The ‘crisis’ of art bibliography, Jan Simane
[…]whether the traditional model of the IBA (International Bibliography of Art) – grounded in an intellectual analysis of documents (articles from journals, monographs, exhibition catalogues, etc.) and their description with standardised metadata and abstracts – still corresponds to the needs of modern research on the one hand and to the new potentialities and realities of displaying, connecting, exchanging and gaining information in digital data networks on the other.[…]
26/09/20 1:00 PM start time
Simane, J. (2011). “ The ‘crisis’ of art bibliography.” Art Libraries Journal 36(3), 5-9.
Prompt question: Simane (2011) identifies a decline in access to traditional academic research tools, but is this the real “crisis” in art history research? Are there deeper anxieties at the root of this instability? Does this “crisis” resonate with you in your own creative research?
Optional reading:
Mason, H., & Robinson, L. (2011). The information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. Journal of Documentation, 67(1), 159-180. doi:10.1108/00220411111105498
QUESTIONS
What is an art bibliography? What is a post-selection strategy?
READING NOTES
- Postmodern/post industial to information age
- information capitalism – production/exchange/display of info controlled by large groups of individuals and institutions
- Bibliography of history of art (BHA) covers documents such as books, periodics, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogues, dissertations w/ 3 elements (description, abstract, classification). Individuals/institutions responsible for curating, editing managing etc + abstracting and classifying documents.
- Two types of bibliography – # based periodically updated OR analytic critically commented selection
- systematic VS critical, enumeration vs classfication
- library catalogues have adapted to new technology + use of metadata/metasearch + ease of adding and updating whereas bibliographies have remained pre-defined.
- shortcoming of both – does not include documents/sources beyond trad pub conventions ex: open access, digital collections, databases
- paper posits that crisis is not in having to avert loss of long-standing art bibliography but “the lack of an appropriate, future-proofed solution.”
- artlibraries.net, NYARC, AGORHA, attempts to remedy
- preselected-knowledge, pre-defined tools not up-to-date. Need support for post-selection strategies. Question of quality and reliability remains.
INTERESTING CITATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Jean-François Lyotard, Frank Webster, Pierre Rosenberg, John Shearman, Conrad Gessner, Theodore Besterman
International bibliography of art, Art Libraries Journal, artlibraries.net, NYARC, AGORHA, ARTbibliographies modern, Eurpoean Union Catalogue Project
https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/bha/
enumerative: To determine the number of; count.
POST-READ
Art bibliography is a citation database, BHA includes list of all documents included in scope of focus (articles conference dissertations etc) and includes ISSNs so the document can be located in other resource (librayr). Bibliographies of this type are pre-selected by select group of individuals and institutions and adhere to certain qualities and standards. Post-selection strategy would take advantage of technology and metadata and allow for the additions to bibliography after-the-fact of publication, some concerns about upholding quality and standard remain.
Prompt: Simane (2011) identifies a decline in access to traditional academic research tools, but is this the real “crisis” in art history research? Are there deeper anxieties at the root of this instability? Does this “crisis” resonate with you in your own creative research?
Deeper anxieties about at the root of this instability seem to be that without an art bibliography there would be a loss of power for the individuals/institutions and the artists/scholars included within it. A standardized method of collection/display/publication with expected information can be useful but can also be a tool of exclusion especially re: “low-brow” art/articles. Prioritizing information included in the bibliography leads to a cycle of privileging those that have access to the information, especially as it is not a catalogue and requires accessing additional resources. It also creates limitations on the types of information circulated and where they come from.
For my own research I am thinking about the levels of creativity and collaboration that come from open-source activities/communities. There are standards and conventions but they are not exclusionary and do not depend on expensive credentials to participate in, only individual dedication to standards of care(thinking github). If power and profit were not an primary concern people are happy to devote time to maintaining resources (ie if their needs are met), although it makes these resources more susceptible to manipulation (thinking wikipedia). I have an awareness of open-source in 3D printing / makerspace but do not know details/concerns. Also thinking about attempts at cataloguing zine culture, what benefit would a bibliography of zines be? How would it impact their ephemeral nature? What happens when documents included in a bibliography are lost to time?
26/09/20 1:38 PM
Optional reading – The information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers: Inspiration and guidance for new practitioners, Helen Mason and Lyn Robinson
Purpose – This paper aims to report an empirical study of the information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. It also aims to add to understanding of the information behaviour of the group both as practising artists (a little understood category of information users), and also as “new practitioners”. Design/methodology/approach – A literature analysis is used to guide creation of an online questionnaire, eliciting both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 78 practising artists participated, all having graduated in the seven years prior to the survey. Findings – The group have generally the same information practices as more established artists. They place reliance on internet and social networks, while also using traditional printed tools and libraries. Browsing is important, but not a predominant means of accessing information. Inspiration is found from a very diverse and idiosyncratic set of sources, often by serendipitous means. Their status as emergent practitioners means that their information behaviour is governed by cost factors, and by needs for career advice and interaction with peers. Research limitations/implications – The study group are a convenience sample, all having access to the internet. No observation or interviews were carried out. Practical implications – The results will provide guidance to academic and public librarians serving artist users, and to those providing career advice to them. It will also be valuable to those providing services to “new practitioners” in any field. Originality/value – This is one of a very few papers reporting empirical studies of the information behaviour of artists, and has the largest sample size of any such study. It is one of a very few papers considering the information needs and behaviour of new practitioners. Keywords Arts, Visual media, Information retrieval, Individual behaviour, Internet, Social networks
Mason, H., & Robinson, L. (2011). The information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. Journal of Documentation, 67(1), 159-180. doi:10.1108/00220411111105498
READING NOTES
- “new practitioner” – recently finished education, no longer in formal education or formal career
- assumption that artists research like humanties scholars
- arts monographs, poetry, phaidon art books, john berger, anatomy books, art exhibition catalogues, jorge luis borges, daniel defoe, errol morris, sergei paradjanov, kryzstztof kieslowski, satyajit ray, catherine breillat, frieze (magazine), believer, paper thin walls…
- ‘invisible college,’ communities of practice
INTERESTING CITATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Hemmig, W. (2009), “An empirical study of the information-seeking behaviour of practicing visual artists”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 65 No. 4, pp. 682-703.
Hemmig, W.S. (2008), “The information-seeking behavior of visual artists: a literature review”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 64 No. 3, pp. 343-62.