like. It is important that areas of concern to one's clientele be noted. Constant interac tion and conversation with one's faculty is essential to the "gatekeeper" role, and whether one's information sugges tions meet with success or not, files on these transactions should be maintained. The librarian should keep track of the interests and specialties of the institution's clientele and antic ipate their needs. In spite of the librarian's work load, such endeavor affords great satisfaction to the librarian, as well as to the client.

In her discussion, "Art Reference Publishing: Serving Our Needs?" Ms. Baxter asked the question: What do art li brarians want in published art reference sources and what role can librarians play in achieving these goals? Librarians,

Ms. Baxter observed, want useful, informative tools, and pub lishers, while hoping to grant them, must consider economic feasibility. Since a large concern of publishers is financial and




the market for art reference books is relatively small, it is somewhat understandable that the needs of art reference li brarians go unfilled. While both parties respect each other, there is currently no true forum where each can voice its needs and concerns to the other party. Ms. Baxter further emphasized that within an institution, librarians' and art histo rians' wishes for art books often diverge, with the historian preferring primary sources (i.e., reprints) over other sources. Ms. Baxter exhorted librarians to communicate actively their needs to publishers and gave examples of such needs as sources for quick fact-checking for patrons such as journal ists, writers, students and laymen. These patrons should not be neglected in favor of scholars and curators. She called for better art indexing tools as, for example, indexes to exhibition catalogs. Ms. Baxter went on to ask why shouldn't art li brarians take it upon themselves to fill these informational needs by themselves becoming editors, authors,and consul tants of new reference works.

The final speaker, Susan Glover-Godlewski (Art Institute of Chicago Libraries), addressed the subject of "Art Reference Service Networking." While cooperative cataloging has revo lutionized institutional sharing, concommitant cooperative reference services have further to evolve. The latter should incorporate such areas as telephone, mail, electronic mail, onsite access, cooperative acquisitions of materials and union catalogs. One of the pitfalls regarding cooperative reference referrals is an inability to measure the effectiveness of such transactions, in spite of statistical documentation. There is a loss of control between the initiating librarian and the second-party librarian responsible for delivering the requested information accurately. Accuracy in conveyance often suffers as a query is repeatedly passed from staff to staff, whether in manual or electronic correspondence. Ms. Glover-Godlewski noted that the encouraging of reference re ferrals from one institution to another must affect the refer ring librarian who is concerned about professional image and the covering up of the inadequacy of his library's collection. The speaker supports informal networking in art reference as ultimately being the most effective, whether through onsite visits or by telephoning colleagues. She terms this the "invis ible college." Librarians should establish such open and infor

mal channels well in advance of patrons' needs, so that when the need does arrive, contacts are in place and all will run smoothly. Such contacts should be frequently used and not allowed to grow stale. In reference service, the personal touch should never be underestimated.

Lively response to the speakers' presentations came from the audience which showed a concern with reference pro cedures and standards as they now exist.

Claire P?trie Parsons School of Design

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES?Tour of Photography Collections and Art and Architecture Resources February 17

Session attendees were meet by Moderator Jonathan Heller, Archivist, Still Pictures Branch, in the front lobby of the National Archives Building and were then divided into two groups for a docent-led general tour of the National Archives. After walking through a myriad of storage and processing areas, reading rooms, and the microfilm research room, the two groups finally rejoined somewhere in the bowels of the Archive to see the movie "Paper Mountain." It was a whirl wind tour.

The first speaker of the day was a representative of the Cartographic and Architecture Branch of the Archive in Alex andria, Virginia. He described their holdings of art-related ma terials, which include: American architectural drawings;

White House drawings from the turn of the century; Public Building Service papers which include expositions, national and international; records of the Commission of Fine Arts; extensive aerial photographs; and a lot of military-related documentation on ships, buildings, and fortifications; Civilian Conservation Corps camps and projects; D.C. monuments; national parks; and more.

Next, Mr. Heller enumerated the range of visual and textual materials in the National Archives. The scope and depth of the holdings are immense, with 6,000,000 pictures alone. Mr. Heller's talk focused on source materials relevant to art and architecture in the National Archives. In addition to textual materials there are photographs, posters, and artworks. Pho tographic documentation exists on many subjects including: government arts projects of the Depression era; Afro-Ameri can art and artists (Harmon Foundation collection); Indians in the United States; the American West; American Scene; art from the Civel War, World War I, and World War II; confis cated European art; and American Sculpture. The earliest photographs date from the 1850s, with Matthew Brady's prints and negatives; however, there are no early processes like tin types or daguerreotypes. The Archives also has posters and poster designs, cartoons, Roberts Commission documents, artists biographies/files, documentation on the American art scene from the 1940s and 1950s, along with a number of other small but important collections. Although the Archives is not a history of photography collection, it does contain the work of many important artists who worked for the government, many before they built a reputation for themselves. From the glimpses Mr. Heller provided of the collections, they certainly appear to be a rich visual and textual resource. Other branches of the National Archives also have information on the arts.

The National Archives makes limited use of computers, although, according to Mr. Heller, a concerted effort is under way to change that situation. Preservation is a very high pri ority. The holdings of the National Archives are awesome, but not entirely inaccessible. To use this resource one has to en gage in the detective type of research that an archive such as this demands. Any comprehensive research project dealing

with American art would not be complete without a search of the National Archives.

Matthew Hogan Franklin Furnace Archive

GRANT DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHT ON THE REVIEW PROCESS February 17

Micheline Nilsen (Pennsylvania State University) coordi nated this session which developed as a result of the precon ference workshop on grantsmanship at the 1986 conference in New York City. Members of the panel included three of ficers from Federal granting agencies and two grant recipients. Richard Andrews (Director, Visual Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts) described two programs sponsored by EA. The Fellowship Program for Visual Artists funds pro jects submitted in the areas of sculpture, painting, photogra phy, print making, drawing, and artists' books. Decisions on grant applications submitted to this program are based on the applicant's prior work. Approximately 5% of the applications are funded at levels ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.

The second grant program sponsored by the EA covers four organizations: 1) Visual Artists' Organizations (non-profit and funded by or run by artists); 2) Forums (sponsored by non-profit organizations [e.g., museums]) discussing contem porary art; 3) Artist Residencies, Workshops, Seminars; and 4) Art in Public Places. A new program sponsored by the EA is the Design Arts Program which funds grant applications in

which visual artists and designers collaborate.




Andrew Oliver (Director of Museum Programs, National En dowment for the Arts) described the categories sponsored by the Museum Programs which fund only proposals submitted by institutions. Five categories of support are included in the Museum Programs. The special exhibitions category spon sors substantial exhibitions mounted by museums. The grant budget for this program is five million dollars and typical grants range from $25,000-$45,000. Approximately five hun dred applications are reviewed by peers in the field.

The care of collections category sponsored by the Museum Programs of the EA funds applications designed to con serve collections or support conservation training at such in stitutions as the Winterthur Museum or the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

The third category sponsored by the EA Museum Pro gram is that of museum resources which sponsors the pub lication of exhibition catalogues or catalogues raisonn?s, de

velopment of educational programs, and installation of works of art. The professional development category of this pro gram sponsors museum training programs ranging from one to six months. The final category sponsored by the EA Mu seums Program is the museum purchase plan which assists in the purchase of art works by living American artists. Wilsonia Cherry (Division of General Programs, National

Endowment for the Humanities) set forth programs spon sored by the NEH: 1) education (elementary school through university levels); 2) fellowships and seminars to individual scholars; 3) research programs of interpretive scholarship, conservation, or reference materials; 4) study programs for public education in the humanities at the state and regional levels; 5) challenge grant programs; and 6) conservation pro grams funded by the Office of Preservation. Four units are covered by the NEH programs: Humanities Projects in Media (for public broadcasting on radio or television); Humanities Projects in Libraries (reading and discussion groups, interpre tive exhibitions); Museum and Historical Materials Program; and Conservation. The NEH review process includes peer re view panels that read, discuss and rank the applications. The applications are forwarded to the NEH staff who make recom mendations to the Chairman of NEH.

Angela Girai (Avery Library, Columbia University) dis cussed her experiences as a grant applicant and recipient. She generously offered the audience some important tips to consider: place your project within the context of your institu tion; identify sources of funding; work closely with the repre sentative of the granting agency; delineate the budget care fully (remembering to include such expenses as telephone, mailing, overhead and staff benefits); learn from previous mistakes. She encouraged applicants to remain enthusiastic in the face of rejection and take courage in the face of success.

Toni Petersen (Art and Architecture Thesaurus) recom mended that collaborative effort is important when attempt ing to identify long-term projects. One's project must tie in to programs in the field and the concept must have the support of the scholarly community. She advised future applicants to count on spending at least two months organizing the pro posal and to allow time for revision. One should be prepared to seek as much advice as one can obtain.

Ray Anne Lockard University of Pittsburgh

RESEARCH RESOURCES IN AMERICAN ART February 18

This onsite session introduced participants to the long oblong room with 19th-century metalwork and tiered bal conies which resembles nothing quite so much as a triple decker Mississippi River steamboat turned inside out. It is also, of course, the site of, as the session's subtitle indicates,

"unique collections and special projects at the National Mu seum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery." Pat Lynagh, the Assistant Librarian at the NMAA/NPG Library, spoke first to the limited-enrollment group of 80. She gave an illustrated historical overview of the building housing these two bureaus of the Smithsonian Institution, the Patent Office Building, which was begun in 1836. Ms. Lynagh also related some pertinent details about the Library. The collection of 60,000 volumes covers American art, biography, and history, and is especially strong in those areas reflected in the NMAA's collections. One extraordinary resource in the Library is the 400-drawer vertical file with separate arrangements for art ists, collectors, subjects, and institutions. Several unique col lections were also described: the Ferdinand Perret Library consisting of numerous notebooks and scrapbooks of mate rials on California art and architecture and especially biog raphical information on over 7,000 artists; and Daniel Mallett's original handwritten index cards used to compile his Mallett's Index of Artists along with his entire collection of art reproductions.

