Pratt-SILS Institute on Art Collections LIS 696 Instructor: Lee Robinson, Head Reference,
1. Course Description: This Institute is an introduction to the dynamics of art information
services and the evolving role of the art information professional. The
course will examine the fundamental principles of historical and applied
arts research and methodology, and the impact of new developments in art
documentation, technology, and the dissemination of textual and image resources.
Institute participants will gain an understanding of the working practices
and key issues in today's art information field, both as information professionals
and as researchers. They will draw upon this knowledge in order to investigate
and evaluate specific research areas and topics.
2. Objectives:
4. Daily Class Lesson Plans: Session One: Introduction to Art Information and its Resources [Room 207] Introduction to class of instructor, description of course structure
and goals.
time: 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Hand out of course assignment: Each student will select an art topic from a list of 28 possibilities. Throughout the duration of the course, students will begin to build a pathfinder on their chosen topic, utilizing both printed and electronic resources, and research strategies and methodologies demonstrated in the various sessions. Students should keep a running diary, or record, of their research process in building this pathfinder. Each student will be asked to make a ten minute presentation to the class on the last day of the course, in which they will describe their research and results. They will then turn in both the finished pathfinder, and a short, 250 word description of their research conclusions. These pathfinders will have the potential to be added to the NYPL Art & Architecture Collection website home page, as part of a large introductory bibliographic pathfinder, with students receiving named credit for their part in this. [Students will be given examples of successful art pathfinder formats to use as models or starting points for their assignment] 11:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. definitions of art information repositories: various types of art, architecture, design libraries; art information centers; and the rapidly changing nature of visual resources collections. lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. class assignments determined; the nature of art investigation – identifying types of research 2:30 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. break and informal question and answer time 2:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. comparing and contrasting the main categories of research: artists and
art history; architectural structures; provenance research; identifying
art objects; valuation and appraisal; picture research
Day Two Session Two: Types of Art Information Resources 9:30 a.m. (sharp!) to 11:30 a.m. [meet in Room 300, Art Reading Room] the “painful birth” of the art book and a visual history and evaluation of scholarly literature on the arts; types of publications in printed form, from monographs and festschiften to periodicals and annuals 11:30 to 12:00 individual examination of types of materials shown (handout) lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. [Room 207] other types of art literature: technique; business; appraisal; directory 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. [Training Center room] demo of NYPL’s CATNYP and SER; art on the internet; including time for students to research their assignment topic; discussion of online searching strategies 4:00 p.m. to 4:30-5 p.m. [Training Center room] the issues attached to copyright for art information and images
Day 3 Session Three: Art Reference Resources 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. [meet in Room 300, Art Reading Room] evaluation of printed reference tools and their various functions (handout) 11:30 to 12 p.m. individual examination of types of materials shown, including their relevance to students’ assignment topics lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. [Training Center room] online reference tools related to art 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. time for students to search online databases for their assignment topic 4:00 p.m. to 4:30+ p.m. general discussion of printed versus electronic
resources, their capabilities and promise
Day 4 Session Four: Introduction to Reference Service Practices 9:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. [Room 207] linking subject knowledge to answering specific types of queries basic to art research 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. “role-playing skit” (making points about where to begin research) lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. [Room 207 and Room 300] in-class discussion of the reference interview, analysis of users’ abilities,
etc.
Reminder to class to read Chapters 3 and 12 in Jones, Art Libraries
and Information Services for tomorrow’s class
Day 5 Session Five: Collection Management and Development 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. [Room 207] collection management and maintenance: technical service processes, storage, retrieval, conservation, handling special collections or formats 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. [Room 207] a review of collection development issues and practices for art information
in printed and electronic form; publishers, vendors and the antiquarian
marketplace; collection analysis;
Reminder to class to read Chapter 13 in Jones, Art Libraries and Information
Services
Day 6 Session Six: Organization and Classification of Art Information 9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. [Room 207] overview of issues facing art catalogers today 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. lecture by Daniel Starr, Manager of Bibliographic Operations, Thomas J. Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, on: cataloging, classification and related practices and problems for art materials. Consideration of text and image linking via metadata. [Starr is also President of ARLIS/NA and will speak at the end about that society] 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. [Training Center room] online investigation of subject headings and indexing practices across an array of art resources; time to work on pathfinder assignment Reminder to class to read article in Bibliography by Fawcett
Day 7 Session Seven: Managing Visual Resources 9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. [Room 207] historical introduction to handling slides, photographic materials, and pictures 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. {Training Center room] lecture by Barbara Taranto, Director, NYPL Digital Library Program and/or her staff on digital collections and image access 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. tour of NYPL Digital Lab by Head of Digital Imaging Unit lunch break 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. tour of Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection (class meets in Astor Hall at 1:15 p.m. (prompt) to go together to Mid-Manhattan) 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. individual investigation of Picture Collection and adjacent Art Department (break into two groups; one goes with instructor to look at Art Dept. first, then switch in 15 min. of groups for same) 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. [Room 207] Issues involving the administration of visual collections versus print collections **Instructor office hours: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. in Room 300
Day 8 Session Eight: Special Collections and Archives for Art 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. [Room 207] managing special collections, including those containing works of art, rare, and fragile materials, etc. 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. [Room 308] tour and discussion of public service at NYPL Prints and Photos Study Room by Curator of Prints, Roberta Waddell and Print Collection staff lunch break 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. class meets at Archive of American Art, New York City Office, at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, Lobby Level, 51st St. entrance, meet with Trina Yeckley, Librarian, and Avis Berman, Head, tour and discussion of operations 4:00 to 5 p.m. [Room 207] outreach activities for art information purposes, including exhibitions, internet projects, and pathfinders ** Instructor office hours: 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. in Room 300
Session Nine: Past, Present, and Future of Art Research 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. [Room 207] review of new trends in the field; growing interdisciplinary nature of art research and its methodologies 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. class discussion of article by Trevor Fawcett. “Control of Text and Images: Tradition and Innovation,” in A Reader in Art Librarianship, pp. 133-141. lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. [Training Center room] art research and technology: the online environment – important art projects 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. [Room 207] class discussion of article by Guy Marco and Wolfgang Freitag,
“Training the Librarian for Rapport with the Collection,” in A Reader in
Art Librarianship, pp. 27-31.
