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Art DocumentationArt Documentation is the official bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 1982-present. It includes articles and information relevant to art librarianship and visual resources curatorship. Since 1996, it has been published twice yearly (spring and fall). The subscription to Art Documentation is included as part of membership in ARLIS/NA. To obtain individual issues, see ordering information below.To purchase individual issues please contact customer service online; by email at subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; or over the phone by calling (877) 705-1878 (toll-free, U.S. & Canada), or (773) 753-3347 (International). Top of Page Current Issue AbstractsFall 2011: Volume 30, Issue 2The John Latham Archive: An Online Implementation Using DrupalAthanasios Velios This article is an account of the online presentation of the personal papers of the late British artist John Latham. The John Latham Archive online follows the proposal of creative archiving and has been implemented using the Drupal content management system. The author begins with a summary of the ideas of creative archiving and explains how these depend on recent innovations of online software. The article continues by highlighting the potential of Drupal as an archiving tool for creative archiving. An example implementation of the John Latham Archive online is described by relating the cosmological ideas of the artist with practical software tools which have been used to model them. The author concludes with some remarks on the capacity of the recommended software tools for creative archiving. "Liberty of the Compiler": Catalogue Raisonné as Metaphor for Collaborative Design Adam Lauder The IAINBAXTER&raisonnE creatively repurposes the conventions of print catalogues raisonnés to support the development of an experimental scholarly communications platform and collaborative e-research zone. The IB&raisonnE responds to a growing literature on digital humanities that addresses the unique requirements of humanities scholars in an e-research environment. The open-ended and critical approach to the catalog and collection adopted by the IB&raisonnE is inspired, in part, by examples of pre-modern catalogs by Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774) and Edme-François Gersaint (1694-1750). This article describes some of the applications to which eighteenth-century compilation practices have been adapted and put to new use by IB&raisonnE developers. Finding Visual Information: A Study of Image Resources Used by Archaeologists, Architects, Art Historians, and Artists Joan E. Beaudoin and Jessica Evans Brady This article presents the findings of a recent study which identified the image resources that professional user groups acknowledged were useful to their work processes. The information behaviors relating to images of several professional user groups--archaeologists, architects, art historians, and artists--were examined in a qualitative research study conducted in 2008-2009. Presented here are findings that clarify where these patrons turned for their visual information needs and what factors influenced their image resource decisions. The final section provides suggestions to improve the image-related experiences of these user groups and discusses avenues for future research. The Complications of Bridgeman and Copyright (Mis)use Katharine L. Kelley In 1998, when the Bridgeman Art Library sued Corel Corporation for copyright infringement, the plaintiff did not realize that the decision would go so strongly in its disfavor. Not only was the infringement dismissed, but the copyright itself was found to be invalid. Bridgeman Art Library, Ltd. v. Corel Corp. set a precedent establishing reproductive images of two-dimensional artworks as not copyrightable. Details of the court decision include two previous cases that involve the copyrightability of photography in general and the copyrightability of facts, respectively. Most photographs are copyrightable, while most presentations of facts are not; these two areas intersect in reproductive photography. This article describes the background to the court case, Bridgeman's reactions to the court decision, and the ramifications of the decision for museums and other organizations that claim copyright over their images. Collaborative Efforts to Preserve Born-Digital Architectural Records: A Case Study Documenting Present-Day Practice Kathryn Pierce Architecture firms have used computers as an integral part of the design process for the past thirty to forty years, but born-digital architectural records are only now being donated to repositories for preservation. This article reviews the literature documenting efforts to preserve digital architecture records and examines the role information professionals might play in collecting these records. Present-day architectural practice is described, and a collaborative effort with an architectural firm is under- taken to facilitate decisions about the preservation of records that best document the legacy of their architectural practice. Digital Image Databases: A Study from the Undergraduate Point of View Teresa Slobuski This article investigates current metadata practices in art image databases. Searches were completed in the Bridgeman Education and ARTstor databases using only terms found in introductory art history texts. Details from the search results point to overall trends in the data and offer comparisons between the databases for particular search sets. The examples reveal tendencies in precision, recall, and consistency, as well as identify some particular issues that may impede successful retrieval for the novice user. A short discussion on the usability of both of the databases' interfaces offers further insight into their respective strengths and peculiarities. Development of the Digital Repository of Indian Cultural Heritage: Initiatives at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Ramesh C. Gaur The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi, India, established in 1987, was designed as an autonomous center providing for the study and experience of all the arts. Kala Nidhi, a national information system and databank, consists of a reference library of print collections, a large microfilm/microfiche library, a collection of slides, and photographs covering many disciplines related to Greater India, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. A cultural archives consisting of rare collections, a conservation laboratory, and a multimedia unit also form part of the organization. The basic mission of Kala Nidhi is to support the research of the different divisions of the center as well as researchers and scholars from other academic institutions. This article describes the Indian cultural heritage resources at the IGNCA and provides some details about the digitization initiatives underway. A Case Study in Tranformative Renovation and Organizational Change at the University of California, San Diego Arts Library Leslie Abrams For the past decade, the University of California, San Diego Libraries planned for the renovation of two separate subject-focused libraries and a service unit into a new, consolidated Arts Library. What was initially conceived as a renovation of physical space evolved into a comprehensive redefinition and restructuring of the Arts Library. This article describes how library staff are now better positioned to embrace opportunities for transformation of collections, services, and facilities to meet the evolving expectations and needs of twenty-first-century library users. Q(a)R(t) Code Public Art Project: A Convergence of Media and Mobile Technology Liv Valmestad What happens when a librarian is given an iPhone and told to be creative? The author is part of a pilot project at the University of Manitoba where reference librarians were given a smartphone and told to make interesting projects. In the summer of 2010 she created the University of Manitoba Public Art Project, focusing primarily on the university's outdoor sculpture. The project, through a convergence of media including Google Earth, Flickr, blogging, and QR (quick response) codes, has not only created a virtual art gallery accessible through a smartphone, but it also involved augmented reality (AR) with Foursquare and Wikitude. A case study of the project is preceded by a brief description of QR codes and AR and their use in the arts. Fine Art Collection Management in Urban Public Libraries Camille Ann Brewer In addition to print, audio-visual, and electronic materials, many American public libraries own and manage museum-quality fine art collections. This descriptive study was designed to investigate collection-management practices employed by urban public libraries. For the purpose of this study, data was gathered from select library members of the Urban Libraries Council to investigate cataloging and collection-management methods. Data about presenting collection images online, within in-house exhibitions, and in traveling exhibitions was also collected. The research results indicate that urban public libraries managing fine art objects generally are not employing industry best practices for handling museum-quality fine art objects. The study results are significant because extensive research on fine art collection management in urban public libraries has not been conducted to date. Art Law Research Resources: An Introduction Erin Elliott The law, in the form of court decisions and legislation, can have a profound effect on the art world. Research involving legal source materials helps researchers understand or explain the current situation in many aspects of art, such as copyright and censorship, by providing the most authoritative information. This article describes a number of resources art librarians can use to find and interpret primary and secondary legal sources without expensive subscriptions. The resources presented here have been used at the Sotheby's Institute of Art, a small graduate art school, to assist students taking art law courses. Top of Page Tables of Contents
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