----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Jacoby <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 12:55 PM
Subject: Vertical Files (a delayed response)
> Rebecca: the semester is finally winding down here so I can respond to
your
> message about Vertical Files/Artist File Collections. Here at the
> University of Connecticut,Storrs we have been establishing vertical files
on
> one-person shows, Institutions outside Connecticut and Institutions within
> Connecticut and Serials now since the founding of the Art & Design
Library
> 22 years ago. The establishment of personal and institutional names in all
> files follows the OCLC Authority File (OLAF) for names or the ULAN where
> possible tho' sometimes the names do not yet exist in which case we go to
> standard indexes for name forms (Art Index, BHA, etc.) The continuing
> establishment of names is done by a long time volunteer, and most filign
now
> is either done by student assistants or other volunteers. In total the
> collections are about 15,000 file folders for all four files but the
artist
> one-person shows comprise the largest part of the files with about 8,000
> names. The one-person files were made web-accessible a few years back and
> now we have all kinds of electronic reference queries about the files.
The
> other three files have not yet been made web-accessible but I expect that
we
> will bring the Ct. Arts Institutions files up next and the Serials
(largely
> arts organization newsletters [e.g: CAA News, Costume Society Newsletter,
> SAH Newsletter, etc.----publications that we receive as a result of
> membership in the College Arts Association, Society of Architectural
> Historians, etc.]) will actually appear in our on-line catalog known as
> HOMER.
> Our faculty and museum curatorial staff (William Benton Museum of Art here
> on campus) tend to use the files more than our students, but the students
> also to use the files. Most of the materials in the non-serial files tend
> to be exhibition announcements and small exhibition catalogues that are
> largely illustrated with too little scholarly apparatus to be given
> full-cataloging in our OPAC, a decision that I make as I review new
> materials coming into the library as gifts or materials received on
William
> Benton Museum exchange arrangements.
>
> More important as a scholarly resource is the Ct. Artists Files,yet
another
> database which is still being created largley by Hildegard Cummings
(retired
> curator of Education at the William Benton Museum) and now exceeds 4,000
Ct
> artists [from Colonial times to date] which we keep hoping to bring up on
> the web (probably now by the end of this year). The Ct. Artists files are
> already used via phone and sometimes in-person (as the database includes
> only basic information as to birth and death dates, principal media worked
> in and a brief biography-----users have to come to the library to use the
> file folders themselves some of which are very extensive, other files are
> minimal as little is known about the artist. Once the database is
> web-accessible we expect a lot of traffic in using the database, and
frankly
> we are not sure how we will handle the "traffic" as we are so short
staffed
> yet we are the place where people in the
> visual arts expect this kind of information to be available.
>
> Hope this helps.------tom jacoby
>
> Thomas J. Jacoby
> Art & Design Librarian, U-1005AD
> Art, Landscape Architecture & Medieval Studies Bibliographer
> University of Connecticut Libraries
> 369 Fairfield Road, Unit 1005
> Storrs, CT 06269-1005 U.S.A.
> Voice Mail:(860)486-1243
> FAX:(860)486-3593 (Attn:TomJacoby)
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
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