Eleanor Fink, Chief of the NMAA's Office of Research Sup port, spoke next, and she described several of the ongoing research projects which her Office has undertaken. A database has been created for the NMAA's collection records and now contains information on 32,000 art objects. The In dex to American Art Exhibition Catalogs Published Prior to 1877 provides unique access to thousands of publications; a

major portion of this Index has recently been published in hardcopy by G. K. Hall. The Inventory of American Sculpture has begun recently and is designed to create MARC-type rec ords for works of American sculpture in public and private collections. The Inventory of American Paintings Executed Before 1914 now provides information on 250,000 works of art accessed by artists' names, subjects, and owners. The Inven tory has photographic reproductions of about one-quarter of the works so far indexed, and approximately 10,000 new

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works are added to the database yearly. There is also an American Artists Authority File database.

Richard Murray, Director of the Archives of American Art, then described this Smithsonian Institution Bureau as "mis sion oriented/' the mission being to secure and make access ible the diverse wealth of documentary resources on Ameri can art and artists by systematically collecting, cataloging, and microfilming. From its foundation in 1954 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Archives has expanded to include six regional offices which offer access (through interlibrary loan as well as onsite use) to the collections consisting of 9 million documents, 3,000 taped interviews, one million works of art on paper, and half a million documentary photographs.

Linda Thrift, Data Coordinator of the NPG's Catalog of American Portraits, completed the introductory presenta tions. This project began in 1965, and it aims to document portraits in all media except photographs and prints of histor ically significant Americans and portrait works by major

American artists. The documentation includes photographic reproductions of the portraits which are arranged by the sub ject's name. The database catalog also allows access by art ists' names, location, occupation of the subject, etc. There are now 70,000 portraits in this Catalog, and, it is estimated, there are 30,000 more to be gathered. An additional special feature of this project is a study guide of dated American costumes which allows researchers to make a very close guess at the date of otherwise undocumented portraits.

After these introductory comments, the participants were divided into four groups of twenty in order to visit the specific work and collection areas of these special projects and re search resources. Christine Hennessey, Coordinator of the In ventory of American Paintings, described the project's scope and working methodology and demonstrated the computer access to the Inventory's information. Arthur Breton, Curator of Manuscripts of the Archives of American Art, showed some of the Archive's treasures such as the handwritten Rec ord Books of the American Art Association, and he described the new computerization of the Archive's cataloging records. Richard Doud, Keeper of the Catalog of American Portraits, demonstrated how the guides of dated American portraits are used to match costume characteristics in order to assign probable dates to undated works. In the Library, Pat Lynagh showed examples of materials in several of the extraordi nary collections including the vertical files and the Ferdinand Perret notebooks.

Jack Robertson University of Maryland

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE VISUAL ARTS: Historians, Artists, Curators, Museum Directors February 17

This session, co-moderated by Krystyna Wasserman and Liz Harter, attempted to pinpoint feminist art history, and questioned the feasibility of the separate but equal stance that women's movements often take. Art historian Claire Rich ter Sherman's (National Gallery of Art, CASVA) paper traced the plight of women in the arts (art historians, museum direc tors, librarians, writers and visual artists), noting the con straints and accomplishments of specific individuals. The 1930s marked an important turning point in the evolution of

women's involvement: more self-taught women writers achieved prestigious positions; women attained professional rank in museums (in positions other than decorative arts and prints); with the Depression, new avenues were opened to women including community art centers and such programs as the WPA. Dr. Sherman concluded that women remain un derrepresented in influential university art departments and museums.

Wilhelmina Holladay, founder of the National Museum for Women in the Arts, stated that she began her women artists collection and library when she realized that women artists were rarely documented or exhibited. Mrs. Holladay showed slides from her collection of paintings, sculpture and draw ings as well as renderings of the museum itself. She reite rated that the Museum, scheduled to open on April 7, 1987,

will actually be a center for women in the arts (with perfor mances, recitals, and exhibitions all documenting women's work).

"What is Feminist Art History?" was the question posed and answered by art historian Norma Broude (American Uni versity). Professor Broude explained that the past neglect of women artists is only the tip of the iceberg and that the un derlying problem is the lack of feminist theory of art history. By necessity, this theory goes beyond rediscovering and doc umenting women artists. It is not the ideal of feminist theory to replace conventional art history but to create a new and integrated art history describing the realm in which women

have interacted.

Josephine Withers (University of Maryland) addressed the question of the future of all-women exhibitions. Listing the number of institutions which have sponsored all-women ex hibitions, Professor Withers reminded the audience of the dif ficulties women have had exhibiting in established institu tions. These problems cannot be alleviated by continuing special treatment for women, nor is the "separate but equal" stance the answer; instead, she sees the solution to be inte grated exhibitions which display the work of women next to those of their male colleagues.

The final significant idea, which surfaced during the ques tion-and-answer period, was Norma Broude's observation that integration of women's accomplishments into the tradi tional male history would mark an end to such segregated endeavors as women's studies in all areas.

Lamia Doumato National Gallery of Art

THE MOVING IMAGE: Preserving and Maintaining Film and Video Collections February 17

The Film and Video Group, for the second year, sponsored a session entitled "The Moving Image: Preserving and Main taining Film and Video Collections." The group's organizer, Alison Pinsler, Acting Librarian, Uris Library and Resource Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, moderated the panel. William T. Murphy, Chief of the Motion Picture, Sound and

Video Branch of the National Archives and Records Admin istration, discussed the problems of preservation, reproduc tion and safe disposal of (black-and-white) nitrate film. Included in the discussion was a brief overview of the Sound and Video Branch of NARA and its collection policy. Films represented in the collection are produced by various govern

ment agencies. Gifts from the private sector, dealing with public affairs, are also accepted. The Archives collection serves researchers and producers who need historical mate rial. Mr. Murphy proposed guidelines for assessing and main taining film collections. He discussed the perishability of ni trate film and the need for safe storage and treatment of this highly flammable and unstable material. Wendy Shay, Assistant Director of the Human Studies Film

Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, spoke about collec tion development at HSFA. She addressed the special prob lems encountered by the film archivist in terms of cataloging and preserving film. HSFA was established in 1981 for the purpose of locating and collecting anthropological films deal ing with western and nonwestern cultures. The films are

made by anthropologists, missionaries, and anthropological filmmakers. The Archives contain over three million feet of original film, including two hundred individual film projects,




most of which are unedited. The films are both silent and sound, in color and in black and white. HSFA collects addi tional material such as notes and logbooks to augment the film holdings. The cataloging is original and is based on codes derived from the Archives accession numbers and film stock numbers. In addition to maintaining the collection, the HSFA sponsors internships, fellowships and research projects.

Alan Lewis, Director of the Video and Film Archives at CBS News, discussed the preservation and maintenance of vid eotapes. He also spoke about the history of video production and the establishment of the CBS News Film Library/Archives in 1954. The Library/Archives was created in order to organize, catalog and store original news footage. The function of the Archives is to make the material available to CBS producers and researchers for news broadcasts and specials. The hold ings include film and videos of the morning and evening news, documentaries and the popular news programs, CBS Reports and 60 minutes. Major points of discussion included proper storage of video tape, temperature and environ mental controls, copyright infringement and problems of maintenance.

Paul Spehr, Assistant of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, talked about the development of this division of LC with special emphasis on color film preservation. The Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division came into being in 1953 as a separate entity, but LC has been actively collect ing film since the Second World War. During Archibald Mac Leish's tenure as Librarian of Congress, films previously in storage were inventoried and cataloged. Mr. Spehr discussed the mandate of the Division which is to collect material repre sentative of film production in the U.S. within a given year. The Division has 80,000 motion picture films in the collection and between 40-50,000 TV programs. The films are fully cataloged online according to AACR2 standards and LC MARC-tape format. Included in the discussion was some background information on the history of color film technol ogy and the proper maintenance of color film, focusing on temperature and environmental controls. At the conclusion of the talks film and video highlights

were shown.

Jean Hines New York Public Library

VERTICAL FILES: Challenges and Potentials in Managing Fine Arts Ephemera February 17

Courtney Shaw introduced the session on vertical files by outlining some of the factors that affect such resources in museum, academic, and public libraries, and explaining why rapid technological developments, particularly in the field of small computers, necessitate analysis and taking stock of such collections. Depending on the type of library, vertical files may be unique, diversified in content, and valuable as primary research material, but they can present numerous problems of cataloging, bibliographic control, preservation and weeding. Arrangement by artist and/or subject only, lim ited access points, lack of name and authority files, incon sistent headings, underutilization, and restricted circulation characterize most files. In spite of passive collecting, files grow and difficulties proliferate. Before automation can solve some of these problems, the size, content, value and arrange ment of these collections have to be analyzed if librarians are to make informed decisions about hardware, software, types of files, formats, and access fields.

Kathryn Corcoran described the vertical files at the Al bright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. Established in the 1930s by

WPA workers as a picture file, the files have since evolved into a vitally important local resource on art and artists. Consist ing of 25 4-drawer legal-size cabinets, the collection grows by 8,000 items annually. Files are kept on artists, dealers, and non-profit art institutions, and include items like current c.v/s, exhibition catalogues, sales catalogues, press releases, ex

change mailings, and auction receipts. The gallery staff also clip some newspapers and solicit material for the files. Ar rangement is primarily by subject, and LC subject headings and artists' names are used. Access is limited to staff in order to cut down on errors and losses. The principal users are gallery staff, docents, the public, students, and dealers. Cur rent concerns are space, duplication, the need to photocopy some clippings for preservation, and possible future automation.

Micheline Nilsen, formerly of Montana State University, de tailed the establishment there of a vertical file to provide ad vance and current information on exhibitions and exhibition catalogues in a remote geographical area with no art mu seum, in support of an art program with a strong emphasis on contemporary art. Automation was involved in the project from the start, with the CompuCorp office system being used to generate mailings to some 300 galleries soliciting material. Later the data were transferred to dBase III and an IBM-com patible microcomputer. The files were arranged by name of artist or some other logical heading. Eventually, an authority list of file headings was also generated by computer to facili tate access, with LC or Art index headings being utilized

whenever possible. Growth at the rate of 5 file drawers per year, with no budget or space for cabinets, necessitated se vere pruning of the collection at an early stage of the project. Some lessons learned were the need for good software with flexible fields, simple wordprocessing, compatibility with other systems, and more access points in the database.

