College and Research Libraries BETTY JO IRVINE Slide Collections in Art Libraries Most slide collections in academic institutions began as small teaching collections on individual professors' desks and required little if any professional expertise to administer. As they have grown, they have become increasingly complex, but as yet there has been developed no substantial body of professional literature concerning them. The paper describes a profect, currently underway, to help remedy that lack. TRADITIONALLY, slide collections in most United States colleges and univer- sities have been initiated by art history faculty to illustrate lectures. These col- lections were often small, consisting of several boxes of slides relating only to a few specialized subject areas. Because of the size of the collections and the limited demands of the faculty, it was generally assumed that these incipient slide "libraries" required minimal super- vision and attention to basic library principles such as cataloging and classi- fication. Generally, part-time students in the department were employed to per- form clerical tasks and finally when the collection expanded to burdensome pro- portions, a full-time person, usually with art history background but almost never with library training, was hired. Need- less to say, there were exceptions to this , and in some instances the slide facilities .along with a photograph or picture col- lection were placed under the care of the art librarian. This administrative ar- rangement was unfortunately less fre- quently utilized. Although many of the part-time and clerical employees un- doubtedly were conscientious, they could b e expected to have .at best only vague and instinctive notions of facets of li- Mrs. Irvine is Assistant Fine Arts Li- brarian and Sup ervisor of the Photograph and Slide Collection, Fine Arts Library, In- diana University. brary expertise such as classification, cataloging, and circulation which would ultimately be necessary when a collec- tion became large .and began to be used by more than a few art historians. Non-book materials have until recent- ly suffered from professional neglect. More often than not, such collections as slides, photographs, architectural draw- ings, .and maps were begun in a non-li- brary situation by p eople who had be- gun gathering materials in a haphazard manner. Almost without exception, such individuals would have no basic library orientation, .and it simply did not occur to them to apply techniques which might solve major problems of retrieval which would develop with the expansion of the collection. In the case of slide collec- tions, some actually reached the 100,000 mark before the us ers recognized and considered the problems engendered by the lack of standardized organizational and management principles such as those used with book materials. At this point, however, even an exhaustive literature search of both library .and art historical journals would shed little light on the multifarious and often exotic problems facing the inquirer. The more ambitious slide supervisor would then often turn to the only other source of information by corresponding with the supervisor of one or more of the few major collections in the country who would be able to fur- / 443 444 I College & Research Libraries • September 1969 nish guidelines and assistance on specific · problems. Individuals such as Miss Helen Chillman of Yale University, Miss Elea- nor Collins of the University of Michigan, Mrs. Margaret P. Nolan of the Metropol- itan M useun1 of Art Slide Library, and iVIiss Phyllis Reinhardt (the author of one of the few enlightening articles on the subject) of Smith College will per- haps testify to the fact that hardly a week goes by without an inquiry regard- ing slide collection problems. The gen- erosity and patience of these individuals was and is b eyond the call of duty; it is clear, however, that consultation by cor- respond ence is not the answer to bring- ing about the solution for the overwhelm- ing problems facing many of the mush- rooming slide collections in the country. Because of this lack of published in- formation, a comprehensive study and survey of the history of the problem, the present status of slide collections, practical matters (such as equipment and photographic processing) , and more formal library considerations (such as use of classification, source fil es, and authority files) was b egun in 1968. The ultimate objective is to produce a com- parative study so that slide librarians and curators might have a choice of various systems and procedures current- ly in practice, that they might have some background knowledge, and finally, that they might have a sense of community with others facing problems similar to theirs. The proposal of an "ideal" system is not the aim of the study, since most users of such a study will b e working from already existing collections which have probably grown to such proportions that a complete revision would not be feasible. The first step in the study was to con- duct a thorough literature search of Art Index, Bibliography of Library Econo- my, Education Index, Library Litera- ture, and the general periodical indexes. This search confirmed the need for a study of both practical and theoretical aspects of slide collecting. The .available literature contains no substantive re- search and tends to be either too nar- rowly involved with a single aspect of one slide collection or too general in scope. It became clear that a compara- tive study might have some merit and that a manual of a practical nature as well as a brief