I have kept all of my old editions, which means that I have four
different editions of Benezit. My curators and I believe that they are
valuable research sources, although clearly they are not used too often.
It is important to remember that in the arts and humanities research
proceeds from the previous research from other scholars. Therefore, in a
sense, all previous research is still potentially valuable to the serious
scholar.
I also subscribe to the Nicholson Baker theory of space management:
if you don't have enough space, then it is time to build a new wing, not to
weed the collections! Admittedly, administrators are less inclined to
subscribe to such a theory, but the case should be made.
William A. Peniston, Ph.D.
Librarian
The Newark Museum
49 Washington Street
P.O. Box 540
Newark, NJ 07101
Telephone: (973) 596-6625
Fax: (973) 642-0459
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Debby Aframe [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 9:20 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: new Benezit
>
> We have been fortunate enough to be able to purchase the latest 14 volume
> set of DICTIONNAIRE CRITIQUE ET DOCUMENTAIRE DES PEINTRES,SCULPTEURS, ....
> by Benezit to replace the old 10 volume set. What have other libraries
> done
> with the old set? We also have the first edition of Benezit which was 3
> volumes which we have kept over the years. As space becomes more of a
> critical problem and management wants to know why the library isn't
> weeded
> more often, the issue of keeping old reference books comes to the fore.
> We
> have kept old history books with maps that are invaluable and old sets of
> the Encyclopedia Britannica and auction catalogs back to the 1840's- do we
> need to keep old sets of Benezit as they are replaced with current
> scholarship? What have other libraries done in this situation?
> Thanks in advance for your collective knowledge and experience.
>
> Debby Aframe
> Librarian
> Worcester Art Museum
> 55 Salisbury St.
> Worcester, MA. 01609
> 508-799-4406, ext. 3070
> debbyaframe@worcesterart,org <mailto:debbyaframe@worcesterart,org>
>
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