International Journal of Librarianship

The Founding of Film in Museums

Peyton Moriarty — 2024-06-20

In 1935, Librarian John E. Abbott of the Museum of Modern Art wrote this of the contemporary status of film preservation: “the situation is as though there existed a great interest in painting on the part of the public, but that almost no painting were ever exhibited save those executed within the previous twelve months.” In the early twentieth century, film collections were not sought after by museums, because the relevance of film to museum mandates had not yet been defined. In this paper, we refer to the creation of some of the first museum film libraries and archives, in order to examine the effort of their establishment within a museum, and the philosophical challenges and appeals that must be addressed when these mediums meet, in the interplay between archival and museological theory. We shall briefly review the beginning of film museums, and then discuss where the nature and priorities of museums most affected these pioneering film libraries and archives. These influences manifest in the rationale of why films should be collected, in the details of what should be acquired, and in the practical and philosophical challenges that are not commonly found in other information institutions, but are characteristic of museum work.

“Once Again, From the Beginning:” Re-inventing the Museum Library at the University of Pennsylvania

Deborah Stewart — 2024-06-20

As university museums and academic programs struggle with issues of relevancy and harmful legacies, the libraries that are embedded within these institutions must reckon with similar challenging issues because of their own histories, collections content, museum-adjacent programs, and assumed authority in the supported disciplines. Such departmental libraries already occupy uncomfortable positions within complex institutions, often functioning as minor players in the university’s library systems, but only tenuously linked through location or subject matter expertise to the university’s museums and affiliated departments.

Offered as an instructive example is the Museum Library at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the sometimes embattled Penn Museum. This “Report from the Field” essay describes the Museum Library’s methods for participating in a rapidly evolving museum’s strategic initiatives and supporting the sincere investment of its dedicated staff in making meaningful changes. I also discuss the Museum Library’s own complicated history and our reflections as we remake the library in the face of local and global challenges.

Bridging the Gap

Kelli Bogan — 2024-06-20

Libraries, archives, and museum collections are distinct collecting entities that share similarities in their concepts and workflows, yet diverge in their fundamental approaches to descriptive work. While librarians and archivists are frequently associated due to their placement within institutional hierarchies and shared academic backgrounds, librarians and museum registrars are more naturally aligned in the realm of metadata. Both librarians and registrars traditionally emphasize item-level description whereas archivists prioritize a creator and collection-based approach. This article aims to explore the challenges of maintaining archival descriptive best practices within a museum culture that predominantly emphasizes object collections and item-level documentation. By identifying tools, techniques, and strategies archives can implement, museum staff can better understand and appreciate the unique contributions of archival practices. Additionally, advocating for archival standards to senior staff will foster a more comprehensive and holistic approach to cataloging and preserving cultural heritage. By recognizing the value of both item-level and collection-based approaches, the museum can create a more robust and interconnected system of documentation, enhancing the overall quality and accessibility of their collections and archives.

Museum Libraries in Germany

Bettina Gierke — 2024-06-20

This article is going to give an overview of the continuously developing world of standardised data and its use in German cultural institutions. It will provide an introduction into Germany’s federated library system and explain how libraries developed standardised data more quickly than other cultural heritage institutions.

We argue that this head-start in using and creating standardised data means that museum librarians are best suited to support both their institutions and others, which want to implement standardised data. They can also take an ambassadorial role for standardised data produced from the museum environment, because museum librarians have the professional background to ensure the quality of such data.

The Squaxin Island Museum Library and Research Center

Sandra Littletree — 2024-06-20

Tribal museums and the libraries that serve them are spaces where tribes can not only preserve their history and culture for tribal citizens and visitors, but can also function as a place where the community can learn together, build relationships, and incorporate ancestral knowledge into their daily lives. In this paper, discuss the broad issues of tribal museums and the role tribal libraries play in communities. We then introduce readers to the difficult history that started the museum, as well as the focus on the library within the Squaxin Island Museum Library and Research Center (MLRC). We tell the story of the Squaxin Island MLRC and examine the role of the library in this cultural hub, including the ways the tribe has taken control over their story through a self-publishing project. The article concludes with reflections on the future of the MLRC as well as a reflection on how the library incorporates Indigenous ways of knowing in a museum setting.

