This article consists of two lectures, combined into one, which were given at art libraries in Gentofte and in Slagelse.

The library association of Greater Copenhagen had a meeting on 21 May 1981 at Trånegarden, the art library of the municipality of Gentofte, where the president of the cultural committee in Gentofte, Professor A. Vinding Kruse contributed as follows: should public libraries arrange visual art exhibitions? – the answer was a definite yes … and librarian Helle Behmdt talked about art libraries with Trånegarden as her starting point.

The library association of the county of Vestsjælland (West Zealand) arranged a one-day conference on 26 May 1981 in Slagelse concerning: local historical archives and public libraries; municipal tape newspapers; and distribution of art in small libraries, which librarian Katrine Høffding talked about.

Folk art is widely supposed to have come to an end with the coming of urban, industrial society, but activities persist which may be termed ‘folk art’ and which include, for instance, ‘family art’ — the creating, by a family, of its own visual surroundings and traditions. Folk art is a people’s art; it affirms and renews personal, local, and community experience; it is a shared activity which does not elevate the role of the ‘artist’. But libraries by and large document fine art, and thus, at least by implication, are associated with its values and appear to have nothing to contribute to the kind of social change which may be necessary if people’s art is to flourish.

The text of a paper delivered to art librarian members of the Danish Library Association in November 1972, published in Bibliotek 70, no. 2, 1973, pp. 31-34, and now published for the first time in English.

Although many levels of computer-aided indexing exist, most art indexers use the computer at a rudimentary level, to perform little more than alphabetising services. This problem is compounded by the lack of standardised vocabulary or thesaurus. Each indexing project has developed its own subject list. Even those which attempt some co-ordination with a standard source like Library of Congress Subject Headings find themselves modifying existing terms and adding new ones. The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Council on Library Resources funded a project to establish the need for a comprehensive art and architecture thesaurus and, as the first phase of a projected three-stage plan, to construct an architecture thesaurus.

This paper is written from the point of view of the indexer. Its intent is to describe how subject indexing activities in art are being aided by the use of computers. This discussion notes the current state of disarray among art subject indexing systems and suggests that the availability of a standardised vocabulary for art will provide an important adjunct to computerised indexing. This paper was delivered to the ARLIS/NA conference at San Francisco on 22 February 1981.

Art libraries in Egypt, as part of a broader art information context, do not play a vital role in the preservation, survey, and dissemination of art information in the country. These information centres have not been given the recognition or financial support necessary to allow them to become active, up-to-date art information clearinghouses. Two major art documentation centres in Cairo are discussed: the Egyptian Museum Library and the Creswell Collection and Library at the American University in Cairo. Common problems among art libraries in Egypt are identified and a few steps which could lead toward improved conditions are suggested.

AACR2 encourages specialist and archival libraries to “use the rules as the basis of their cataloguing and augment their provisions as necessary.” Is this relevant to the needs of an image collection? What are the implications? The Science Museum has evolved a supplement to AACR2 to cope with visual materials of all kinds retained primarily for their documentary value, and the special needs of its users. A case study suggests how traditional descriptions of art works may metamorphese into computer-based systems such as those of the MDA and AACR2.

This article has developed from a contribution to the ARLIS/UK and LA course “The Image Library” at the Library Association on 20 February 1981. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Science Museum.

Besides being visually interesting ephemera has a vital role to play in the teaching of the history of design and printing; indeed, many aspects cannot be taught without reference to it. Nor can the subject be covered in isolation, for the development of ephemeral printing is part of the greater whole within which are subsumed the history of book design and typefaces and broader cultural and historical concepts.

A little magazine is a magazine designed to print artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses … little magazines are willing to lose money, to court ridicule, to ignore public taste, willing to do almost anything steal, beg, or undress in public — rather than sacrifice their right to print good material.

Hoffman, Frederick J. The Little Magazine; a History and Bibliography. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1947,2.

An individual account of some of the problems encountered in the preparation of a series of reference works.

The Archive and Library’s move to Carlton House Terrace, the areas of material held by the Archive, and its organisation are described. The role and scope of the Library complements that of the Archive. The Archive and Library are research tools for both staff and other researchers. The move has presented the opportunity to re-organise the Library so that it is more accessible. Through several publishing ventures information in the Archive has become more widely available.

This paper examines the problem of the formulation and implementation of a collection development policy in museum art libraries in the United States.

While there is literature on acquisition policy in academic and public libraries, there is nothing specific on museum art libraries. Because of the proliferation of art literature and budget restrictions it is of paramount importance for museum art libraries to formulate and follow a collection development policy. Once this is presented to the museum administration, the latter will better understand the library’s functions and will recognise its vital role both within the institution and outside.

A brief description of the project to computerize Australia’s public art collections and the development of Cataloguer’s Manual for the Visual Arts.