Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional

Standards to Better Serve Arts Library

Patrons

• “Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo,” …“The vanguard, a small troop of highly skilled soldiers, explores the terrain ahead of a large advancing army and plots a course for the army to follow. This concept is applied to the work done by small collectives of intellectuals and artists as they open pathways through new cultural or political terrain for society to follow.” –Wikipedia

• a term taken from the French which originally applied to the foremost part of an army, or vanguard, and was used in this sense in English from the 15th to 19th century. However, since the early 20th century it has been used to describe contemporary pioneers or innovators in any of the arts and also signifies work which challenges accepted standards. –Oxford Companion to Western Art (via Oxford Art Online)

What is

avant-garde?

• pushing of the

boundaries/ work which

challenges accepted

standards

• a small troop of highly

skilled soldiers/ small

collectives of intellectuals

and artists/ contemporary

pioneers or innovators

• explores the terrain ahead

and plots a course for the

army to follow/ open

pathways through new

cultural or political terrain for society to follow

What is the purpose of

cataloging?

FIND

IDENTIFY

SELECT

OBTAIN

What is the purpose of

cataloging?

There are several objectives that direct the construction of cataloguing codes.

The highest is the convenience of the user.

• 0.1. Convenience of the user of the catalogue. Decisions taken in the making of descriptions and controlled forms of names for access should be made with the user in mind.

Statement of International Cataloging Principles, April 10, 2008 version from the IFLA Meeting of Experts on an

International Cataloguing Code, http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/icc/imeicc-statement_of_principles-2008.pdf

Cataloging is a user service.

• Librarianship is a service profession

• The highest objective is the

convenience of the user

• It is important that we support and

integrate known user behaviors into

our library catalogs, but how?

Research

Observation

Surveys

• User needs assessment

• 2010 is the Year of Cataloging

Research

What are artistic patrons looking

for, and how are they looking for it?

• Information needs

• Information seeking behavior

Surveys over time have identified five

areas of information that appear most

commonly sought by artists:

» Inspiration

» Specific visual image needs

» Technical knowledge (“how-to”)

» Marketing & career guidance

» Current trends and events

What are they looking for?

Hemming, W. S. (2008). The information-seeking behavior of visual artists: a literature review. Journal of

Documentation, (64)3, 343-362.

• visual and physical collection browsing

• visual information over textual formats

• human reference assistance rather than

self-navigated catalogs and indexes

How are they looking for it?

Joan M. Day and Elizabeth McDowell, “Information needs and use of art and design students,” Education

Libraries Bulletin, 28, No. 3 (1985): 31-41.

Where current cataloging falls short

• Disparate media and material types

• Unfamiliar classification and vocabulary

• Focus on text-based & known-item searching

• Failure to incorporate IFLA criteria

• Lacks of arts context, focus

Bridging the gap

Include all material typesInclude all material types

Support physical browsing

Classification for browse-based access

Alternative classification

Color

Tweaking Standard Classification

Support virtual browsing

Enhanced metadata

Improved subject access

Questions?

Rachel “Ivy” Clarkerclarke@fidm.com

archivy.netcatalogsofbabes.wordpress.com

Images from Veer, FIDM Library (Los Angeles)

or screenshots of respective websites.

Material for this presentation based on

“Cataloging and Classification for Art School

Libraries: Challenges and Considerations,” in Handbook of Art &Design School Librarianship,

forthcoming from Facet in May 2010