Collection Development Policy : Art & Art History

GENERAL PURPOSE

The Art and Art History Department library collection supports both the wide-ranging course work of the studio art faculty and students as well as the research requirements of the art historians and the art history students. Monographs ranging from technical manuals, exhibition catalogs, heavily illustrated books on wildlife subjects, to critical theory texts, biographies of artists, and art history surveys form the core of the collection. During the past five years we have expanded the non-print materials to include works by video and performance artists. A very limited number of books and non print materials have been purchased to support the art/artisan interests of the community.

GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES

Subjects in the studio art section of the library collection include sculpture, painting, mixed media, photography, printmaking, video/performance art, and drawing. The core of the art history section of the collection includes ancient through modern western European/American art and Chinese art (all periods). A limited number of specialized monographs on prehistoric European and Asian art (non-Chinese) are also collected annually. The primary emphasis of the art history collection remains focused on the subject areas of architecture, painting, sculpture, and drawing. To a lesser degree we acquire monographs on decorative arts (prints, manuscripts, ceramics, etc). Printed materials relating to textiles, furniture and household items are acquired by the Dance and Drama Department library funds.

TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

The Art and Art History Department actively collect monographs, exhibition catalogs and serials. Our monograph collection includes guides to national/international museums, individual biographies, art historical surveys, catalogue raisonnes of important artists, handbook/technique manuals, and individual as well as group exhibition catalogs. The serials collection is balanced between contemporary art scene periodicals for studio art students and scholarly titles for the art history students.

FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

In addition to print materials the Department requests projected media (both videotapes and DVD productions) of performance and video artists as well as documentaries on art movements and important individuals. Suggestions for slide and electronic image acquisitions are given to both the Fine Arts Librarian and the Librarian/Technology Consultant directly managing the area.

LANGUAGES

Historically the collection has included primarily English language materials, with a small number of reference works and monographs in European languages. A future goal will be to collect major European language reference works on a regular basis and even a greater number of monographs European and Asian languages. Our print serials collection currently emphasizes English language materials with a limited number of European language titles in the collection. We hope to add international titles through electronic sources as those materials become available online.

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

The art and art history collection focuses primarily upon materials from North America, Europe, China, Japan, and India. As new subject areas are introduced or special topics courses are offered print and non-print will be collected to provide for those studies.

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDELINES

All periods of pre-history and history are included in the collection.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

The Special Collections holdings include many valuable and out-of-print art/art history books. Faculty often bring their students to the facility to see displays of our facsimile editions of Books of Hours, the Monasticon Anglicanum by William Dugdale, the Nuremburg Chronicles, and the typography collection.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Refer to our web page for specific online databases used by students and faculty in this department. Consort and Ohiolink are also valuable resources used by the department.