Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. I'm posting the response
results to the list because so many respondents mentioned that they struggle
with these same publications and wanted to know the results of this
impromptu survey...
> My first question was:
> "We are most interested to hear what procedures you use to determine which
> commercial dealer/gallery catalogs you process. As you know, some of
> these catalogs contain little or no information of a biographical or
> bibliographical nature and many contain no essays and little text other
> than minimal text identifying the art works."
>
> Criteria used by various libraries to determine what commercial
> dealer/gallery catalogs will be fully cataloged/processed were basically:
>
> 1) SIZE OF CATALOG, based on the number of pages in a catalog, i.e. 8 p.,
> 10 p., 12p , 25 p., etc. or more.
>
> 2) CONTENTS AND/OR UNIQUENESS OF CONTENTS. The catalog might include a
> good bibliography, biographical information, or an essay/text containing
> information not available from other sources.
>
> 3) CATALOG OF LOCAL OR REGIONAL INTEREST. For example, a catalog about
> of the work of a local artist or works which might be of particular
> interest to local or regional scholars, curators, collectors or patrons.
>
> 4) SPACE AND STAFF AVAILABLE. For many libraries, this is THE bottom
> line. Lacking the staff to fully catalog these dealer/gallery catalogs,
> and/or the space to shelve or warehouse them, many libraries have resorted
> to the following, which answers my second question...
>
> "Also, what do you do with those commercial dealer/gallery catalogs that
> do not get cataloged? We currently have artists' files, but no subject
> files, for items that are judged too small or too insignificant to
> catalog."
>
> 1) FILES. Many libraries simply file these into single artist files,
> institutional/corporate files, or subject files. Very basic LC subject
> headings are used for the subject files.
>
> 2) PHAMPLET BOXES. Some libraries file them by dealer/gallery name in
> pamphlet boxes. Some label each catalog with the dealer/gallery name,
> location and date of the catalog before placing them in the boxes.
>
> 3) DISCARDING. Needs no explanation, but requires courage and fortitude.
>
>
> Those were the predominant choices for handling these catalogs. Comments
> went something like this:
>
> One library echoed our library's past experience of trying to gather as
> many as possible of one dealer's catalog into a serial record. But the
> sheer number of variant titles, and having some of these mistakenly
> cataloged as books rather than as serial add-ons, made this a real
> "nightmare" experience. That library decided it was easier to try to
> catalog them all individually as books.
>
> Several libraries only fully catalog topical catalogs that are very
> subject specific; generic-type catalogs of a dealer or gallery's seasonal
> holdings, etc., are not cataloged.
>
> In trying to deal with these catalogs, the subject of judicious
> deaccessioning came up. Some libraries go through and and save only the
> catalogs from those firms they consider to be of obvious importance.
>
> Some libraries catalog these publications only if they can find an
> existing record for them in RLIN or OCLC.
>
> I received one reply mentioning that many of these catalogs were gifts
> from the commercial dealers and galleries, and that most of them went
> into ever expanding backlogs, beginning in the 80s and continuing through
> to the present. And, as was also mentioned, this is really too bad,
> because some of these catalogs contain information on artists, art
> movements and works of art that may not be available from any other
> source. They should probably not be dismissed, or discarded without
> giving some thought to what may be lost.
>
> That's basically what we found out. This doesn't provide any definitive
> answers to the questions--but these are some of the issues we're dealing
> with. If nothing else--we are all in the same boat--too many items and
> not enough time or space to make them available. Since most of us buy
> large numbers of new items every year, these commercial dealer/gallery
> catalogs will probably continue to be a lesser priority.
>
> Thanks again for your thoughtful responses,
>
> Jane Zander
> Senior Catalog Librarian
> Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
> 4525 Oak Street
> Kansas City, MO 64111
> [log in to unmask]
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