The New Art Museum Library addresses the issues facing today's art museum libraries through a series of scholarly essays written by top librarians in the field. In 2007, the publication, Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, edited by Joan Benedetti, was the first to solely focus on the field of art museum librarianship. In the decade since then, many changes have occurred in the field--both technological and ideological--prompting the need for a follow-up publication. In addition to representing current thinking and practice, this new publication also addresses the need to clearly articulate and define the art museum library's value within its institution. It documents the broad changes in the environment that art museum libraries now function within and to celebrate the many innovative initiatives that are flourishing in this new landscape. Librarians working in art museum face unique challenges as museums redefine what object-based, visitor-centric learning looks like in the 21st century. These unique challenges mean that art museum libraries are developing new strategies and initiatives so that they can continue to thrive in this environment. The unique nature of these initiatives mean that they will be useful to librarians working in a wide range of special libraries, as well as more broadly in academic and public libraries. The New Art Museum Library is uniquely positioned to present new strategies and initiatives including digital art history initiatives, the new norms in art museum library staffing, and the public programing priorities that are core to many art museum libraries today. This book is an endorsed project of ARLIS/NA.
About the Author: Amelia Nelson is the head of library and archives at the Spencer Art Reference Library in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. With a background in public services, information literacy, and digital initiatives she has published and presented on innovative topics like using VTS in information literacy classes and local artists' files in contemporary art classes. In her own professional practice she believes in creating innovative projects that can be replicated and adapted to fit the needs of art libraries across the country. She is inspired by the innovative work that art libraries and archives have done to share unique resources in this rich information landscape and happy that these projects and initiatives can be shared with practitioners and those considering a career in art librarianship. Traci E. Timmons is senior librarian at the Seattle Art Museum. In this role she manages all aspects of running two research libraries and a satellite library for the largest art museum in the Pacific Northwest: personnel management, acquisitions, cataloging, reference, research, digital collection development, maintaining and processing archives, artist files management, collection development, and grant writing. She has published on such diverse topics as early-printed books, special collections, artists' books, classification theory, and user experience. She is passionate about the field of art librarianship, and specifically about its application in museums.