Day 10 Session Ten: The Role of the Art Information Professional 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. [Room 207 all day] how the role of the art information manager has changed, and what lies ahead; problems and possibilities; placing art research and its resources into context with the activities of the art information professional 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. final summarization: the power of networking; group discussion lunch break 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. individual ten minute presentations of pathfinder research, and submission
of written assignment (assignment must be submitted on paper, not electronically)
5. Methods of Assessment to be Used in Determining Course Grade: 20% class attendance and punctuality
PAB 5/10/02
6. Required Readings to be Assigned and Discussed in Course Fawcett, Trevor. “Control of Text and Images: Tradition and Innovation.”
In: A Reader in Art Librarianship. Edited by Philip Pacey. Munich: K.G.
Saur, 1985, pp. 133-141.
Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information and the Internet: How to find it,
how to use it. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1999. Introduction.
Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information: Research Methods and Resources. Dubuque,
IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1990. Introduction.
Jones, Lois Swan and Sarah Scott Gibson. Art Libraries and Information Services. Orlando: Academic Press, 1986. Chapter 3. Collection Evaluation
Chapter 13. Cataloging and Preservation
Marco, Guy A. and Wolfgang Freitag. “Training the Librarian for Rapport
with the Collection.” In” A Reader in Art Librarianship, pp. 27-31.
Websites to Read for Class Discussion: www.arlisna.org/careers.html www.bethanywv.edu/vrd www.bl.uk/collections/wider/artwebsite.html www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/artarc/artarch.html Required readings will be on reserve at Pratt Manhattan Library and
NYPL’s Room 300
Reading/Bibiography---Page 2 Recommended Background and Supplemental Reading: The Architecture Library of the Future: Complexity and Contradiction. Edited by Peggy Ann Kusnerz. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989. Arntzen, Etta and Robert Rainwater. Guide to the Literature of Art History. Chicago: American Library Association, 1980. The Art Press: Two Centuries of Art Magazines. Edited by Trevor Fawcett and Clive Phillpot. London: The Art Book Company, 1976. (Art Documents; No.One) Baxter, Paula A. International Bibliography of Art Librarianship. Munich: K.G. Saur, 1987. (IFLA Publications 37) Brilliant, Richard. “How an Art Historian Connects Art Objects and Information.” Library Trends, vol. 37, no. 1 (January 1988), pp. 120-129. Duro, Paul and Michael Greenhalgh. Essential Art History. London: Bloomsbury Pub., 1992. Freitag, Wolfgang. Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists. New York; London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985. Giral, Angela. “Digital Image Libraries and the Teaching of Art and Architectural History.” Art Libraries Journal, vol. 23, no. 4 (1998), pp. 18-25. Haskell, Francis. The Painful Birth of the Art Book. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987. Minor, Vernon Hyde. Art History’s History. Englewood Cliffs; New York: Prentice Hall; Abrams, 1994. Pacey, Philip. Art Library Manual: A Guide to Resources and Practice.
London; New York: Bowker, 1977.
Staffing Standards for Art Libraries and Visual Resources Collections.
Prepared by ARLIS/NA Staffing Standards Task Force. [Raleigh, NC]: ARLIS/NA,
1996.
Readings/Bibliography----Page 3
Students will receive in their course packets a set of the following
NYPL Art & Architecture Guides:
Also NYPL General Guides:
7. Handouts for class use: Specific Types of Art Literature
8. Topics for Pathfinder
List of topics: Abstract Expressionism
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