Mary Ternes described the vertical file resources of the Dis trict of Columbia Public Library, consisting of the million pho tographs of the Washington Evening Star morgue, and the 20,000 historic photographs in the Washingtoniana collection. Ms. Ternes focused on a recent survey, conducted by an out side consultant, whose objective was to devise a long-term strategy for the processing, preservation, and automated ac cess and retrieval of these extensive collections, whose im portance is due to their subject content rather than art value as photographs. The survey's recommendations, which de tailed major costs for processing personnel, archival storage, automation, and ultimately microfilming the collection, can only be implemented if grants can be obtained to finance the project.

Roy Engfield discussed the National Gallery of Canada Li brary's Artists in Canada database. The mandate of the Na tional Gallery of Canada Library is to collect information on Canadian art and artists, and the vertical files, consisting of

newspaper clippings and other ephemera, now include infor mation on 26,000 artists, museums, galleries, and societies. The Artists in Canada database consists of the artists' names represented in these files, to which have been added location codes for other Canadian institutions that maintain vertical files on the same artists. Other data given for each artist's name is: pseudonym if any, birth and death dates, media, and location by province if known. This union list of artists' files

will be mounted on the CHIN (Canadian Heritage Information Network) system, operated by the National Museums Corpo ration. This system was primarily designed to document all art objects/artifacts in Canadian museums. The art objects component of this database is advanced, and, theoretically at least, accessible from terminals in participating institutions.

The Canadian artists component is not so advanced or ac cessible, but a printed version of the database was published in 1982, and an update is planned for publication in 1988.

In summary, Courtney Shaw noted the variety of wants, needs, and problems in vertical file collections that can lead to automation, and the many possible means and solutions that computerization can offer to librarians who manage such collections.

Kathy Zimon University of Calgary




DOCUMENTING PUBLIC ART: Sentiment and Support in the 1980s February 17

Although public art continues to arouse controversy in the 1980s, explained moderator Angela Sciotti Vincent, the pur pose of this session was to emphasize its many positive as pects. The panelists examined the state of public art in this decade and several local and national projects which were initiated to document it.

In his slide presentation, Richard Andrews, Director of the Visual Arts Program for the N.E.A., eloquently called for an understanding of public art as a unique art form. His typology of public art demonstrated both its importance and inherent difference from studio art. Some of the categories he dis tinguished were public art which is created for a specific pur pose and serves as a national symbol, and public art which is considered a landmark and which registers itself in a particu lar physical space or geographic location. Acknowledging the historical tradition of the relationship of art and its location, Mr. Andrews explained the contemporary relationship: the step-by-step collaboration of an artist with the design and construction of a building and its grounds, the transformation of an existing, utilitarian facility, and sculpture as land recla mation. Evolving from object sculptures which were brought out of the studio to become site-specific sculpture, public art now takes a step further and deals with the psychology of a location.

Recognizing the inherent importance of public art, Eliz abeth DeMarco, Adult Services Librarian for the Mundy Branch of the Onondaga Public Library, initiated a project to record public art as well as arouse community interest in it.

With the aid of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, she began in 1985 to identify and document public artworks in Syracuse and Onondaga County. After describing the evolution of the project, Ms. DeMarco presented the highly successful results: a slide-tape show and booklet

which highlight some of the 300 artists discovered during the project, artists who are represented in a variety of media on exterior and interior locations of restaurants, public buildings,

war memorials and elsewhere. It is local projects such as that in Onondaga County which

aid the efforts of Eleanor Fink, Chief of the Office of Research Support of the National Museum of American Art. To comple ment the existing Inventory of American Paintings, a similar registry of American sculpture has been established. Even tually it will become a nationwide survey covering outdoor

monuments as well as sculpture in private and public collec tions. Ms. Fink described a test for computer applications of such a project using approximately 14,000 records in the in dex of sculpture at the University of Delaware. Enumerating the advantages of SIBIS (the Smithsonian Institution's Bibli ographic Information System), she forecast a three-stage im plementation over an initial five-year period.

Margaret Prescott Baltimore County Public Library

REFERENCE IN REVIEW: Original Sources In Art Historical Research? Access and Finding Aids February 17

The increasing demand for original sources in art research prompted a change of topic from the traditional "Review of Reference Books in Progress" to a "Review of Source Materials."

Sarah S. Gibson (RILA) pointed out the ongoing need for librarians to be aware of the availability of primary source

materials required by art historians, their students, and mu seum curators. From guild registers to financial accounts, wills and inventories, these accounts are of infinite variety and reveal much about artists and their social and cultural milieu. Three categories of fairly recent publications con cerned with western art prior to the 20th century were re viewed: translations of individual documents, publications of archival records, and anthologies. The availability of these sources from Byzantine history to the 19th century is a recent phenomenon and adds a new dimension to the librarian's arsenal.

Jack Robertson (University of Maryland) presented primary documents of 20th-century artists. These materials, from let ters, essays and diaries to poems and manifestos, are invalu able to the scholar who attempts to analyze and interpret the artists' creative works. The reference works leading to these sources were divided into three groups: 1) standard sources, including anthologies, periodicals, and exhibition catalogs; 2) finding aids, i.e., cataloging and access tools and indices (manual and online), including Mr. Robertson's own Twentieth Century Artists on Art; An index to Artists' Writings, State ments, and interviews (1985); 3) most recently published sources, like The Museum of Modern Art Artists Scrapbooks (1986). The specific uses, as well as the strengths and weak nesses of the reference works, were discussed.

Rachel Stuhlman (International Museum of Photography) opened her lecture on access and finding aids to pho tographic collections and picture banks with Moholy Nagy's statement of 1936: "The illiterate of the future will be ignorant of the use of camera and pen alike." Picture researchers depend upon commercial agencies, such as the Bettmann Archives, as well as on news services and syndicates. In addi tion to these, art librarians must be acquainted with public archives, historical societies, and other general repositories that include pictorial materials. Access to these resources is facilitated through an increasing number of directories and guides, of which samples were reviewed. In addition to ac cess points, the organizational principles of the collections

were outlined.

Marjorie Parrott Adams (Boston College) examined various types of original materials for art researchers and the re positories in which they can be found. Following a review of art organizations, such as museums, schools, auction houses, and galleries, she turned to publishers' archives, religious ar chives, business archives, and other special collections that often include art documentation. Examples of general guides to archival and manuscript repositories and specialized guides (e.g., Women's History Sources, 1980), union catalogs, newsletters and journals were reviewed.

The discussion that followed reflected great interest in ac cess to original source materials and the panel members will consider future programs and publications on this subject. Bibliographies of the reference works were distributed to the audience, and are available from the individual speakers or the undersigned.

Antje . Lemke Syracuse University




SIG & TOL BUSINESS MEETINGS ARCHITECTURE SIG

The business meeting began with Edward Teague (Univer sity of Florida) describing the past year's Art Documentation columns; plans for future issues include more indexing of Global Architecture publications and a bibliography of archi tecture journals published by colleges and universities. Eliz abeth Peck of Roger Williams College in Bristol, Rhode Island, mentioned that the college is establishing a library for the n?wly accredited architecture school there and asked for do nations of slides.

A new moderator was then chosen. Deborah A. Kempe of Columbia's Avery Architectural Library generously agreed to take on the job with the hope that a member from Texas or the South would volunteer to co-moderate next year's session

with her. Discussion then followed on potential topics for the 1988

session. Landscape architecture, interior design and the archi tecture of the Dallas area were mentioned as possible topics.

In other business Virginia Kerr (Avery Library) proposed compiling a guide to the location of trade literature collec tions as a project for the SIG to undertake and Berna Neal (University of Maryland) gave a report on the status of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's library, which the University of Maryland purchased last fall.

Sally Hanford AIA Information Center

COMPUTER SIG Thirty members of the Computer SIG went online with a

call to order by moderator Henry Pisciotta, Hunt Library, Car negie-Mellon University. After a run-through of the agenda and an introduction of ARLIS/NA Vice-President Ann Abid, and President Jeffrey Horrell, Mr. Pisciotta opened the floor to a discussion of topics for the 1988 conference. He began by proposing a computer project demonstration of digitized im agery. Judith Moline, National Bureau of Standards, agreed to investigate the possibility after the group considered the ex pense and interest and the possibility of locating a corpora tion in Dallas willing to do the demonstration.

Nancy Allen, Museum of Fine Arts Library, Boston, sug gested the topic of integrated computer systems for mu seums incorporating collections management, conservation

records, and bibliographic information. Ms. Allen agreed to attempt coordinating a project proposal of integrated mu seum systems perhaps as a cosponsored session with the Museum TOL. Eleanor Riley, Getty Conservation Institute Li brary, offered Ms. Allen assistance in providing literature on the Conservation Information Network which is a similar type of integrated system providing combined bibliographic infor mation and conservation records.

Mr. Pisciotta then initiated a discussion about the recent computer project demonstrations, noting how well received and well attended they were. Ms. Allen hoped that this year's demonstrations established a trend that would continue at future conferences. Eileen Markson, Art and Archaeology Li brary, Bryn Mawr College, suggested updating the informa tion for this year's projects as well as having new ones in the future.

Mr. Pisciotta expressed his concern about the high expense of this year's demonstrations. He said that their cost exceeded the Computer SIG budget, and that next year's conference

would probably be smaller and therefore have a smaller bud get. He then opened the floor to discussion. Ms. Allen sug gested the possibility of having fundraisers or appealing to businesses for support, and a few members suggested seek ing out businesses to donate equipment instead of renting it as was done this year.

Since the coordination of projects was found to be too time-consuming for one moderator, the proposal was made that Mr. Pisciotta continue as a co-moderator of the Computer SIG and act upon last year's tabled items while Margaret Culbertson, University of Houston, moderate the computer project demonstrations for the 1988 conference. By an infor mal vote, the proposal was accepted and the co-moderators elected.

The subject of an electronic mail system, tabled last year, was reintroduced. Anna Brooke agreed to investigate system networks and talk with sales people about a low-cost system that could be made available to the largest number of ARLIS/ NA members possible.

After the floor opened to new business, Thomas Jacoby, University of Connecticut, discussed the possibility of ongo ing serials swaps via floppy disks. He stated the necessity of standardizing the type of software used and also suggested that perhaps this information could be shared via electronic

mail. In conclusion, Mr. Pisciotta informed the group of a letter

he received from David Bearman soliciting articles for his new publication, Quarterly Update on Archival Informatics: Newsletter and Technical Reports. It will contain news and technical reports on devices in archival automation and the

management of automated records.

