Tapping a Serviceable Reservoir: the selection of periodicals for art libraries

Abstract

Approximately 6,000 current periodicals may be considered relevant to the art library, though no one art library can provide more than a fraction of these. Aids to the selection of an essential ‘core’ collection include specialized bibliographies; for access to periodicals outside its means or scope the art library must rely on cooperation with other libraries. Micro-publishing can play a vital part in facilitating global access. to art periodicals; meanwhile the art librariun can make a more informed selection of titles for a particular library, by analysing the needs of the library’s actual and potential users, and by studying what has been written on the history of art periodicals and of their usefulness. Excerpts from a paper presented to the ARLIS International Conference on art periodicals at the University of Sussex on April 9th.