Dear Sarah:
Like you, we don't add publications to our reference collection just because they include an image of an item from the curatorial collections. However, we do try to track reproductions, since it tells us how our collections are being used. We have several different ways of doing so:
We record publication information in our Photography and Rights database at the point when a publisher requests permission to include an image from our collections. This probably contains some false positives, for publications that never materialize, and incorrect citations, for publications whose titles change between the time they request permission and the time the publication is issued (unless we get a copy of the publication, which we always request but don't always receive, we have no way of knowing). This database is fairly new; before it existed, we tracked these requests in paper files.
The curators also include information about requests in the object files, but since we don't always get a copy of the publication, they don't always have a photocopy.
One of the curators of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts keeps a current bibliography, organized by manuscript number, of all publications that contain images of medieval manuscripts. This is available through our online catalog, CORSAIR.
When cataloging secondary material into the online catalog, we include a note in the form: "Includes reproduction of ..." But this has not been done for every work in the reference collection.
I will be interested to hear what other museums and libraries do.
Elizabeth O'Keefe
Elizabeth O'Keefe
Director of Collection Information Systems
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016-3405
TEL: 212 590-0380
NET: [log in to unmask]
Visit CORSAIR, the Library's comprehensive collections catalog, now on
the web at
http://corsair.themorgan.org
>>> Sarah Quimby <[log in to unmask]> 6/29/2006 10:35 AM >>>
Dear ARLIS-L-ers:
I am resending this message since I didn't see it come through the first time; I apologize for any duplication.
I am wondering how other art museums keep an archival record of the publications that use images of works in the museum's permanent collection. Is keeping a bibliography of these publications sufficient, or are some museums also keeping a photocopy of the work as reproduced in the publication? Or is this kind of archival recordkeeping even necessary?
We add many of these publications to the library's collection, but as a librarian I am leery of adding items on non-art subjects (clarinet pedagogy, paperback romances) only because they use a museum artwork to illustrate a point or decorate a cover.
I would be happy to know how other museum libraries and archives are treating this issue.
Many thanks,
Sarah Quimby
Sarah Quimby
Associate Librarian
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
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612-870-3182
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