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The Photo Research File at the Art Center College of Design Library
contains approximately 58,000 images. Since the library and slide library
have extensive collections on art, illustration, photography, design,
sculpture, and architecture, we try to fill in other areas. The pictures
are arranged by subject and the collection includes topics like wildlife,
agriculture, landscapes, nature, people, food, business, industry,
transportation, medicine, technology, military, government, social issues,
recreation, sports, entertainment, celebrities, travel, places. We cater
to illustration students who need reference for rendering, graphic design
and advertising students looking for concept images, film students doing
casting, set, or location research, transportation design students looking
for lifestyle images, and product design and fine art students doing
research or finding inspirational images.
The collection consists of mostly of photographic images that are taken
from magazines, discarded books and dust jackets, calendars, and
newspapers. I subscribe to several magazines specifically for the
collection, and I also go through back issues that are being discarded. I
have also accepted various clipping collections from private donors.
The images are cut from the source and pasted onto a backing. Any
information on the image credit and source is placed on the back along with
a label indicating the subject folder the picture belongs in. These pages
are laminated, trimmed, and placed into hanging file folders for each
subject. There are over 2600 different folders. The staff can search a
custom database of the subjects on the computer using keywords. We are in
the process of planning a more extensive database covering each image and
including a digital thumbnail. We also have a small collection of
reference books that are specifically ordered for this department, as well
as a collection of catalogs from commercial stock photography companies.
We also have a few CD-ROMs that come with these catalogs, and are
considering developing the CD-ROM collection as well. We also try to refer
patrons to online sources as well as books in the library collection.
Since our database is separate from the library catalog, we have devised a
method for patrons to check out pictures through the library system.
Patrons come to our office and tell us what they are looking for, and the
staff pulls out subject folders for the patron to look through. The patron
can check out up to 12 pictures at a time which are due back the next day.
The pictures are counted and placed into a barcoded envelope for the
specific number of pictures. The envelope is then checked out to the
patron through the library circulation system.
I am the curator of the collection and work full-time assisting students,
selecting images, and planning new projects. I have two part-time
assistants to help with picture processing, assisting students, and
refiling. I also have one part-time workstudy student to assist with
picture processing and refiling. We usually add 100-150 new pictures per
week.
Jennifer Faist
Curator, Photo Research File
Fogg Memorial Library
Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
626.396.2236
Fax 626.568.9428
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