Therese Gurski Getty Center Library

SERIALS SIG The annual business meeting for this group was called to

order by Sheila Klos, acting as Moderator pro tern for Chris tine Smith. The first item on the agenda was the display and discussion of newly published ARLIS/NA Occasional Paper No. 5: Hist?rica/ Bibliography of Art Museum Serials from the United States and Canada (Edited by Sheila Klos and Christine Smith. Tucson: ARLIS/NA, 1987. 64 p. ISSN 0730-7160; ISBN 0-942740-04-1. $15). Ms. Klos relayed the Executive Board's query about effective updating and amendment of this pub lication. Serials SIG members considered options, finally con cluding that a small update attachment could be produced when appropriate. The bibliography's contents are on hard disk at the J. Paul Getty Center Museum Library; an investiga tion will be make to determine the feasibility of automated updating.

Alexandra de Luise spoke about her continuation as Serials SIG column editor for Art Documentation. Danief Pearl agreed to coedit the Serials Update with Ms. de Luise. She asked for feedback and assistance with serial publication information. Various SIG members took on informal assignments to con tact serials vendors for new information; new material solic ited would be passed to Ms. de Luise for use in the column. A lively discussion followed about potential column problems, e.g., categorization of materials as appropriate to either the Serials or Professional Literature columns, and coordination of where such information should appear.

Other serials and Serials SIG projects were discussed. Mar keting sources require development to reach targeted indi viduals, special groups or other art library societies. Clive Phillpot reported on reference publications nearing comple tion or requiring assistance with serials documentation.

The group then turned to the election of a new Moderator. The SIG's small, stable membership has caused problems in choosing leadership from the same pool of past volunteers. After some deliberation, Carol Terry agreed to be the new moderator and asked for ideas from members. Conference planning for 1988 was considered. The "New Serials in Re view" was acknowledged as a standard offering. Ideas were offered for cosponsoring a session with another TOL or SIG. Kathryn Deiss and Ms. Terry suggested more historical serials review programs, with scholarly emphasis on art publishing and art information. Highlights of the 1987 IFLA meeting in Amsterdam, and its focus on periodicals, were reviewed. Ms.




Terry reported on the viability of this year's conference work shop, Research Methodology: Using Art Sales Information Sources and Published Photographic Collections, on Satur day, February 14. The meeting concluded with a reexamina ron, led by Anne O. Morris, of the Serials Swap, its successes, problems, and scheduling. Members agreed to continue this program.

Paula A. Baxter Museum of Modern Art Library

VISUAL RESOURCES SIG Eileen Fry, 1987 VRSIG Moderator, opened the annual busi

ness meeting by welcoming everyone, especially four first time attendees. She then turned the meeting over to President Jeffrey Horrell, who introduced Vice-President Ann Abid. Art Documentation Editor Deirdre Stam was then intro duced. She appealed to everyone in VRSIG to submit articles to Art Documentation, especially major articles of more gener al interest beyond VRSIG. She could not promise to publish all submitted, but would work with any author in preparing materials for publication.

Eileen then read her Annual Report as submitted to the Board, which explained that Inge Wald had resigned from the moderatorship soon after the last meeting for personal rea sons and Eileen had been appointed to fill out her term. The VRSIG Nominating Committee had sought in particular non slide-specialist candidates this year and announced Sheryl Conkelton of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Photo Archives as candidate for our next moderator. Ms. Fry com mented that the VRSIG group needs to broaden its base, to work with visual collection specialists and with non-image collection specialists, too. This year, Nancy McCauley was re sponsible for a major portion of the content in our sessions, yet due to illness was unable to attend. Eileen then called attention to the election of the next moderator for a two-year term (1988-89), and Sheryl Conkelton was elected. Jennifer Hehman will continue as Art Documentation column editor.

Next on the agenda was next year's conference program. Suggestions for sessions were: questions on videos (discs/ tapes) and copyright laws, discussion of student use of study images (what do students or faculty want or need?), a lecture

version of the 1987 workshop on Non-Book Database Design, questions of authority standards (and the different kinds of standards already available), archivists' perspectives on ac cess to collections and to other formats in the non-book realm. There might also be presentations of special VR pro jects done by different chapters. The administrative issues session had also brought out the need for "nitty gritty" issues like how to get a computer to print out slide labels and how to

solve other day-to-day problems. Mary Lampe of the Amon Carter Museum volunteered to

be next year's program chair with the aid of Greg Most of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Mr. Most requested help from members on getting exhibitors for the Dallas conference. Maryly Snow suggested that a sample form letter be sent to members to use when they order equipment, to ask vendors to exhibit at the Dallas '88 conference. This tactic would be especially helpful in attracting vendors in the computer and other "new" industries.

Brent Maddox was then asked to report on the new AAT hierarchies pending, whereupon he gave the floor over to Toni Petersen. Ms. Petersen announced that soon there will be online access to AAT scope notes and that AAT staff hope to revive the AAT Newsletter. Mr. Most raised the issue of au thority work and the charge of the Board for VRSIG to help

with work on standards for authority control. Of particular interest seem to be questions of geographic and chronologi cal authority work, e.g., names for ancient sites, nonwestern sites, and Asian sites.

Trudy Jacoby requested that slide swaps be better organized. What is needed is an ongoing database/clearing house to share information on the unique areas of collections. She suggested that we all work as a group to document sources for first-rate slides for survey texts.

Sara Jane Pearman brought up the work of the Standards Committee of which she is a member. They need to know information on: the storage and handling of video materials, production facilities, ideas and problems, how to measure for storage for all kinds of nonbook materials (film, photos and video).

Toni Petersen then complimented and congratulated the group for having pulled together to work toward goals after two years at "loose ends." The meeting ended with compli ments to Eileen Fry for her work throughout the year. At tendees then adjourned to attend a surprise party to honor Luraine Tansey on the occasion of her retirement.

Jennifer Hehman Herron School of Art

PUBLIC TOL Moderator Angela Sciotti Vincent (Forbes Library) opened

the meeting with a brief review of the year, noting especially the two sessions sponsored by the TOL for the 1987 con ference, one on art technique materials and the other on doc umenting public art.

Co-moderator Linda Swieszkowski (New York Public Li brary, Mid-Manhattan Branch) was elected moderator for the the coming year. Ms. Swieszkowski related the results of her

work in conjunction with the 15th-anniversary membership drive. General discussion followed concerning the public librarians' profile within the organization. Mrs. Vincent re ported that public librarians had been designated as a tar geted group by the Membership Committee, which would be helpful to the TOL's additional efforts in reaching out. Frances Frommer (Hamilton Public Library) asked that the effort be extended into Canada through ads in the Facilitator, a publica tion with wide circulation among Canadian librarians.

Visibility discussions led to a return to the idea of a button for next year's conference, as proposed last year. Paula Baker (Toledo Public Library) agreed to pursue the issues of design, production and distribution with the goal of having some thing ready for the 1988 conference.

Mrs. Vincent then directed discussion to conference topics for 1988. Proposed were art school catalog collections and a session on antiques and collectibles, possibly as a cospon sored event. Dian Disantis (Mayfield Regional Public Library) proposed a special session targeting public librarians for dis cussion of common problems unique to the public sector. Mrs. Vincent suggested that this information exchange could take place as a roundtable session with a specific agenda such as security and decentralization of art departments.

Elizabeth DeMarco (Onondaga County Public Library) who served as TOL column coordinator for four years stepped down after thanking everyone for their support and noting the high quality of articles received. Ms. Baker agreed to ac cept responsibility for this job. Possible topics discussed for upcoming issues included art school catalogs, picture files, collection evaluation, and relationships with local arts organizations.

Ms. DeMarco asked for titles to be submitted to her for consideration by the Wittenborn Award Committee. Mary Ashe (San Francisco Public Library) will be presenting a paper at IFLA and asked for information on the formation and growth of public art libraries in the United States.

Angela Sciotti Vincent Forbes Library

Northhampton, MA




COMMITTEE BUSINESS MEETINGS ART AND ARCHITECTURE THESAURUS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The 1987 business meeting of the AAT Advisory Committee was convened by Chair Pat Barnett who introduced the 1987/88 committee members: Nadine Covert, Program for Art on Film, Metropolitan Museum of Art/J. Paul Getty Trust; An gela Girai, Avery Library, Columbia University (not present); Karen Markey, School of Information & Library Studies, Uni versity of Michigan; Merrill W. Smith, Rotch Visual Collection, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (not present); Deirdre C. Stam, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University (new member); Janet Stanley, African Art Branch Library, Smithsonian Institution; Murray Waddington, Library, Canadi an Centre for Architecture (not present). Also present were Toni Petersen, AAT liaison; Helene Roberts, ARLIS/NA Execu tive Board liaison; Kate Chipman, Avery Library, Columbia University (representing Angela Girai). The committee chair thanked outgoing committee member, Roger Lawson, Nation al Gallery of Art, for his past work on the committee.

The Committee's 1986 activities were then reviewed. Com mittee members Pat Barnett, Angela Girai, Merrill Smith and AAT liaison Toni Petersen were part of a task force convened by the Research Libraries Group Art & Architecture Program Committee and the Art & Architecture Thesaurus project. This RLG AAPC/AAT task force met during 1986 to develop an applications protocol to guide RLIN subscribers who also use AAT. The ARLIS/NA Executive Board also requested that the AAT Advisory Committee work with a special task force cre ated by the ARLIS Visual Resources Special Interest Group (VRSIG) to help establish guidelines for visual resource collec tions in the area of vocabulary control.

Programs were developed for the 1987 ARLIS/NA Con ference. These included: the Workshop on Non-Book Database Design and an AAT User Group Session. Cathy

Whitehead, AAT, also demonstrated the AAT online system, and Amy Lucker demonstrated the prototype nonbook database developed for the workshop in database design.

The AAT Advisory Committee also contributes a column to Art Documentation. This column, edited by Pat Barnett, re ports on AAT news, developments and applications.

Toni Petersen, Executive Director of AAT, then presented an update on the project. During 1986, AAT moved to new quar ters in Williamstown, Mass., where they expect to remain for at least six years. In spite of the move and the need to hire and train new staff they have achieved most of their 1986 goal: completion of the architecture and supporting hier archies. Two additional hierarchies are due out soon: Pro cesses and Techniques, and Disciplines. AAT currently has three professional level job openings: an architecture editor and two fine arts editors.

