Moderators : Daphne Dufresne, Director, Bibliothèque des arts, University du Quebec-Montréal¸
Marilyn Berger, Head Librarian, Blackader-Lauterman Library, McGill University.

Sponsor : International Relations Committee, Getty Grant Program.

Speakers : Helena Dodd Ferrez, Director of REDARTE, Brazil
Doralisa Duarte, Head Librarian, Art Library, Museo Nacional Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
Jorge Orlando Melo, Director, Biblioteca Luis-Angel Arango, Santa Fe de Bogata, Columbia
Ricardo Reynoso Serralde, Director, Biblioteca de las Artes, Centro Nacional de las Artes,Mexico.

Translator : Beverly Karno

Daphne Dufresne introduced the session stressing the importance of developing strong international ties with art library organizations and librarians. The International Relations Committee was hoping to increase and strenghten contacts between North American art librarians and art library professionals in South America and by then continuing meaningful relations by affiliation.

She welcomed the fourth art librarians representing the most important libraries from South America and Mexico. As they will provide us an opportunity to learn about their use of technology and the challenges they face in administrating their library collections.

Helena Dodd Ferrez reported on art libraries in Brazil. Her paper was divided into three parts. The first offers a brief overview of Brazil's National Art Foundation (Funarte- Fundacao Nacional de Arte). This leading cultural institution operates nationwide  in Brazil and launched the initiative setting  up a network of art libraries. The second part offers an overview of the information and documentation situation in terms of Brazilian art libraries, looking at information systems and netwoks in this area. Finally, the third part presents the Art Libraries and Information Centers Network, which was  the key topic of the study.

Doralisa Duarte described Chilean Arts Libraries, especially the Art Library of the National Museum of Fine Arts, its objectives, its types of collections and its services.

Two projects are under development at the library : first a patrimonial project denominated Incorporation of thebibliographic collection of the museum into the automated catalog of museums, including 33,000 books owned by the library; and the development fo the prototype of multimedia database named File of Chilean Plastic Artists, which will input at least 3,000 artists.

In spite of the limited financial resources to support their projects in her country, they are enthusiastically decided to insert themselves in this global network in order to provide worlwide access and promotion to their cultural heritage.

Jorge Orlando Melo  talk about the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, one of the largest Latin American libraries, that has a special interest in art, as it serves two major art collections : the Gold Museum and the art and history  collection of the library.This collection includes coins and paper money, a very representative collection of Colombian art, from the l7th century to contemporary artists, Latin American art and about l00 works of international art, from Corot to Stella and Rauschenberg. The very rapid increase of the art collection and of the exhibition areas is pressing for the growth fo the art, which has now 60,000 books and 70,000 slides. Some of the aspects of collection development in a third world are discussed.

Cooperation among similar institution of developing countries and with institution of the developed countries is essental for the growth of good art libraries in the third world. Training, information exchange and cataloguing are some of the more interesting areas for exploring new forms of cooperation.

Ricardo Reynoso Serralde presented the Biblioteca de las Artes in the National Center for the Arts in Mexico. This Centro Nacional de las Artes was inaugurated in l994, conceived as pivotal in a profound process of reorganization of artistic education in Mexico, seeking to take full advantage of the rich tradition and experience of the different national schools of art. It was intended the Center should be the ground for a suitable ambience in the formation of Mexican artists.

In a complex of modern buildings devoted t the study and practice of the arts, within an area of l90,000 square meters, there can be found five Schools, four Research Centers, Theatres, Multimedia Center and the Library of the Arts, the latter on two floors with a surface area of 3,000 square meters. The architectural project of the library is by Architect Ricardo Legorreta, the representative of the  most outstanding currents of Mexican architecture today.

The main functin of the Library is to support with its specialized collections the foramtion and updating of professionals in artistic activities, as well as to promote the knowledge of art in the general public.