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Art library collections at research universities: Challenges and opportunities for collaborative collection development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2022

Giana Ricci  and
Lori Salmon
Giana Ricci
Affiliation:
Librarian for the Fine Arts, Bobst Library New York University 70 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012 USA Email:[email protected]
Lori Salmon
Affiliation:
Head, Institute of Fine Arts Library New York University 1 East 78th Street New York, NY 10021 USA Email:[email protected]
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Abstract

Collection development for the arts at large research universities presents certain issues that can be challenging for the librarians responsible. Some of these issues include: collaborating with other selectors, managing multiple library locations, preventing unnecessary duplication, acquiring non-traditional material, working with non-academic publishers, and varying circulation policies. In this article, the Librarian for the Fine Arts and the Head of the Institute of Fine Arts Library at New York University will discuss their experience navigating these challenges in the first two and a half years of their collaboration. The authors will present strategies for leveraging these challenges as opportunities and will share the benefits they have experienced from this effort.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , July 2022 , pp. 67 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of ARLIS

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References

1. “Basic Classification Description,” The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, accessed February 17, 2022, https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/classification_descriptions/basic.php.

2. “Collection Development,” New York University Libraries, Accessed January 18, 2022, https://library.nyu.edu/about/collections/overview/.

3. “New York University Libraries,” New York University Libraries, Accessed February 17, 2022, https://library.nyu.edu/about/general/history/.

4. For more information on library consortia see: Grogg, Jill E., and Rosen, Hannah, “Consortia: An Evolving Landscape,” Collaborative Librarianship 12, no. 2 (April 2020): 181–86Google Scholar; Morris, Jill and Leonard, Kirsten, “Collaborating Across Consortial Boundaries,” Collaborative Librarianship 11, no. 4 (October 2019): 240–50Google Scholar; Cuhadar, Sami and Cimen, Ertugrul, “Cost-Sharing Models: Experience of the Anatolian University Libraries Consortium,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 45, no. 3 (May 2019): 252–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5. For more information on interlibrary loan see: Teresa Negrucci, “Positive Feedback: Using Interlibrary Loan Transaction Log Data to Inform Collection Development: Part 1,” In Accentuate the Positive: Charleston Conference Proceedings, 2012, edited by Beth R. Bernhardt, Leah H. Hinds, and Katina P. Staunch, 239-242 (Purdue University Press, 2013); Jennifer A. Dixon, “Collaborative Collections,” Library Journal 144, no. 7 (August 2019): 36–38; Jennifer E. Knievel, Heather Wicht, and Lynn Silipigni Connaway, “Use of Circulation Statistics and Interlibrary Loan Data in Collection Management,” College & Research Libraries 67, no. 1 (January 2006): 35–49.

6. For more information on demand-driven acquisitions see: Carol Kochan and Jennifer Duncan, “Analysis of Print Purchase on Demand Titles Ordered via Interlibrary Loan: A Collection Development Perspective,” Collection Management 41 no. 2 (2016): 51–65; Judith M. Nixon, Robert S. Freeman and Suzanne M. Ward, “Patron-Driven Acquisitions: An Introduction and Literature Review,” Collection Management 35 no. 3-4, (2010): 119-124; Candice Dahl, “Primed for Patron-Driven Acquisition: A Look at the Big Picture,” Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship 24, no. 2 (April 2012): 119–26.

7. Lorcan Dempsey, “Library Collaboration is Hard; Effective Collaboration is Harder,” Collaborative Librarianship 10, no. 4 (2018): 231.

8. Dempsey, “Library Collaboration is Hard,” 231.

9. Dempsey, “Library Collaboration is Hard,” 231.

10. Vanessa D. Kam, “The Tenacious Book, Part 1: The Curious State of Art and Architecture Library Collections in a Digital Era,” Art Documentation: the Journal of the Art Libraries Association of North America 33, no.1 (Spring 2014): 5.

11. Kam, “The Tenacious Book, Part 1,” 4.

12. Kam, “The Tenacious Book, Part 1,” 6-7.

13. Helen N. Levenson, “Notes on Operations Nimble Collection Development Policies: An Achievable Goal,” Library Resources and Technical Services 63, no.4 (October 2019): 214.

14. Levenson, “Notes on Operations Nimble Collection Development Policies,” 210, 212.

15. The first collection development policy statement for the Stephen Chan Library of Fine Arts was compiled and edited in 1992. Based on the documentation currently available, 2002 is the last cited section revision on Latin American colonial art and architecture. Although a more up-to-date iteration is in progress, these foundational documents still influence collection development decisions. If you would like to review these guidelines, you may contact the author directly.

16. “Using the Institute of Fine Arts Library, Locations and Collections,” New York University. Accessed January 18, 2022. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EZwFX7FIRbbS-p4MXPlfS5ot_zhk7aGLE0riVkctwvI/edit?usp=sharing.

17. AM (Museums. Collectors and collecting); GT500-GT2370 (Manners and Customs (general)--Costume. Dress. Fashion); N-NX (Fine Arts); TR (Photography); TT (Handicrafts. Arts and crafts).

18. This data was retrieved from the library catalog by the Data Analysis and Integration unit at NYU Libraries, at the request of the author Giana Ricci on February 2, 2022.

19. The authors reviewed other articles pertaining to the Institute of Fine Arts Library collections, but with the current changes to the collections, found these methods were not appropriate. One article that utilized circulation metrics to analyze the Institute of Fine Arts Library collections was Michael Hughes, “A Long-Term Study of Collection Use Based on Detailed Library of Congress Classification, a Statistical Tool for Collection Management Decisions,” Collection Management, 41, issue 3 (2016): 152–167, https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2016.1208132.

20. Powers, Audrey, “A Collection Development Plan for Art and Art History at the University of South Florida,” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 30, no. 1 (2011): 69–73Google Scholar, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949569.

21. Altshuler, Bruce, Collecting the New: Museums and Contemporary Art (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013), 2CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22. NYU Libraries’ research guides are publicly accessible at https://guides.nyu.edu. Under Art and Architecture, there are 13 guides listed as of January 27, 2022.