There remain theoretical and practical difficulties in the subject analysis of visual arts documents and the assignment of appropriate index terms. Visual arts indexing would be aided by an internationally agreed, controlled vocabulary with rules of usage. In devising such a language, subject knowledge and experience of the literature are as necessary as an understanding of indexing theory. Examples of current indexing practice are cited, notably PRECIS, Library of Congress, RILA, and the Répertoire d’Art et d’Archéologie.

Describes a newcomer’s view of the world of international art librarianship, of the IFLA Congress in Copenhagen in general and the activities of the Art Libraries Round Table in particular. The need is stressed for participation and support of art librarians world-wide in the work of the Round Table.

The general survey I am about to treat you to is almost entirely based on the information supplied by librarians, teachers and curators of museums and galleries. May I say now how grateful I am to those who have been so generous with their time in telling me most of what I know about the subject. I regard my role this evening as essentially one of disseminating the knowledge of others which in this field does not always circulate as freely as it might.

What has rather surprised me while preparing this talk is how quite important material in one centre is unknown in another. My talk will serve some use, therefore, if it helps to rectify this situation.

The recent British Library sponsored user study of RILA is described which demonstrates the usefulness of RILA both as an acquisition and as an inter-lending tool and which also shows that professional art librarianship has yet to reach some of the smaller art schools where it is most needed. The next major project of the RILA UK office is outlined, namely the possible reactivating of the Bibliography of the History of British Art (BHBA) into the Bibliography of British Art (BBA) using on-line access to the entire data base of RILA.

Just as African literature is going through a process,-of change and adaptation to new conditions, so African art is combining new techniques and ideas with ‘traditional’ ideas of the place of art in society. The illustrated book is a relatively new phenomenon in African literature, and the whole area of design and illustration is a problematic one for African publishers.

Illustration has so far had a limited role in African publishing — there are very few lavishly illustrated books produced in Africa. To those used to the production and design standards of the West, it is difficult not to overlook the vitality, excitement and potential of the existing examples of illustration. This is not to say that I think African publishers have fully exploited talent available to them, or explored the scope allowed them in spite of limitations of finance, production methods and market pressures. These limitations have been overcome in examples quoted below.

The traditional subject category ‘visual arts’ is based on a value judgment, but aesthetic criteria no longer suffice to define this category. Art is increasingly permissive in its range. The subjects of art history, archaeology, social anthropology, and history of technology tend more and more to overlap. Almost any material artefact can now be viewed aesthetically, and any work of visual art may be considered as an artefact. Libraries should aim to bring together all the material culture of human societies, whether tools or works of art, in their bibliographic classifications instead of scattering it as at present.

(Slightly revised version of a paper given at the Art Libraries Round Table, 45th IFLA Congress, Copenhagen, 1979.)

This paper is a revised version of that published by the Scottish Georgian Society under the same title in 1969. As before, I have endeavoured to list the main documentary and printed sources available for the study of Scottish architectural history without in any way attempting to compile a complete bibliography of Scottish architecture. The arrangement of the text follows that adopted by H. M. Colvin in his Guide to the Sources of English Architectural History (Pinhoms, 1967) to which reference should also be made. I should again like to acknowledge the assistance given to me in the preparation of this guide by various friends and colleagues, and in particular by Dr A.L. Murray, of the Scottish Record Office.

An account of the beginnings, developments and achievements to date of the Working Party of the IFLA Art Libraries Round Table concerned with the Directories project. The next stages of the project are described and its importance is stressed as essential groundwork for the development of true international art library co-operation.

Describes the art libraries and art collections visited in Budapest during a ten day visit sponsored by the British Council.

Sincere acknowledgements are due to the Hungarian Art Librarians and Museums staff whose genuine interest and hospitality provided the raw material for this paper.

The Union Catalogue of Art Books in Edinburgh Libraries is, to the best of my knowledge, the only catalogue of its kind relating specifically to art in this country. It offers a service which other art librarians might be asked to offer, and therefore the experience we in Edinburgh have gained of the advantages and problems associated with a catalogue of this kind may benefit other librarians who might contemplate offering a similar service. The problems we have experienced stem partly, as we shall see, from factors which are intrinsic in such a catalogue, but also partly from the early development of this particular one, and for this reason I propose to start by giving you a brief sketch of its history.

The concept of artistic knowledge is considered, that which is unique to the artist and that which can be acquired by other means, particularly from the storehouse of a library’s collections. The problem of art being at a remove in a library can be countered by collections of ‘real’ art e.g. artists’ books, and by outgoing, generous art librarianship. The art library can also make its own contribution to the maintenance of traditional artistic knowledge by concentrating at least a part of its collections on whatever is unique in its own area, thus counterbalancing the tendency to uniform, ‘monochrome’ coverage.

This statement has been developed from a paper submitted to the CNAA Working Party on Libraries and Related Resources by myself as a member of that Working Party, and discussed at its meeting on 12th June 1978. The purpose of that paper was to define the special needs of a particular subject area, art and design, and to show how those needs can be lost sight of if quantitative standards are overstressed by comparison with the quality of a library’s service to its readers. The Working Party welcomed this paper, took note of its emphasis on the ‘browsability’ of library materials, and suggested that it might be put before the CNAA Committee for Art and Design, ‘possibly in a revised version’.

The Foundation-stone of the City’s Central Library was laid in 1887 by Andrew Carnegie and in June 1890 the library opened its doors. The architect of this French-Renaissance style building was George Washington Browne.

The Central Library is “Subject departmentalized” - there being libraries devoted to Local History, Scottish subjects, Music and Fine Art. The latter library occupies the top floor of a corner site on George IV Bridge/Victoria Street and was opened in 1935/36.

Because this review will be partial in its survey and somewhat critical in tone, it may be as well to begin by applauding the overall achievement of AACR. Its long-awaited publication in 1967 helped enormously to clear the cataloguing air. Here at last was a convincing demonstration that behind all the craft mysteries of cataloguing there lay a logic, a rationale; that it was not just a matter of following a few rule of thumb procedures. For dealing with the general run of modern printed texts in English-speaking libraries the new code promised well.

William Hunter’s bequest of 1783 forms the nucleus of the University of Glasgow’s Art Collections. It included a Rembrandt, a Koninck, three Chardins and three Stubbs. Hunter’s gift was unmatched in importance until this century which brought the gifts and bequest of 1935,1954 and 1958 respectively by Miss Rosalind Birnie Philip of the large part of James McNeill Whistler’s estate consisting of 80 oils, 100 pastels, c. 150 drawings and watercolours, 500 etchings and 140 lithographs, and the Davidson family gift and bequest of 1945 of work by Charles Rennie Mackintosh which included over 500 designs and watercolours and about 70 pieces of furniture. The general collection of c. 800 oils and 850 drawings and watercolours includes good holdings of 17th century Dutch and Flemish work, 18th century British portraits and 19th and 20th century French and Scottish painting. The print collection of over 15,000 items provides a representative selection from the late 15th century to the present day.