Subject Librarian: Mary Kandiuk
Programmes Supported and Description of Current Collection
The Libraries’ collections support undergraduate art history and studio courses taught in Visual Arts, Atkinson/Fine Arts, and Arts/Humanities; studio courses in Visual Arts and Atkinson;and in Cultural, Critical and Historical Studies (CCHS), the Faculty of Fine Arts’ interdisciplinary programme. The decorative arts collections and costume collections to some extent reflect the visual research requirements of set, prop and costume designers in the Theatre programme. Art and architecture materials are also required in courses that deal with culture and civilization offered in language and literature, history, anthropology, native studies, environmental studies, and geography courses. Culture, and specifically the visual arts, are addressed in a multitude of disciplines, and materials encompassed by the collections policy for art are listed on reading lists for courses in a number of disciplines.
The art collections support M.F.A. study in the graduate Visual Arts Programme, M.A. teaching and research in the graduate Art History Programme, the programme in Arts and Media Administra tion in the Faculty of Administrative Studies, interdisciplinary studies at the master’s level in the Faculty of Fine Arts, a proposed Fine Arts Ph.D. programme in Interdisciplinary Studies, and course work and research in culture and civilization within t he graduate language and literature programmes. As in the case of undergraduate study, numerous graduate programmes reference art and culture materials for instructional and research purposes.
Description of Current Collection
Besides all the art forms covered in the “N” section (museum collections, painting, architecture, sculpture, graphic arts, decorative arts, and the arts in general) the art collections include art forms covered by other L.C. classes such as museology, photography, design, the arts of indigenous peoples, industrial arts, advertising arts, book arts, video art, and performance art; architecture in the context of a city or region; photography in the context of a city, region or theme; art therapy; and archaeology.
Materials are not purchased to support recreational reading or travel, nor the specialized cultural interests of faculty and students, but the collections are intended to support the vocational interests and information needs of artists and arts administrators.
Materials purchased for the Film and Video Library, specifically films about art and video art are closely related as are Media Studies and Anthropology. Archives and Special Collections. Almost all Canadian exhibition catalogues are housed in Special Collections, with smaller items in the Canadian Pamphlet Collection, 0200 series. Other categories of materials housed in this location are limited edition and private press publications, and examples of fine printing; graphic design annuals; photography; artists’ books and books that can be considered “artworks”; publications issued in unconventional formats (e.g. unbound, pop-up); books and periodicals containing original prints; large but insecurely bound books designed for a restful life on coffee tables rather than for survival in library stacks; items published on newsprint or other flimsy paper (this includes most pre-World War II books published in France); non-Canadian pamphlet-size publications; expensive monographs; all catalogues raisonnés, and other increasingly scarce monographs that would be too expensive to replace are being transferred from the open stacks to Special Collections for their security. Materials containing visual images of a sexually explicit nature are located in Special Collections although we recognize that contemporary art often takes this form, and that it is not usually art students who are tempted to vandalize such books.
Languages
Materials in all western European languages are acquired, with the emphasis first on English, and then French, Italian and German. However, a lack of funds has tended to make itself felt most strongly in gradually decreasing levels of foreign-language purchasing although the catalogues of major European exhibitions continue to be a priority. The importance of the illustrations alone sometimes mandates the purchase of an item, regardless of language.
English-language materials are acquired from North America and Europe, India, and very occasionally from other countries. French-language materials are routinely acquired from Canada and France, and also from Belgium and Switzerland ; Germany, Austria and Italy are also sources of acquisitions, and to a much lesser extent Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Scandinavia. Artists living in North America and Europe are closely watched by studio faculty and students, and the materials about them are often locally produced. The art of almost every country in the world is studied in a wide-ranging curriculum, but the sources from which we acquire publications about this art are relatively restricted.
Chronological Coverage
At the upper undergraduate level and the graduate level of the art history programme, the emphasis is on the 19th and 20th centuries in North America and Europe. At the lower levels of the undergraduate programmes the emphasis is evenly spread beginning with ancient Greece and Rome and Egypt, Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century through to the 20th century; China, Japan and India; and the arts of indigenous peoples. In the case of the studio programmes, the emphasis is on contemporary art and artists of North America and Europe.
Date of Publications
Older, out-of-print materials continue to be standard reading for the study of artistic theory and individual artists. We continue to purchase copies of older publications not already in the collections when they serve our special strengths. The emphasis, however, is on current books and exhibition catalogues. Both art history and studio students require the catalogues published in connection with current and recent art exhibitions.
Duplication
Older standard readings for the history of art must be retained in several copies, and with increasing numbers of students, these are duplicated in multiple copies and replaced as they can be found. When the replacement or duplication cost of these works is too high, a stack copy is relocated to Special Collections.
Gifts
Because the budget allows for limited duplication, and for almost no purchasing of luxury publications or limited edition portfolios, gifts can be an important source of acquisitions in these categories. Gifts that are not of use to the libraries can usually be sold to antiquarian bookdealers to raise funds for publications that are needed.
