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“The grand programme of Providence”: a British art librarian in Rhode Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Wilson Smith
Wilson Smith*
Affiliation:
Art & Design, Art & Design Library, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, UK
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Abstract

For six months between July and December 1997 Wilson Smith, a Faculty Librarian at Edinburgh College of Art, acted as Reader Services Librarian in the library of Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI. Here he gives his impressions of the School and its ambience, and describes the library and its collections, along with the work he undertook there. An Appendix gives details of some of the other art libraries he visited in the United States.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , 1998 , pp. 29 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1998

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References

1. More information about RISD can be found in the RISD Catalog (i.e. its prospectus), and the RISD web site at http://www.risd.edu: although this is so graphics-intensive that it's a mornings-only job from this side of the Atlantic.Google Scholar
2. Details of the RISD Museum collection are given in A handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (2nd edition, 1988) and the Museum pages on the RISD website.Google Scholar
3. The departments are Reader Services, Technical Services and Visual Resources. The RISD Library establishment consists of 5 professional librarians (including the Director) and a total of 10 support staff, with the new Archivist and his assistant in addition. Extra reference support was employed on Saturdays during semester and was being sought to extend reference cover into weekday evenings.Google Scholar
4. Most student workers are financed by the US Government's Federal Work Study scheme which provides small amounts of grant in exchange for work within the School. To a large extent this work is therefore externally funded and does not come from the Library's staffing budget.Google Scholar
5. And indeed it has. Check http://library.risd.edu to see the new RISD online catalogue.Google Scholar