Designers, Digitisation etc., Cataloguing, Databases, unhiding the hidden

[Denis Salter]

Dear colleagues: I thought I would pass this along since it bears on issues
that we face.

Denis.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Finelli, Patrick" <finelli at ARTS.USF.EDU>
To: <ASTR-L at listserv.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 4:28 PM
Subject: FW: SIBMAS note


> This is a continuation of the thread pertaining to the idea of
constructing
> a detailed database of theatre designs and designers.  As Nena Couch has
> indicated, "the Gerald Kahan collection at OSU's Theatre Research
Institute
> has almost 400 designs by 100 designers, and that is just one collection.
> Ohio State is working towards creating an inventory of several thousand
> designs available online at the level of the individual piece rather than
a
> collection level." However, as she suggests, "not all repositories will
have
> that capacity or interest."
>
> It seems that this issue is raised periodically, but nothing much comes of
> it.  Many of us might agree that perhaps now is the time to reconsider the
> idea of constructing a database of designs and designers since the
> technology is readily available and ideally suited as indicated in the
> SIBMAS directory.  The challenge is in uncovering the "gems" in the
holdings
> and finding a way to annotate the general SIBMAS database to the benefit
of
> researchers and scholars.
>
> Mary C. Henderson, author of a beautiful new book on Jo Mielziner,
mentioned
> that she has discovered "hidden treasures" at various collections
throughout
> the country:  "For instance, the Tobin Collection at the McNay Museum has
> hundreds of drawings by R. E. Jones and there may also be some at Wesleyan
> Univ. in Connecticut.  Very few major collections have complete archives
of
> particular designers, so it will be a job to ferret out what the
collections
> have. The Morgan Library has many Oenslagers, but so does the Museum of
the
> City of New York and Harvard."
>
> Mary asks, "What are we looking for?  What is our purpose?  Are we
> identifying only archives or examples of artists' work in all of the
> collections?  What are
> the specific parameters? Are we going to include private collectors?"  She
> knows several collectors in New York with significant holdings and
indicates
> that Oliver Smith's collection is mostly in the hands of one person.
>
> A fellowship for a graduate student might be one good way to at least
start
> the process and provide more detailed access to holdings. As Nena Couch
> suggests, "if a core database could be developed, perhaps it could become
a
> design registry that institutions, if not private owners, would be able to
> contribute to as designs are acquired."  This process will not be easy.
The
> ideal fellowship candidate will have a good historical design background
and
> some knowledge of significant collections around the country.  It will
take
> some digging to go through the picture credits of books on design or
> designers.  I believe we can identify funding to initiate work on this
> project.
>