About half a dozen projects actively use the AAT hierarchies and send feedback forms. AATs 1987/88 budget includes a request for funds to carry out a feasibility study for a users' system for the AAT. This would help users to coordinate terms from the thesaurus. A meeting was held in the spring with thesaurus experts James Anderson, W.L Lancaster, Elaine Svenonius, and Everett Brenner specifically to seek advice on precoordination of terms in order to develop a systematic approach to the issue.

The Art History Information Program of the Getty Trust has given permission to the AAT project to disseminate the com pleted architecture hierarchies to any institution interested in using them. The thesaurus will be made available on floppy disks and possibly also by direct-dial via an 800 number.

AAT is also studying the feasibility of mounting the the saurus on RLIN. If this goes forward, AAT would be a special database in RLIN, rather than an authority file, until it has been tested and an applications protocol developed.

Plans were then discussed for 1988 ARLIS/NA Conference. Suggestions included workshops on applications protocol and on indexing, e.g., how to index, how to use hierarchies/ facets, searching techniques, what catalogers have learned from changes in indexing brought about by automation. The value of separate sessions for beginners and advanced cata

logers was discussed, perhaps a practical lecture-demon stration in the morning, followed by a more theoretical ses sion for advanced users in the afternoon. Final program decisions will be made after evaluating the workshops at this year's conference.

Nadine Covert Program for Art on Film

Metropolitan Museum of Art/J. Paul Getty Trust

ART DOCUMENTATION AND ARLIS/NA UPDATE ADVISORY BOARD

In his opening remarks Chairman Milan Hughston thanked the members of the 1986 committee and announced the addi tion of two new members, Elizabeth Herman and Nancy Pistorius. He also welcomed the new editor o? Art Documenta tion, Deirdre Stam.

The major part of the meeting was then taken up by discus sion of technical questions raised by Features Editor Kathryn Vaughn and Art Documentation index editor Lynette Korenic. The ensuing discussion brought to light the fact that drawing the line between Update and Art Documentation is more com plicated than it might appear. The most apparent difference between these publications is the type of material published: Update includes quick references, while Art Documentation contains lengthier articles, book reviews, SIG and TOL col umns, and professional information.

The suggestions made by Kathryn Vaughn concerned strin gently enforced deadlines for column editors, illustrations for column articles, placement of chapter news, and the need for the Bibliographic Notes column. The Advisory Board recom mended limiting illustrations to major articles, where they illustrate the content of the paper rather than just provide decoration. The Board also supported continuation of the Bib liographic Notes column and recommended expanding its

scope. The Book Review Editor, Elizabeth Peck, gave a short report

on the state of the Book Review column. She discussed the deadlines, length and types of book reviews. In the ensuing discussion it emerged that editing the book reviews, or turn ing them down, can present problems with authors. When these problems occur, there is need for a sensitive approach on the editor's part, and it can be aided by the use of the guidelines.

Lynette Korenic sent questions and appeared shortly at the meeting to report on the Art Documentation index. Earlier in the day at the Publications Committee's meeting it was decid ed that the index for volumes 1-5 will be published in a cumulative form as an insert in volume 6. Future volumes will have their own index at the end of each volume. Volume 4 has been indexed differently by Caroline Backlund, and it be came necessary to decide whether reporters' name should be indexed. This generated a lively discussion leading to a

proposal by Clive Phillpot that all signed articles should be indexed, and if they are not signed, the column editor's name should be indexed. The Board members felt that reporters should include more names in their reports and be more specific about details.

Toni Petersen then read the Executive Board's charges to the Advisory Board of Art Documentation and Update: 1) Develop a set of guidelines for refereeing articles in Art Documentation; 2) The Advisory Board should develop an annual agenda, such as guidelines for indexing, contents of future issues, and graphic design.

Georgina Gy. Toth The Cleveland Museum of Art




CATALOGING ADVISORY COMMITTEE Amy Lucker, 1986 Chairman of the Cataloging Advisory

Committee, reported on CAC activities during the year. Reports were received on activities at the summer 1986 and midwinter 1987 American Library Association conferences from Sherman Clarke, ARLIS/NA representative to the Com mittee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA) of the Cataloging and Classification Section of the Resources and Technical Services Division of ALA. Several general issues, particularly the change in treatment of British place names, will significantly affect cataloging. The May 1986 draft ap plications protocol for the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) was distributed for comment to CAC. Since that mail ing, AAT has reconsidered the protocol and is now deciding among four different proposals for application of the AAT vocabulary. The Getty Trust has authorized the release of the architecture hierarchies which are complete. The hierarchies will be available via dialup access to AAT and via diskettes and tapes, as well as some sort of release in hard copy. De tails of release have not yet been determined. Amy Lucker announced that VRSIG had formed a task force

on authorities which, as its first task, will work on geographic names. A survey will be undertaken of what authorities are used and how authority work is done. CAC will try to keep abreast of developments with the task force, cooperating as possible.

Arlene Noble Parker will be Chairman of CAC during 1987. Members discussed possible issues for research and/or ac tion during 1987. The Library of Congress has proposed a change from indirect to direct geographical subdivision in subject headings. CAC will ask for input from ARLIS members via Update (comments by 1 June 1987) and will prepare a letter to LC based on the discussion in Washington and input from the notice in Update. The catalogers at the Fogg Art Museum have written to LC about the use of "Soviet" as a style adjective in subject headings. CAC will write a letter of inquiry to LC and perhaps undertake a study of the use of "Soviet" and "Russian" in the literature and in subject headings.

Anna Smislova, art subject cataloger at LC, discussed her concern that art exhibition catalogues were being routinely given low priority for full cataloging at LC. Henriette Avram, head of LC's Processing Services, reported on low priority for exhibition catalogs at ALA Midwinter in January 1987. Since there was some confusion on this report, Ms. Parker will check with Avram's office for the text of her ALA report. A letter will probably be issued to LC asking that exhibition catalogs be given priority as other books are, based on rele vance, language, research value, etc. It was suggested that the Art and Architecture Program Committee of the Research Li braries Group (AAPC) might encourage its members to par ticipate in the Cataloging in Publication program since CIP materials are high priority. AAPC was scheduled to discuss shared cataloging of exhibition catalogs at its meeting follow ing the ARLIS conference. Ms. Smislova also reported that the Principal Subject Cataloger had issued a memo calling for adding general subject headings to a work on a single artist in a single medium. There is concern that this would result in subject headings which are too general as well as many more subject headings of limited value for some records. The topic was referred for discussion at the Cataloging Problems Dis cussion Group.

Sherman Clarke Cornell University

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Karen Meizner opened the Development Committee's meet

ing with a summary of the committee's activities in 1986 which included: 1) the identification of possible sources for foundation and corporate matching funds, 2) the establish ment of a calendar for the 15th-Anniversary Fund Drive, and

3) the exploration of the long-term development goals for ARLIS/NA.

Lynette Korenic, the incoming chairman, then focused the committee's discussion on the inauguration and promotion of the 15th-Anniversary Fund Drive. Setting a goal of $15,000 for the purpose of establishing a reserve fund for ARLIS/NA Occasional Papers, the Fund Drive will make appeals to the ARLIS membership as well as to outside funding organiza tions. Ms. Korenic announced the Fund Drive at the Member ship Meeting and flyers for donations and pledges were dis tributed during the conference. Throughout the year the committee plans to highlight ARLIS's fifteenth anniversary by publishing a historical profile of the Society. The committee will continue its efforts to obtain additional grant funding, supported by the membership's positive response to the Fund Drive. The committee hopes to celebrate a successful conclu sion of the Fund Drive at the Dallas/Fort Worth conference.

At its February 1987 meeting the Executive Board charged the Development Committee with the sole responsibility of coordinating the fundraising activities of ARLIS/NA.

Janis Ekdahl The Museum of Modern Art

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE The annual Membership Committee business meeting

focused on the status of the 15th-Anniversary Membership Drive and discussion of the proposed Member Satisfaction Survey.

The Membership Drive to recruit public librarians will begin in the early spring of 1987 followed by recruitment efforts for architectural librarians and visual resource curators. Appro priate SIGs, TOLs and chapters assisted the Committee by providing names of prospective recruits to contact and by helping to draft the cover letters to be sent with the ARLIS/NA brochure. Half of the chapters volunteered to assist with fol low-up activities so as to encourage people contacted to join

ARLIS/NA. The committee will be communicating with chap ter chairs who did not respond to the initial inquiry for their support. It is anticipated that the Membership Drive will be completed by the end of the summer of 1987 and that the resulting increase in ARLIS/NA membership will also result in increased chapter membership. Discussion concerning the Member Satisfaction Survey

focused on clarifying the purpose of the survey and planning for its implementation. The Executive Board hopes the survey

will reflect members' opinions concerning the services and benefits of ARLIS/NA membership. The Committee will be contacting survey consulting firms and working closely with the Executive Director in formulating questions to be included in the survey. It is anticipated that the survey will be mailed out after the Membership Drive is completed, probably dur ing the fall of 1987.

Leslie Abrams Clemson University

GERD MUEHSAM AWARD COMMITTEE The following members were present: Jeannette Downing

and Matt Hogan, both outgoing; Peggy Kusnerz and Joan Benedetti; and two new members, Laurie Reese and Betty Jo Irvine. The outgoing Chair, Jeannette Downing, called the committee to order. New members were introduced, as well as the incoming Chairperson, Peggy Ann Kusnerz, and the new Board Liaison, Sheila Klos. Ms. Downing reported that a record number of papers (six) were submitted for considera tion last year. Two of the papers submitted (including the

winner) originated in Betty Jo Irvine's art librarianship classes taught at Indiana University.

This year's winner is Sigrid Docken Mount. Her paper is entitled "Evolutions in African Art Exhibition Catalogues." Ms. Downing stated that one of the papers submitted engendered




mixed reactions from the committee due to its subject mat ter?maps?which all committee members felt to be less cen tral than other topics to art librarianship. A discussion of appropriate topics ensued. Within art li

brarianship, the term "visual resources" is understood to mean slides or photographs (with the underlying assumption that such slides or photos are part of an art department), but outside the art field, it might be construed by some to include any nonbook media (whether art-related or not), which could include maps. Another paper, the topic of which was also thought by some to be inappropriate, concerned art collec tions in the Public Archive of Canada. The actual topic was a comparison of two art object collections?not archival collec tions. The consensus of the discussion, however, was that the committee should wait at least a year before rewriting the guidelines to see if this is an ongoing problem. It is felt that it is best to keep the wording on the announcement simple.

