ARLIS/NA 48th Annual Conference

What initiatives can we, as librarians, educators, museum professionals, archivists, and curators, take to create research opportunities, raise awareness, and provide access to art publishing on a national scale?
This panel examines two initiatives that art librarians from Canadian universities have undertaken at individual and institutional levels. The approaches seek to enrich bibliographic information about, and exhibition histories of, Canadian artists while improving access to reference publications and collections.
John discusses ongoing research into a reference publication and artist book titled Who Was Who Was Who in Contemporary Canadian Art. This print and Open Access book draws on work from a research residency at Artexte and subsequent contact with art libraries across Canada. A biographical dictionary of Canadian artists and their pseudonyms, it explores intersections of academic enquiry and art making while offering a critical framework for reconsidering traditional biographic approaches to art history.
Sara discusses re-development of the Canadian Art Exhibition Catalogue Collection at the University of British Columbia Music, Art & Architecture Library. This reference collection preserves historic catalogues and is a record of art practice in Canada, with strong regional representation. It compiles items previously dispersed in the library system and reinvigorates promotion of Canadian art in a high-profile reading room enriched with iconic imagery through collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Both case studies offer opportunities for research, record keeping, and pedagogy, outlining the potential for new ways of relaying information in support of academic research and creative process.

Learning Objectives:
• How to conceptualize art publishing as an evolving area of research and artistic practice.
• Collaborating with subject specialists and arts organizations to build cross-institutional research networks.
• Methods for documenting and providing access to information about artists, art making, and exhibition histories.
• Strategies through case study – and future possibilities – for assessment, collection development, preservation, and resource sharing.