The Bulletin of Japan Art Documentation Society No. 3 (March 1994)
Editor-in-Chief : Hiroyuki HATANO
Editorial Board: Hatsuki NISHIO, Takeshi MIZUTANl
RESUMES
Some Issues in Data Management Systems in Museums and Libraries : Experiences in the Victoria & Albert Museum*
Jan van der WATEREN - No.3, p.3-11. 1994.
Trans. by Hiroko YOKOMIZO
* A translation from Mr. van der Wateren's lecture at the JADS 4th Lecture Meeting held at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo on March 23th, 1993.
RESUME : The lecturer surveyed the progress of automation in the V&A Museum. He focused attention on the methodology by which common data standards are being developed for use by different departments in the Museum and on the different requirements which are integrated in a core record, including mandatory elements. A broad overview of progress so far in the application of new technology across the Museum is given, including the automation of library practice as well as retroconversion of older catalogues. It finally describes the adoption of standards such as the Art and Architecture Thesaurus, (AAT), in the NAL.
The Art of Making Books*
Jan van der WATEREN - No.3, p.12-26. 1994.
Trans. by Setsuko NAKAMURA* A translation from Mr. van der Wateren's lecture at the JADS 5th Lecture Meeting held at the Maruzen Library of Books on Books, Tokyo on March 25th, 1993.
RESUME : In a lecture illustrated with 80 slides Mr. van der Wateren highlighted the development of book art as an important phenomenon in the making of books in the late 20th century. With examples from many countries he showed how books can be works of art in themselves and how this genre predominantly experiments with the traditional format of the book. He linked present examples with experiments earlier this century such as those of Sonia Delaunay and Mallarm*. He also pointed out that anxiety about the demise of the book is misplaced since what is happening is the mutation of the printed book and that the book has a very long history before the invention of printing.
Meanings of Mr. Jan van der Wateren's Visit to Japan
Hiroyuki HATANO - No.3, p.27-29. 1994.
RESUME : In March 1993, we could realize our wishes : invitation of Mr. Jan van der Wateren to Japan, and his two lectures. In one of the lectures, he talked about the case of a system built to link bibliographic data to artistic data in the Victoria & Albert Museum where he serves as its chief librarian. In the other lecture, he discussed the history of artists' books, which can be naturally read as books, and equally be seen as works of art. He developed this subject with detailed examples, from the standpoint of interrelation between history of books and works of art. Japanese people engaged in art documentation have not ever enjoyed any chance to take direct and clear advice on this theme from any overseas counterpart. In this meaning, his lectures have successfully clarified importance and brilliant sides of the task which most art documentalists have been reluctant to tackle with among a variety of their jobs. Thanks to Mr. Wateren, Japanese art documentation circles have come to recognize or reconfirm the implicit duty.
On the Study of History of Art in London
Kiyoshi TANABE - No.3, p.30-39. 1994.
RESUME : In this article, the author describes the present circumstances surrounding art historians in London where the author studied from September 1992 until April 1993. The article centers around the following two topics : information available at research institutions such as the libraries in Courtauld, Warburg, as well as at the British Library ; and the "CHArt Conference 1992," held on December 17 and 18, 1992 at Birkbeck College, the University of London.
Consideration of Media in the Field of Art Documentation
Itsuo OHKUBO - No.3, p.40-46. 1994.
RESUME : In the field of art documentation, media provide measures necessary to communicate and preserve visual information composed of colors and forms, as well as relevant textual information. The aim of this essay is to examine the aspects of media's functions in art documentation and to determine characteristics of various media. First, it points out the necessity of systematic comprehension of media through observing the relationship between images and language. Second, the birth and dissemination of visual information media are historically traced, and their influence on the social structure is examined in connection with the technological progress. The third part of this essay analyzes a variety of visual information media and describes the social change in which the duplication of the visual information has become more conspicuous than ever, thus making the distinction between "originals" and "copies" meaningless.
Notes on Overseas Art Libraries No. 3: Art Libraries in Barcelona
Hiroyuki HATANO - No.3, p.47-56. 1994.
RESUME : In August 1993, the IFLA annual conference was held in Barcelona. As in the case of the last conference, the author makes mention of the art libraries he visited during the conference. Before proceeding to this topic, the features of the IFLA conference will be summarized according to the activities of the IFLA Section of Art Libraries. The features include the well organized sessions of the satellite meeting, election of the new standing committee members and officers of the Section, new styles of the general session, renewed discussions of the education for art librarianship in this and future sessions. The author was fortunate to visit several art libraries of the museums, including the specific museums founded in commemoration of great artists such as Joan Miro and Antoni Tapies, and was deeply impressed with their high quality and full openness to the public. For further development of art documentation in Spain, extremely important roles are surely expected to be played by the General Library of Art History, and art librarians' group in Catalonia.
Report on Survey Results Concerning Collection of Documents and Visual Resources in the Field of Art Documentation
Survey Committee of JADS, p.57-81. 1994.
RESUME : This article is to report results of a survey conducted in March 1993 by the Survey Committee(Masaharu Taneichi, Chairman and Akiko Sumihiro, Vice-Chairman) of the Japan Art Documentation Society. Information was gathered through a questionnaire sent out to 1,118 Japanese institutions that are presumed to maintain art documentation. In the questionnaire we have asked for information on their present state of art documentation, as well as on facilities, staff and budget currently available at each institution. Breakdown of the 333 institutions that provided valid answers is as follows : a) museums : 216, b) libraries and research institutions of art universities and colleges : 58, c) public libraries : 39, d) special libraries : 18, e) publishers and newspaper publishing companies : 2. Calculation and analysis was made based on the valid answers. A book compiled from answers provided by about 280 institutions which approved publication will be available separately.
Book Reviews:
Tatsuo KAMIO, Keiji OHTA, Hatsuki NISHIO, Takeshi MIZUTANI - No.3, p.82-86. 1994.
List of Articles on Art Documentaion in Japan 1993
comp. by JADS Clearinghouse - No.3, p.87-92. 1994.