It was suggested that ARLIS members who teach art li brarianship would be the best promoters of the award. The Professional Development Committee is compiling a list of art librarianship courses which will be shared with the Muehsam

Committee. All ALA-accredited library schools receive the Muehsam announcement.

The Publications Committee has asked that worthwhile Muehsam papers be submitted to them. Laurie Reese sug gested that it would be helpful to publish a list of all papers submitted, as there is a paucity of writing available to re searchers on the subject of art librarianship. Potentially, any paper submitted to the Committee might be of interest to a researcher, even if not published or given an award. Herewith, the titles of the papers submitted during 1985-86: "The Ac quisition of Early Canadian Art in the Picture Division, Public Archives of Canada and the National Gallery of Art," by Eliz abeth Steele; "Collection Development Policies for Visual Re source Collections," by Helen H. Wykle; "The Evolution of Art School Libraries in the United States," by Ann Herold-Short; "Evolutions in African Art Exhibition Catalogues," by Sigrid Docken Mount; "The Growth of the Archives of American Art," by Christine Hennessey; "The Map as Information-Dis play System: A Visual Analysis Of Bonner's 1722 Town Plan of Boston," by Pamela Miller Ness.

Joan M. Benedetti Craft & Folk Art Museum

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Ray Anne

Lockard, who distributed a current list of members' names and addresses and welcomed new members Rosann Auchstetter and Linda Swieszkowski. Announcement was made of the formal change of name of the committee from Education Committee to Professional Development Commit tee. 1986 minutes were reviewed and approved. Susan

Wyngaard reported on the Executive Board's recommenda tions to the Committee. The Guidelines for Conference Work shops were submitted to the Board in summer of 1986 and accepted. The Board has charged the Committee with distributing and publishing these guidelines. She noted that the deadline for finished program/workshop proposals is May 1,1987.

Old business: 1) It was decided that the forum for publishing the

Guidelines mentioned previously would be Art Documenta tion. A copy of the guidelines could also be included in a letter to chapter heads and regional representatives.

2) The Executive Board has charged the committee with preparing guidelines for symposia and seminars. It is hoped that these guidelines can be submitted this spring.

3) Evaluation forms: A draft of a form to be used for evalua tion of workshops has been prepared and will be tested at two workshops this year. More "generic" multiple-choice type questions will be included in the next draft. A final ver sion will be submitted to the Board this year.

4) The draft of a letter soliciting proposals for continuing

education programs to be sent to chapter chairs was dis tributed and discussed. A final draft will be written according to recommendations from the Board and committee mem bers and sent this year.

5) A "Directory of Library Schools Offering Courses in Art Librarianship" was distributed. This information will be sub mitted for publication in Art Documentation or ARLISINA Update.

6) Some continuing education programs sponsored by chapters were briefly discussed.

7) A draft of a letter to students considering a career in art librarianship was distributed. With some changes, it will be sent to students and library schools which have expressed an interest.

8) A brief report was given on the 1987 workshops. New business: 1) Discussion of the implications of name change: it was

felt that the charge of the committee may need to be rewrit ten to reflect the broader scope of the committee as it now functions. It was felt that the committee does more than its original charge indicates, including the formulation of pub lished guidelines. The new scope goes beyond the original charge in that the committee is now actively involved in the planning process for continuing education programs for the ARLIS/NA membership.

2) Recommendations to schools of library and information science concerning programs in art librarianship: this topic has been put on hold and will be on next year's agenda.

3) Recommendation for 1988 conference programs: several suggestions for subjects were made, including automating the small art library, exhibition catalogues as a scholarly re source, perhaps in conjunction with an exhibition going on in Dallas, visual technology and special projects. The suggestion of a call for papers was discussed as a method of pro viding more opportunities for participation and scholarship within the general membership.

Deborah A. Kempe Columbia University

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE In her opening remarks the Chairman Barbara Polowy

thanked the members of the Publications Committee who have started a second year for their work, and introduced the new members (T.J. Jacoby and Deirdre C. Stam, the new Editor of Art Documentation). Ms. Polowy announced that Paula Baxter will be the Publications Committee's new liaison to the Executive Board and she will submit future proposals for the Occasional Papers to the Board.

These announcements were followed by a discussion of the Publications Committee's agenda for the meeting: 1) Historical Bibliography of Art Museum Serials. Ms. Klos an

nounced the availability of copies of this OP, and this was followed by a discussion of the publicity promotion mech anism for OPs. It was suggested by Ms. Klos that a commit tee should be appointed for the promotion of publicity

material.

2) Authority Control Symposium Occasional Paper. Karen Muller, the editor of the OP, was invited to the meeting to report on its current state. She has distributed the latest version of two papers for review to committee members serving as readers of the OP. Ms. Muller has expressed her concern as editor of the OP in the following matters: a) Time required to produce an OP. It seems that due to the length of the production of an OP, the level of quality suf fers, b) Papers submitted to ARLIS/NA for publication do not reach the high standards of documentation as is the case for papers presented to other professional society publications.

A lively discussion ensued and the members of the Publica tions Committee agreed on the desirability for high-quality documentation and in-depth handling of the subject matter by the authors. This would be carried out by the editor of each OP, and it was suggested that appropriate guidelines




should be made available to authors in order to achieve these goals. It was felt that ARLIS/NA is a young society that stands at the point where more professionalism and competitive ness is desirable, and the requirement of formal papers sub mitted for publication plays an important role. Susan Swartzburg brought up the matter of inviting outside readers for papers that cannot be reviewed by subcommittee mem bers when they are not experts in the particular subject. Pamela Parry expressed the Board's view that reviewers, out side the Publications Committee, should be used due to their expertise and to shorten the time of production of an OP. Ms. Swartzburg and Susan Malkoff-Moon have suggested that pa pers presented at any particular conference should be pub lished within one year. The matter of a paid copy editor was addressed by Ms. Parry who informed the Publications Com mittee that there is no blanket policy, drawn up by the Board, in existence.

3) Art Documentation Index. Ms. Parry expressed the Board's view about the index. As it stands, it should be published in a cumulative form as an insert, covering volumes 1-5, and future indexes should be published at the end of each volume.

4) Grant Development OP Proposal. Lynette Korenic submit ted a revised proposal for this OP. The suitability of the proposed OP was discussed at length, and it was decided that as it would have a wider appeal than just for art librar ies, the Publications Committee will recommend it to be published as an OP.

5) Guidelines for OPs Based on Conference Sessions. This topic generated further discussion on the level of scholar ship and formality required for papers submitted for pub lication to ARLIS/NA. The members of the committee ex pressed a deep desire to ensure the implementation of the OP guidelines and strengthen the professional level of publications of the Society.

6) Future OP Projects. As there were several papers presented in the near past at conferences that would not make up an entire OP, but their subject matter is of wider interest, it was suggested that there should be an OP published which would be a collection of papers of special interests (mu seum archives, rare books, photo collections). The available papers for this OP should be submitted to the members of the Publications Committee, and a decision will be made by the members whether this project should be presented to the Board for consideration at the midyear meeting.

Georgina Gy. Toth The Cleveland Museum of Art

TRAVEL AWARD COMMITTEE Lynette Korenic (University of California, Santa Barbara)

presided over the beginning of the meeting which was at tended by members of both the 1986 and 1987 Committees. Board Liaison for 1986 Eileen Markson (Bryn Mawr) reported on Board actions including: their formal approval of the two additional awards that were given this year; their recommen dation that the Travel Award Committee work closely with the Development Committee in coordinating future contact with potential financial supporters of ARLIS/NA concerns; and a suggestion that the committee may wish to change its name to reflect more accurately its purpose for funding tra vel to conferences, e.g., Conference Participation Awards Committee.

The meeting was then turned over to the 1987 Chair, James Carmin (University of Oregon), who raised several issues that the committee should pursue this year, including the estab lishment of additional guidelines addressing eligibility re quirements that restrict Travel Award Committee members from applying for an award while serving on the committee, and the enhancement and broadening of publicity to increase

the pool of candidates, especially for the two most recent awards. The Chair will draft revised guidelines, and possible committee name changes, as well as revised publicity infor mation, and will distribute all this material to committee members for discussion.

Other members brought up additional issues which were discussed in some detail by the committee. Irena Murray (McGill University) noted her concern, and the committee concurred, that no Canadian members had applied for any awards and that new ways needed to be developed to attract more Canadian members. As a separate issue, an proposal was made to develop two additional travel awards: the first, to fund ARLIS/NA members to attend international con ferences; the second, to fund foreign art librarians who are not ARLIS/NA members to attend an ARLIS/NA annual con ference. The committee agreed that both awards were valid and decided that draft proposals will be distributed by the Chair for input from committee members. Before additional funding sources are approached, there will be coordination

with the Development Committee. Finally, it was suggested, and the committee agreed, that there should be further elab oration of the biographical sketches of the award winners in the post-conference Art Documentation, and perhaps addi tional forms of recognition at the conference. The committee

welcomes any comments or suggestions from ARLIS/NA members.

James Carmin University of Oregon

INFORMAL GROUP MEETINGS ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES IN VISUAL RESOURCES COLLECTIONS

Eileen Fry, as moderator, introduced the four speakers for this session: Nancy Yeide of the National Museum of Ameri can Art and Pat Kleeberger of the Walters Art Gallery, who spoke on handling volunteer staff, along with Peter Grewenow of Columbia University and Sheryl Conkelton of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, who spoke on photo archives problems.

Nancy Yeide began by describing her experiences working with a variety of volunteers. She stressed the pros and cons of the situation for both the volunteers and the institution, and stated that there have to be benefits for both. The best opera tional approach that she recommended was to treat volun teers like regular staff, to be evaluated and promoted where

possible to greater responsibilities and given recommenda tions for future jobs. A key point was to match volunteer's interests with your needs and the tasks at hand. She found jobs that fit the age groups of her volunteers, with general office type work suiting the young high school or college students, middle-aged volunteers needing more defined pro jects with a sense of accomplishment when completed, and older "retired" volunteers wanting to learn more and able to do time-consuming "research projects" such as matching scantily identified slides to pictures. Volunteers are often not successful at filing slides into collections and should also be kept away from "time-sensitive" tasks. If you are just starting a volunteer program, plan to put in a significant amount of time and to be considerate of volunteers, as well as to be aware of the needs of the institution.

