The indivisibility of art librarianship

Abstract

As the range and sophistication of visual resources, and the size of collections available to the art historian and student have increased over the last century, so has the need for an appropriately qualified body of professionals to organise and develop them. This paper explains how and why those involved with visual resources have tended to have a background and training other than in librarianship, and how as a consequence, the two branches of the profession of art librarianship (textual and visual) have grown apart, with visual resources professionals allying themselves to art historical organisations. The author makes a case for the merging of the two professions, united in serving the same subject oriented clientele. This paper was first delivered to the Section of Art Libraries at the IFLA Council, in Montreal, August 1982.