Dear Colleagues,
As program co-chairs Deborah Ultan and I promised to issue a "call for
papers" for those sessions that still need speakers. If you are interested
in presenting at one or more of these sessions, please get in touch with
the proposer(s) directly. You should do this right away because the
session planners are anxious to find speakers.
Deborah and Margaret
A. Buried treasure: Artists' files in the digital age (This is a
"seminar" or roundtable session)
Number of speakers needed: 2
Contact: Erika Dowell ([log in to unmask], 812-855-2452) or Terrie Wilson
([log in to unmask], 517-432-9801)
Artists' files are perhaps the greatest un-tapped resource in art libraries
today. This session will present short introductions to strategies for
bringing the 'buried treasure' in artists' files to light. Possible topics
are: digitizing artists' files, digitizing slide collections of
local/regional/faculty artists, developing web-based indexes and databases,
and cataloging artists' files in OPACs. We hope that the discussion will
bring to light a variety of projects and perspectives to inspire
institutions of all sizes to make their artists' files available to a larger
community.
B. “Stretching the mold: standard tools and special materials”
Contact: Sherman Clarke, Bobst Library--Cataloging, New York
University, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012 email:
[log in to unmask] OR Sara Harrington, Art Library, Rutgers
University, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, NJ 08903 email:
[log in to unmask]
There is no general U.S. art cataloging manual. Art book catalogers are
able for the most part to use the standard tools like AACR2 and MARC for
printed materials but there are materials that stretch those standard
molds. Guidelines have recently appeared for auction catalogs in the
SCIPIO project; the ARLIS/NA Cataloging Advisory Committee is working on
guidelines for core records for exhibition catalogs; a manual was
written some years ago for an ARLIS/NA workshop on manuscript
facsimiles. There are artist books that straddle the line between books
and visual materials. Vertical files and other collections of published
and unpublished material play an important role in art reference but do
not necessarily need item-level cataloging. Image databases and other
electronic resources present new challenges. This session will address
some of these special materials and the specialized tools that can serve
as an adjunct to the general cataloging tools. It will build on some of
the content of the subject cataloging workshop held in L.A. in 2001.
If you would like to address the cataloging and processing of any of
these classes of materials or another, please contact the session
planners.
C. Seminar--Common Ground: Standards for Cataloging Images and Objects
Number of speakers needed: 2
Contact: Lynda White, [log in to unmask] (804.924.3240) or Linda McRae,
[log in to unmask] (813.974.9234)
· Lack of verifiable documentation: Many works of art have no title.
How do museums and VR collections name the work when there is no title
page? Why does the library community use uniform titles? There is no
uniform title concept as applied to works of art. How then can the
image/object cataloging community develop consistency in naming the
object? Can we use the LCRI 25.2 proposal for works of art that "can be
said to be named?" Can we develop some general guidelines for naming works
that are typically described by some combination of object type modified by
place of origin, and/or material, and/or style, and/or repository? Many
art works have no creator, perhaps only a "find site" location, and no
date, in addition to lacking a formal title. Yet, like a book, the thing
is obviously "there." Can/should standards be developed to guide the
description of these works?
Speaker (needed)
· Hierarchical linking of parts: Some works of art can be very
complex with parts created by different artists in very different time
periodseven in different styles. When there are complex parts but only one
part is depicted, what is the title? The part? The whole? Also, different
visual documents can be related to the same original work. Can existing
standards be adapted to accommodate this complexity or must we devise new
formats and structures?
· Museum Cataloging (local needs vs. universal needs): Object
catalogers cater to local communities with unique works. The items may be
cataloged differently depending on the requirements of the curatorial staff
or the needs of researchers and scholars with very specialized
interests. Are museum records so unique, private, or highly detailed that
they do not easily lend themselves to a universal formula or standard? Is
it possible to standardize a subset of the data to facilitate sharing in
large museum databases and yet retain the kind of detailed and
idiosyncratic records sometimes needed locally? With books, one record
can usually universally suffice, acting as a pointer to the work. Can the
same thing be done for a work of art? Can current standards accommodate
both viewpoints?
Speaker: (needed)
Margaret N. Webster
Visual Resources Facility
College of Architecture, Art & Planning
B-56 Sibley Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3300
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.aapvrf.cornell.edu
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