Pat Kleeberger followed with some suggestions on how best to utilize the talents of volunteers. She has found that special skills, like languages, can contribute to special pro jects. She spoke on the planning and actual training that she does with her volunteers, such as having hand-outs and read




ing lists for them to use and a notebook containing all slide library information. Having an area (no matter how small) set aside for the volunteers gives them a sense of place. She advised keeping supplies available so that they can continue on projects from week to week, as well as maintaining regular hours, with weekly reviews of their work.

Peter Grewenow began his presentation by describing the two purposes of his photo collection and the different types of usage made of photo collections. In terms of gifts, collec tions have developed in an academic setting by several means, often being personal collections of emeritus faculty which can become "special archives" that can outnumber the "permanent collections." Mr. Grewenow has four types of special archives: professors' book illustrations; period collec tions from a particular scholar's life work; historical materials

with a broader humanities interest or documentary materials of the "Third World"; and ephemera, such as gallery notices, personal diaries and old photos. In academe, some photo collections are accepted because no one is in a position to say "no" to the "academic family." Collections can be denied, however, if they duplicate your existing collection, or if they occupy more space than is available. Let your administration know how much a "gift" can cost in staff time and storage. Also be aware of other collections or facilities in your area, so you can redirect donors to the most appropriate collection. It is also a key responsibility to make your collection accessible to users. If you can demonstrate the use of a collection, you can make a better argument for more staffing to maintain it. The last item that Mr. Grewenow mentioned was the need to list the collections that are held in your institution. Sheryl Conkelton, who also cares for a photo archive, dis

cussed additional preservation issues, and changes in use for photo collections. New and different disciplines are finding potential research value from photo collections, especially history, sociology and cross-disciplinary studies. Ms. Conkelton pointed out that it behooves us to care for our collections for future research uses that we may not now foresee. The history of photography itself can be documented by our collections, as well as changes in society's view of the world. Thus, the issue of collection development is also an issue of preservation. When about to receive materials, the curator should make

an assessment of the photographic materials to identify what should be preserved, and what is suitable for the collection or facility. All collections need a focus and direction to their growth to be of a value in the future. It is necessary to judge the "life expectancy" of photographic materials and evaluate their present storage conditions, as well as to measure the capacity of your storage facilities. Ms. Conkelton then pointed out some guidelines for this assessment. Look for damage in the materials, such as fading, ferrotyping, discolorations, ob vious signs of deterioration due to the effects of physical, atmospheric (pollution), and chemical or light exposure.

Conservation means trying to maintain material in the same state in which it was received; preservation means trying to arrest the progress of deterioration, a more costly procedure. If the material is significant or important to your collection, it may be well worth the extra effort to preserve it. If not, it can be converted to another format, or re

photographed (with the original discarded if it is in very bad condition.)

Consider the source of the work and its provenance, as "artistic works" are often more carefully produced and more likely to be salvageable, whereas "newspaper"-type photo graphs are less well processed and deteriorate quickly. The presence of silver nitrates is a very real danger, with deterio ration of the yellow-brown base layer into a sticky gelatin form. Duplicate these items immediately and dispose of the originals. The fumes from these can accelerate the deteriora tion of any other photographic materials nearby.

To evaluate your storage facility, set up an ideal model as a paradigm to compare to your actual setting. It should: 1) be

chemically inactive/inert, 2) have stable temperature and hu midity, preferably 66-70?F and 30-40% humidity, 3) have dark yet well-ventilated storage with containers of an inert material, 4) contain filtered light (if fluorescent with UV shields) and air (to keep out pollution, especially in the cities). All other chemicals should be stored outside the area, such as cleaners, paint, insecticides, paints, and woods.

In this ideal situation, each photograph would have an en velope, some type of support and interleaving in a chemically inert container, which if a flat storage or box must be of a non-combustible, non-corrosive material. Film, prints, and

negatives should be separated as each is sensitive to touch, changes in moisture, and dust abrasion. Other types of damage are "foxing" from insect damage, fading from poor original processing, and silvery oxidation from air pollutants. Ms. Conkelton concluded her presentation by recommending several helpful books for reference: Weinstein's Collection, Use, and Care of Historical Photographs, Wilhelm's The Preser vation of Contemporary Color Materials, and Albright's "En closures" from Picturescope in 1985.

Questions following the session ranged from how to put a valuation on donated photographs, who owns the copyright, how archives handle a variety of non-book materials for easy access, changing trends in use of "study" collections in aca demic collections, and the value of computer-generated teaching materials that replace study prints, as well as how to handle post card collections.

Jennifer Hehman Herron School of Art

ART AND ARCHITECTURE THESAURUS USER GROUP

The first annual meeting of the AAT User Group was called to order by Moderator Pat Barnett. She introduced represen tatives of seven of the cataloging and indexing projects cur rently involved in applying the distributed portion of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus: Eileen Fry, Indiana University; Pat Molholt, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); Vicki Por ter, Foundation for the Documentation of Architecture; Peter Trepanier, Canadian Centre for Architecture; Nadine Covert, Critical Inventory of Art on Film, a joint project of the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Merrill Smith, Rotch Slide Library at MIT; and Virginia Kerr, Avery Index and AVIADOR video disc project at Columbia

University. Barnett stated that the purpose of the meeting was to ex

plore how each of these projects is incorporating the AAT. She pointed out that most current AAT users are dealing with architectural collections, adding that they represent various kinds of media including slides, architectural drawings, verti cal file materials, trade catalogs, film inventories, and a periodical index.

Toni Petersen, Director of the AAT, began with a description of the AAT user feedback process whereby thesaurus users submit new candidate terms or supply comments on existing terms to the AAT office. She described the content and pro cessing of Candidate Term forms.

Next, Kerr described her experience with the AAT at the Avery Index and reported on the AVIADOR project's use of the thesaurus. She stated that the indexers at Avery are very satisfied with the AAT since it allows for greater precision in indexing due to the availability of highly specific vocabulary.

This takes full advantage of the subject word searching fea ture available in the Avery database on RLIN. She described the transition from an LCSH-based indexing language to the AAT. They have made an attempt, for example, to break up combined headings (e.g., Hotels, Inns, Taverns) into separate headings for more precise subject access. The Avery staff is




also in the process of converting older inverted headings in accordance with the AAT format. In the course of the last two years, Avery has submitted 108 new candidate terms, about ten of which were not accepted. She then reported on the AVIADOR project's use of and reaction to the AAT. She stated that most of the terminology is chosen to describe building types and form/genres of the drawings. She added that the AVIADOR staff is pleased with the hierarchical arrangement of the vocabulary.

The MIT slide library's use of the AAT is limited to a special slide database which deals primarily with the architecture of the Boston area. Smith stated that AAT terms were used in about 3,000 of the 5,000 records cataloged so far. She indi cated that terms chosen from the AAT are usually very broad terms, although in some instances highly specific terms are used. About 2 or 3 terms are assigned per image. The need for certain terminology from other portions of the AAT which are not yet available, such as concepts dealing with people and spaces, was stressed.

Although the Critical Inventory for Art on Film has not yet begun subject indexing their records in the database, the im pact of the AAT is reflected in their data entry format where most of the data elements correspond to AAT facets. Covert stated that this approach was taken so that searchers of the database could combine one or more facets to arrive at the subject they want. She feels that they will not be going into great depth in subject description because of the nature of the audience.

Trepanier described the use of the AAT to organize a verti cal file database and to supply subject headings to trade cata log records currently being entered via minimal level catalog ing into the RUN acquisitions database. There are also plans to incorporate the AAT into a product file just being developed.

Porter described the use of the AAT in the development of a format for an international database which is planned to contain information on various document types relating to architecture. The first format they are developing is for archi tectural drawings. She stated the problem of lack of standard ization for building names, geographic place names, etc., as

well as subject terms. Eight of the nine linked files in the database structure she described require one or more of these authorities. They are using the AAT to describe the physical characteristics of the drawing as well as the building to which it refers. She cited ICONCLASS as another subject access tool being used in the database. The question was raised as to whether this database is to become a widely available research tool. Porter said yes, but added that ques tions remained as to whether existing networks could articu late the data entry and retrieval requirements of the system, and that wider distribution is still up in the air.

Molholt described the use of the AAT in a slide cataloging project at RPI's Architecture Library which utilizes the MARC Visual Materials format. AAT terms are used in the 6XX fields. Term selection is based on what the slide department feels faculty and students will request and there is no limit to the number of AAT terms applied to a given record. The MARC based data entry record is modified for their library's online public access catalog and exists as a searchable file along with books, serials, etc. Searchable fields include subject terms.

One feature of their cataloging procedure is the use of a "lead" slide which provides comprehensive information on all slides which depict the same structure. Rather than creat ing individual records for each slide in a set, the lead slide has a field which contains physical descriptions of the other slides in the set (e.g., point of view of perspective). This is allowing the project to proceed at a much faster rate. They do intend to make full records for each individual slide in the future.

Fry described the results of an experiment which was un dertaken for the pre-conference Non-Book Database Design

Workshop to evaluate the usefulness of the AAT to slide cata loging and to identify the problems which need to be ad dressed for standardization of slide cataloging. Four slide cat aloged were asked to catalog the same slides. She noted inconsistency in the results, indicating that most participants did not use subject terms in their descriptions. She stated that while some subject authorities are needed, the biggest issues slide curators face as they move toward standardization of formats concern rules and authorities for establishing titles of structures, geographic designations, and architect/artist names. In addition, one of the factors affecting how slides are cataloged is the cataloger's perception of the needs of his or her audience.

Following these presentations, Anne-Mieke Halbrook asked whether the AAT was to be available on RLIN. Petersen re ported that steps are being taken toward this end. James Bower questioned whether different uses of the AAT (ex emplified by the projects represented above) might affect compatibility among systems. Petersen stated that the AAT cannot dictate indexing policy. She added that the AAT will be providing some options regarding the formation of subject heading strings for those projects not wishing to develop their own systems. These options will be outlined in an ap plication protocol document. She also stated that com patibility is inherent in the widespread use of a standardized vocabulary.