Extending the Conversation

Amy Marshall Furness — 2024-06-20

Over the dozen or so years of its existence the Artist in Residence (AiR) program at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has brought numerous emerging and established artists into the daily workings of the museum, inviting resident artists to explore and engage with the AGO’s collections, staff and public programs as they develop their projects. Support for a process of research-creation is fundamental to the opportunity offered by the residency. As a foundational component of the museum’s research infrastructure, the AGO’s Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives has played a key role in the residency program, allowing strategies of reading, citation and documentation to emerge as central themes in the cumulative body of residency projects, and allowing in turn for the possibility of project documentation to enter the archival record of the museum. Drawing on interviews with selected past artists in residence, this paper will provide an account of how the involvement of librarians and archivists, and the availability of library and archival resources in the museum have shaped the trajectory of the AiR program at the AGO.

Manuscripts from Library to Museum: Malek National Library and Museum Institution

Mahsa Fardhosseini — 2024-06-20

This article examines the library and museum of Malek institute (MNLMI), a cultural institution in Tehran, Iran, that preserves and displays a rich collection of manuscripts and historical artworks. The article explores how the MNLMI combines the perspectives and functions of libraries and museums to create a comprehensive and dynamic cultural space. The article also discusses the types and features of manuscripts, such as legal, liturgical, encyclopedic, and literary manuscripts, and how they reflect the Iranian heritage and civilization. The article analyzes the challenges and opportunities of the MNLMI in terms of conservation, digitization, publication, and outreach. The article concludes with some suggestions and recommendations for improving the situation and performance of the MNLMI, and for enhancing the cultural awareness and appreciation of its visitors.

Organizers of Museum History: Honoring the Labor of Librarians and Archivists in the Bureau of American Ethnology

Mary Margaret Lea — 2024-06-20

In 1879, the United States funded care for the records of government-funded geological, ethnographic and archaeological explorations in the American West, in what later became known as the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) within the Smithsonian Institution. But who was doing the organizing of library and archival sources so integral to this scientific mission? This article highlights eight women working in the Bureau of American Ethnology library and archives in the early 20th century, including head librarians and archivists Jesse Thomas, Ella Leary, Miriam Ketchum, Carol Jopling, Mae Tucker, and Margaret Blaker, as well as library assistants Louvenia Russell and Ella Slaughter, who were classified as laborers but also conducted library work for the Bureau. We suggest that each of these women served as “glass shoulders,” creating an administrative and scholarly infrastructure that enabled the work of others, even as they advocated for their own value within the Bureau and the wider museum structure. In focusing on how librarians and archivists care for museum collections, we also examine how their work remains almost invisible in museum circles. Telling these stories enables us to honor the work of librarians and archivists in creating and curating museum histories, and to consider how this labor and expertise can be recognized and highlighted.

Art Museum Exhibitions in the Library

Joana Stillwell — 2024-06-20

Typically, museums are seen as the primary venue for exhibitions. However, an interest in library exhibitions has been growing as indicated by increased literature in the library field, albeit with a large focus on academic libraries. On a broader scale, library exhibitions continue to be under-researched as indicated by the continuing lack of library exhibition evaluation standards, library exhibition reviews, and exhibition-related professional training for librarians. In this 2021 study, interviews were conducted at eight Washington, DC-based art museum libraries: The National Gallery of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The American Art and Portrait Gallery, The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The National Museum of African Art, The Phillips Collection, and the George Washington University Textile Museum. This paper is an examination of the current state of exhibitions in art museum libraries and aims to establish a set of best practices to help foster the production of art museum library exhibitions.

Guest Editorial: Embedded Libraries and Archives in Museums

Anne Evenhaugen — 2024-06-20