history might be useful for someone attempting to deal with a large collection which had grown with little direction over .a period of years. In August 1968 an eight-page ques- tionnaire was sent to over one hundred colleges, universities, and museums. Be- fore the questionnaire could be mailed, however, one of the most serious prob- lems facing this project had to be over- come: the compilation of a mailing list. The American Art Directory, the Amer- ican Library Directory, and the Direc- tory of Special Libraries and Inforrna- tions Centers were consulted to identify collections. Many institutions, however, were added to the list merely because of personal knowledge and not b ecause they appeared in any of the sources. Lack of such basic information is indica- tive of the n eed for definitive and con- solidating research in this field. The content of the questionnaire is fairly broad; it is intended to serve as a basis for a study but not as the study it- self. The major categories surveyed are the history of collections; the type of classification system presently used; gen- eral operational procedures regarding the purchase and production of slides; the use of library techniques such as a shelflist, authority files, and library tools such as the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules; equipment; and a final section on the educational background of the staff. The broad scope was believed to be use- ful in a variety of ways. The historical section is intended to bring son1e per- spective of the present condition of col- lections and the remaining six categories are designed to provide enough data about specific .aspects of collections Slide Collections in Art Libraries I 445 throughout the country so that a com- parative manual may be written. It is hoped that if individuals working with these collections have a readily available source of information, they will be in a better position to examine and improve their collections on the basis of past ex- perience rather than trial and error. Moreover, a directory of participating in- stitutions will more than likely be in- cluded at the end of the projected man- ual so that supplementary correspond- ence regarding problems discussed in the manual may ensue. This type of list will also provide slide librarians of all backgrounds with a list of institutions which have collections worthy of study and possible emulation. Lest an entirely dism.al picture is left of the present state of slide collections, perhaps it should be noted that there are some very promising trends in the field. One of the most positive of these was the inclusion of an entire session at the College Art Association's annual meeting (January 1969) devoted to slides and photographs. Dr. Marvin Ei- senberg, .art history chairn1an at the Uni- versity of Michigan and president of the College Art Association, asked the slide librarian in his department, Miss Elea- nor Collins, to preside at this special ses- sion. Not only does this session indicate that art historians are beginning to recog- nize that a problem exists in an area upon which they are heavily dependent in their work, but also that slide librar- ians and curators will be given an op- portunity to meet and discuss with their colleagues some of their common prob- lems. In addition, there is a trend in art de- partments to consider .a basic training in the problems of slide collections as part of a graduate student's career. A non- credit course is now offered by Miss Col- lins at the University of Michigan to pre- pare potential faculty members for what they will face in slide collections .and also, perhaps, to encourage some to con- sider it as a possible career. In a re- quired introduction to graduate study for art history students at Indiana U ni- versity, lectures were given by the su- pervisor of slides and photographs to in- troduce students to the v.arious aspects of slide collecting-both personal and departmental. In all probability there are other similar courses. The organization and development of a Slide Librarians and Curators Associa- tion in California is indicative of the trend toward more communication in this field on a more formal level between supervisors of these collections. This group has been collecting and circulating to its members information on v.arious aspects of slide libraries. Another trend in this area is an in- crease in published literature. Examples of this, in addition to the projected com- parative manual, are the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Slide Classification Sys- tem, and the machine-manipulable slide classification system used and developed at the University of California at Santa Cruz, both to be published by 1969. The extremely complicated nature of many .art history slide classification systems makes such publications extremely valu,.. able contributions to the field. In addi- tion, the Metropolitan Nluseum of Art has published a list of slide sources (commercial and museum) which is available there free. All of these recent trends tend to un- derscore the fact that slide collections are finally coming of age in this era of materials explosion. In actuality, many of their problems are shared by all areas of library science, and it is comforting to know that a connection is being es- tablished. Any questions regarding the projected manual would be gladly en- tertained by the present writer. Also, if any reader of this article knows of a col- lection which should have been includ- ed in the survey but did not receive a questionnaire, such information would be greatly appreciated. • •