Cathy Whitehead Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus

CATALOGING PROBLEMS DISCUSSION GROUP

Over 30 people attended the CPDG session this year, one of the largest attendances ever, and due in large part to the presence of guests from the Library of Congress. Sherman Clarke began the meeting by introducing Judith Kuhagen and Robert Ewald of LC's Office for Descriptive Cataloging Policy, and our own Anna Smislova, from LC's Subject Cataloging Division, arrived later in the meeting, fresh from conducting tours of LC.

Mr. Ewald reported that AACR2 revised edition will be reprinted in June of 1988. This revision will include all of the rule revisions since 1978 and some new additions, including the following. (1) Pseudonymous authors will be split, with

works entered by the pseudonym under which the work was published. (2) Qualification of place names in the British Isles will no longer be by district, but will be by country: instead of Dublin (Dublinshire) the correct heading will be Dublin (Ireland). (3) In Chapter 24, changes will appear in the rules for additions to corporate names. See the Cataloging Service Bulletin (CSB) for Spring 1987 (no. 38). Note: place qualifiers will now be given in proper AACR2 form, so place names will be repeated even if already in the heading. (4) In Chapter 25, Uniform Titles, all initial articles will be eliminated regardless of language; grammar is no longer seen as a reason for retaining these articles, since their presence adversely affects filing.

To the question, how soon would we begin to see these changes made in LC records, Mr. Ewald noted that for corporate names superimposition would be in effect, and names which have already been established will be changed only as they are needed.

Ms. Kuhagen took over the discussion to describe revisions to Rule 21.2A, Definition of Changes in Title Proper, explaining




that this revision is an attempt to describe what is not a title change. Many variations in series and serials titles which previously were treated as title changes, requiring new cataloging, will now be considered different manifestations of the same title, and added to the original record. Ms. Kuhagen pointed out that added entries will still be made for titles not considered to be title changes, but which cause conflicts for filing, or searching. This will be done as a project, and not by superimposition of titles cataloged by new rules on those from previous interpretations.

In response to the comment that this will be difficult for those libraries still dependent on card files, Ms. Kuhagen agreed, but replied that superimposition in this case would not make much sense in light of the rule interpretation.

At this point, Mr. Clarke turned the discussion to questions and answers, first addressing the best way to communicate questions to the Library of Congress. Letters are handled as received, and all letters are answered. It does help to say "no reply expected" if correspondence is in regard to a typographical or other obvious error which does not require a response. When writing to LC to correct errors in the establishment of specific headings, it helps to provide documentation backing up the argument.

The questions and answers discussed in the session will be included in future CISSIG columns. The major subject cataloging issue of the day was raised in

Cataloging Service Bulletin, no. 35 (Winter 1987), regarding use of direct vs. indirect subdivisions. The argument in favor of changing to direct subdivisions is partly described in the CSB. Opinion seemed to be overwhelmingly against this change, although it was noted that in order to keep indirect subdivision practice, arguments should be sent to LC immediately. Arlene Noble Parker, as Cataloging Advisory

Committee representative, requested that ARLIS members address their comments to her (or send copies of their letters written to LC on this issue), so that CAC can make a formal recommendation if that seems appropriate. The issue of proliferation of subject subdivisions was

raised, and with it the issue of proliferation of subject headings themselves. Ms. Smislova distributed copies of a memo from Eugene Frosio of the Library of Congress Subject Cataloging division, describing new subject cataloging policy regarding works about an individual artist working in a specific medium. The memo instructs art subject catalogers to apply a range of subject headings specifying the medium discussed, as justification for assigning a call number other than the general N-number for artist. For example, the record for a book on Marc Chagall's Bible illustrations might use the headings, CHAGALL, MARC, 1887-1985; ETCHING, RUSSIAN?FRANCE; ETCHING, 20th CENTURY?FRANCE; and a heading for the Bible. Sentiment at the meeting was overwhelmingly opposed to this treatment, as it is disadvantageous for someone searching the broader subject headings. Arlene Noble again requested comments to be forwarded to her as an issue to be addressed by CAC.

Karen Meizner Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

FUTURE OF VISUAL RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS IN ARLIS/NA

This special session was organized by Nancy McCauley, who sent out a survey in 1986 asking colleagues about per ceived problems within VRSIG. The session centered on five basic questions which moderator Helene Roberts found to be

common concerns in most of the survey responses. This was a lively and well-attended session. The most debated ques tion concerned the hardship placed on VRSIG members by the continuing trend of ARLIS meetings to be separate from the College Art Association. Comments ranged from: "I can't afford it, especially with the new tax law... I get more out of VRA and my local ARLIS chapter," to "I think ARLIS/NA should break away from CAA. . . I'm absolutely drained after CAA, and then to go to ARLIS immediately after!... I think we need to consider having out own sessions really separate? think of ARLIS/NA as being a unique organization." Problems related to the number and type of exhibitors at ARLIS con ferences were also discussed, with agreement that if slide and other visual suppliers cannot be attracted to ARLIS con ferences, then some other type of specialization or service should be offered, such as software vendors, film and video screening, etc.

Most of the hour-long session was decidedly upbeat, with many participants commenting on how they perceive the role of VRSIG within ARLIS/NA and in relation to the Visual Re sources Association, and offering suggestions for committee projects, particularly in the area of authority control. A sam pling of quotes will serve to characterize this unusual session. ?"Computerization requires some kind of standard format. ... If there are going to be authority records, thesauri, etc., that will become available, then I want to wait to do that. I think ARLIS/NA is as organization that can help create that kind of system." ?"VRSIG is the largest single group within ARLIS/NA, . . .

but we have never done a profile of our membership... How many here are not '"Slide Librarians'" but other kinds of visual librarians or other in addition to slides?" (Large show of hands.) ?"Historically.

. . we fulfilled the needs of specific pro fessors. Now with the dropping of tenure we're going to see a lot of trafficking of people. It would ease the frustration of these people. . . if we started working towards having as standardized a format as possible." ?"I think that as part of an art librarians' group, we need to

make use of the expertise we have around us, and be sure we are more aware of the bibliographic aides in setting up authorities." ?"I think the best contribution we can make (re: our rela

tionship to CAA, VRA, SAA, etc.) is a methodological one." ?(Question) "If you're coming to ARLIS/NA meetings in the

future, what are you coming for?" (Answer) "I'm coming for film and video, because that's probably going to be the em phasis in my career from now on..." ?"The most important thing we do at national meetings is

talk!" ?"I come to meet people who are working in related areas

because I think there is so much that has to be done cooper atively. For me its not 'are VRSIG people inately different from the rest of ARLIS/NA and are we getting our share?', it's 'how many different ways do we interact with the rest of the people at this conference'." ?"I went to the session on "Computer-Assisted Instruction in the Art Library," which wasn't listed as a VR session. But I came out with a lot of information about computer-assisted instruction in general. That's very exciting." ?"I think the idea of taking away some of the distinction

between TOLs and SIGs and concentrating more on the or ganization as a whole will be a very helpful move." ?"There is not a lack of things to do in this organization,

there is a lack of people willing to do them."

Eileen Fry Indiana University




PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS OPEN FORUM ARLIS/New York Professional Concerns Committee mem

bers Linda Swieszkowski, Matthew Hogan and Donya Schimansky sponsored an open forum session on profes sional concerns for an audience of over 30 ARLIS/NA mem bers. Swieszkowski defined professional concerns as those matters which transcend institutions and subject specializa tions, that is, the business aspect of being a librarian. Profes sional concerns cover the issues of parity, ethics, advanced degrees, financial future, intellectual property, certification, promotion and advancement, and so forth. The goal of the session was to establish a clearinghouse for information on professional concerns and to establish an ad hoc forum. Ms. Schimansky gave a brief history of the ARLIS/NY PCC and its activities. Mr. Hogan offered a review of the literature on pro fessional concerns. He also discussed the development of professionalism as a 19th-century middleclass phenomenon (based on providing a service) to ensure a separation from the lower classes. Hogan compiled a selective bibliography on the topic for distribution and/or publication. The commit tee opened the floor to discussion during which several sa lient points and questions were raised:

1) Sometimes it would appear that librarians need to ac quire degrees in disciplines other than library science to be accepted by our academic colleagues. In general, librarian ship is not a highly respected profession despite our high marks for courtesy. Is it a matter of educating the public, our academic colleagues and/or our employers? Should we con sider procuring a booth at the College Art Association con ference every year to educate our art history colleagues? Should we promote our image during National Library Week? Should we work with other library organizations like ALA or SLA on promoting our image? Should we write an article to be published in the journals of academic or museum institu tions to acquaint our colleagues with the profession?

2) Is our title, "Librarian," clearly defined? Can it be pro tected? Hogan mentioned that the SAA is discussing certifica tion for archivists.

Possible activities for the coming year include: 1) publish Hogar?s bibliography, 2) write and publish an article for an academic or museum journal, 3) organize a job placement/ mentor program for the 1988 conference, 4) organize a meet ing around an issue for the 1988 conference. Anyone having ideas or comments about possible program/activities for the 1988 conference should contact Matthew Hogan, Chair,

ARLIS/NY Professional Concerns Committee.

REFERENCE GROUP On Monday, February 16, following the session "Are Stan

dards an Issue in Art Reference Service?," approximately thirty-five members of ARLIS/NA met to form a reference group. This group wants to serve as a focus for dealing with issues that relate to reference services provided by and for the art librarian and to act as an advocate for better public services and materials. In line with this role, the reference group would like to develop standards for reference publica tions and services, to work with publishers in order to identify gaps and weaknesses within existing publications, and to es tablish a forum for the exchange of ideas regarding the art librarian's role in reference. A petition of thirty-four names has been submitted to the Executive Board. While petitioning for official recognition within ARLIS/NA, the group plans to serve as an informal clearinghouse for issues regarding refer ence and related matters.

If you would like to become involved in this group, please contact either Elizabeth DeMarco (Mundy Branch, Onondaga County Public Library, 1101 S. Geddes St., Syracuse, NY 13204) or James Boyles (Library, SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY 10577).

Art Libraries Society

ARLIS Union List of Periodicals on Art Design & Related Subjects Edited by John Kirby Contains entries for over 5,000 art periodicals with location details in the UK. ?20 (?30 to non-members of ARLIS)

All orders and correspondence relating to ARLIS occasional publications should be sent to the ARLIS Publications Manager, Susan St Clair Art & Design Library, Kingston Polytechnic, Knights Park, Kingston-upon-Thames, England KTl 2QJ

