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At the risk of repeating a discussion that may already have
taken place on the list, I wish to solicit the advice of the many experts
out there in connection with cataloguing prints appearing in books and
periodicals. It has long been a project close to my heart to be able to
hire staff or students to catalogue these prints which are housed in our
Special Collections. They are found in a huge variety of sources, from
such periodicals as "Gazette des Beaux-Arts", "The Studio" and "Derriere
le Miroir", to the many artists' monographs (Chagall, Miro, etc) published
by Sauret in Monte Carlo, books in the 18th century illustrated with
engravings, and of course early woodcuts, etc. etc.. At the moment the
existence of such prints is little known in either the university or the
library although potentially they form an important part of the
university's art collections, and could be used as teaching materials. As
long as they remain publicly unidentified, and are neglected because of
institutional ignorance, they are vulnerable to theft.
I am now in a position to supervise two graduate students who will
catalogue the prints. But first we must adopt a methodology which will
allow us to describe each print according to museum standards; which
provides for references to the literature; which describes each print
within the bibliographical description for the book or periodical; and
does it all in MARC format for eventual downloading either into the
library's catalogue, or as a separate searchable database. My personal
expertise in cataloguing is several decades old, but I am advised that it
would be useful to acquire a template of the form of entry adopted that
the students could use.
I would be grateful for comments based on experience, comparisons
of the various methods that exist, and advice as to where to find out
about these methodologies. Please contact me directly at [log in to unmask]
I would be happy to share a summary of what I discover with other members
of the list. Many thanks.
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Mary Williamson, Fine Arts Bibliographer and Senior Librarian,
York University (retired);
Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Dept. of Art History.
email: [log in to unmask] *** fax: (416) 484-0345