Virtually all materials in the collections have some relevance for the foreseeable future ex cept multiple copies of items that were once on Reserve and have outdated their usefulness. Older editions of directories must be retained for retrospective information about artists, galleries and museums, and art organizations.
Types of Materials
- Books — The collection includes catalogues raisonnés, exhibition catalogues, catalogues of permanent collections, biographies and studies of individual artists, bibliographies, indexes and dictionaries, general histories and theoretical works, art historiography, art auction records and indexes, reprints of earlier works, and collections of reproductions, all being the staples of an art library collection. Manuals and books on art techniques are collected very selectively for information about historical techniques and about specialized art processes. Canadian illustrated books which are classed in literature (including children’s books) are considered for their illustrations, and books classed in history and geography that consist primarily of photographs are purchased on the basis of the reputation of the photographer.
- Journals — To date there has not been an emphasis on periodicals although the growing importance of the periodical literature suggests that this practice may need to change in future . In Canada, periodicals are perceived by artists as a prime means of disseminating their ideas. Titles currently received include theoretical journals; art and architectural history journals; organs of associations of art historians and artists; museology journals; journals that showcase current arts and crafts, photography, industrial arts, and graphic design; and a handful of practical studio-oriented periodicals. Journals published by galleries and museums, “how to” magazines, periodicals that address the antiques trade and the art market, and the myriad of North-American, frequently short-lived and regional magazines reviewing contemporary art and the commercial galleries, are on the whole simply not acquired or are left to other local libraries to acquire.
- Microforms — Microform collections have been acquired, in particular large collections of exhibition catalogues, and the copious artists files (i.e. vertical file collections) of The Metro Toronto Reference Library, and selectively from the National Gallery of Canada Library, all on microfiche. 19th and rare 20th century art periodicals have been acquired in microform and will continue to be acquired for research purchases as funds are available, but because of the unsatisfactory presentation of illustrations, microform, especially in black and white, cannot be considered a reasonable substitute for paper.
- Theses and Dissertations — Apart from publications in the series Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts (Garland Press) and other minor exceptions, only Canadian theses and dissertations are acquired.
- Ephemera — Canadian exhibition catalogues in pamphlet or handlist form are published each year by the hundreds. These are acquired almost comprehensively, and are added to the Canadian Pamphlet Collection 0200 series. Trade catalogues, e.g. mail-order catalogues, acquired free-of-cost are added, and occasionally are purchased, e.g. department store catalogues, and other such as the catalogues of Canadian furniture or wallpaper manufacturers of the early 20th c.
- Manuscripts and Archives — While no attempt is being made to systematically collect manuscripts or archival materials for art and architecture, we do collect finding aids, indexes and catalogues that identify and describe archival collections in Canada.
- Special Collections — Rare books are not collected, however it should be noted that the York collections, including those in the open stacks, contain many hundreds of older works that have become rare books. Currently about 12% of the “art” collections are housed in Archives and Special Collections.
- Films and Videos — Films and videos for art and architecture are acquired by the Film and Video Librarian.
- Exclusions — The Scott Library does not maintain collections of reproductions, illustrations, photographs, slides, or artists files, nor collections of works of art and architecture on videodisc.
Electronic Data Files, CD-ROM, Microcomputer Software
The most important six or more indexes for art, architecture, and auction records, are currently available, or are about to become available, as CD-ROMs, but current funding does not permit their purchase unless print subscriptions are cancelled. One of these, Art Index has been searchable on Infoshare although the current version goes back to 1989 only. It should be noted that other more general databases and CD-ROMs such as CBCA are significant sources of information about art and architecture. The Internet, and in particular Netscape offer opportunities for us to access art-based networks, art exhibitions and collections of images from local terminals, but some, such as CHIN (Canadian Heritage Information Network), are accessible only through payment of a subscription fee.
Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto R egion
For research and advanced study, students and faculty at York will depend upon several libraries in downtown Toronto: the Robarts Library and Fisher Rare Book Library of the University of Toronto for European art from the Middle Ages to the 19th cen tury, for ancient art, for limited edition portfolios and private press publications, and for facsimile editions of medieval illuminated manuscripts. The Library of the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies has proved indispensable for facsimile edition s of illuminated manuscripts, and the East Asian Studies Library for Asian art. The Royal Ontario Museum holds excellent collections for native arts, decorative arts, ancient art, architecture and museology. We rely on the Art Gallery of Ontario Library for Canadian art, Canadian artists files, exhibition catalogues from all over the world, art auction catalogues, price indexes and electronic searching capability, and serial publications of museums. The Ontario College of Art Library owns impressive collect ions of artists’ books. Finally, the Metro Toronto Reference Library, Arts Dept. is an important source for Canadian art, Canadian artists files, decorative arts, and “how to” books, and art auction price indexes, and its Special Collections Department for fine printing and rare illustrated monographs.
Collecting Levels