Classification Systems Used in the Library. Photograph Classification
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M'"^ A i T*T/ **7 fyxntll Itafomttg |fitatg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1891 v The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this bookook copyCopy the callcal No. and give to tile— libnlibrarian." HOME USE RULES. All Books subject to Recall. Books not used for instruction or research S8J*'l* are returnable within 4 'weeks. Volumes of periodi- - cals and of namphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special purposes they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for tfie ben e- fit of other perrons. Books not needed during recess periods should be returned to the library, or arrange- ments made for their return during borrow- er's absence, if wanted. Books | needed by. more than one person are held on the reserve list. , Books of special .value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to report all cases of books marked or muti- lated. Do not deface books by marks and writing. Universl, 2697.A7 NaT v Li°rary olin <? . v f— r- c Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031032893 THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS ^ ^-tUSED IN v :S : ~k .i i THE LIBRARY •' -„'• • * ' M C M X I CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS USED IN THE LIBRARY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS USED IN THE LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPH CLASSIFICATION BY ETHEL A. PENNELL BOOK CLASSIFICATION BY LUCIE E. WALLACE NEW YORK M C M X I T M / (\,ih 2.-^-00 COPYRIGHT BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART JANUARY, I9I2 THIS pamphlet is issued by the Trustees of the Metropoli- tan Museum of Art in response to many inquiries which have been received as to the system followed in the ar- rangement and cataloguing of the books and photographs in the library of the Museum. To the two authors belongs the credit of having worked out, each in her respective department, the method of classification which is set forth in the following pages, and which has successfully stood the test of an experience that has included rapid growth, the transference of books and photographs from small, cramped quarters to the ample space provided in our new library, and a constantly increasing use on the part of students and other visitors. Edward Robinson, Director. December, ign. TABLE OF CONTENTS Classification for Photographs PAGE Introduction 3 Tables 21 Index 27 Classification for Books Introduction 33 Tables 35 Index 95 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Labels 5 Cases. Showing storage of photographs opposite 6 Cases for Photographs. Drawing showing construction 7 Facsimiles of Cards 9_I 4 CLASSIFICATION FOR PHOTOGRAPHS INTRODUCTION Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art contains THEa collection of photographs of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting, and of all creative work that may be included under the term Minor Arts, or Decorative Arts. The collection had already grown beyond the number of 15,000, and was being used by a variety of art students, archaeologists, connoisseurs, collectors, and craftsmen, when the work of classification and cata- loguing was commenced. Several librarians and collections of photo- graphs were consulted, and each system of classification was found to differ from every other according to the class of students that used the photographs. In view of the breadth of this collection, and the wide range of students that were likely to consult it, the need became increasingly evident of a classification that should be logical and con- sistent, simple and easy of application, and entirely comprehensible to anyone who should use the photographs for any purpose. It was to satisfy these requirements that this classification was arranged, and it is now published, together with notes on cataloguing and all other points connected with the handling of photographs, in the hope that it may prove useful to the growing number of art librarians and teach- ers who desire help and information, many of whom have sought such help at the Metropolitan Museum. The more important steps in the care of photographs are taken up in the order in which they naturally follow one another, the explana- tion of the Classification being placed at the end of the Introduction. Purchasing The majority of the photographs in this collection have been pur- chased of the foreign dealers in person, not ordered by mail. Valua- ble notes on this subject and on the mounting of photographs will be found in the preface of a pamphlet entitled List of Photograph Deal- 3 4 introduction: photographs of ers, compiled by Miss Etheldred Abbot (1907). and obtainable Miss Hooper, Librarian of the Public Library of Brookline, Mass. Accessioning All photographs are accessioned before they are mounted, in large books that contain 5000 entries each. Every left-hand page is num- bered for forty photographs, and the items are entered under these headings, running across both pages: Accession No., Class, Artist, Subject, Original in, Photographer and Number, Process (i.e., kind of print), Size of Print, Size of Mount, Cost of Print, Cost of Mount, Source (gift or purchase), Where obtained. Remarks. The ac- cession number is written in pencil on the back of the photograph, whence it is transferred by the mounter to the mount. It is then written in ink on the paper label after it is pasted on the mount (see below), and on the back of the main catalogue card (p. 9). Each lot of photographs should be accessioned as soon as possible after it is received, and the date of accessioning noted in the extreme left-hand margin of the page. Experience has shown that it is more practicable to keep accounts of expenditures for photographs and mounting in a separate book, in which the itemized bills may be entered entire, rather than in the Accession Book. Mounting # Notes on mounting will be found in the pamphlet referred to above (p. 3). All mounting for this collection has been done with entire satisfaction by the Rose Bindery of Boston, Mass. Dark mounts, known as stone gray and steel gray, have been used in prefer- ence to the light gray, as they harmonize better with the tones of the photographs and are less easily soiled. For some of the larger carbon prints, brown mounts have been chosen. It is of the greatest impor- tance that the mounting should be well done in order to prevent warp- ing, and that the mounts should be light in weight, thin, and flexible, yet tough. Labeling The photographer's label is removed from the print in most cases before mounting, as it is often inaccurate and always unsightly. This fact and the dark color of the mount, which makes writing on it illeg- ible, necessitate the pasting of a white paper label on the back of each mount, in the upper right-hand corner. The following forms were adopted, (1) for Architecture, (2) for Sculpture and Painting, (3) for the Minor Arts. The labels measure 2% x 3M inches. The paper of the labels is thin, and the paste (Higgins' Photo Mounter) is applied as lightly and as dry as possible to prevent its curling the mount. (0 PLACE SUBJECT 6 introduction: photographs The blank lines of the label are filled in with information necessary to identify the photograph. In the case of this collection, where the photographs had to be labeled and stacked for use before they could be catalogued, brief information taken from the Accession Book was written in pencil on the labels, and a tentative class and division number assigned. After each photograph is catalogued and finally classified, information corresponding with the catalogue card is written in ink. Stacking The photographs are stacked in oak cases especially designed for this collection. As will be seen from the illustrations, a case has one vertical partition and three horizontal shelves. Each of these six divisions has its own door, which opens downward to the horizontal and provides a shelf upon which to draw out the photographs. In each division are upright partitions forming fifteen compartments, with a card holder above each one and a card indicating briefly the contents of the compartment. These card holders are of brass, and are attached to the outside of the shelf doors in such a way that the con- tents of a compartment can be read before as well as after the shelf door has been opened. That is, the card holders for one shelf are placed on the lower part of the door of the shelf above it, the upper row being placed on the case itself, beneajh the top moulding. Each door is held firmly in place, when closed, by a steel bar that slides through its upper edge into sockets in the case at either end, and is operated by a knob in the centre of the upper panel of the door. One compartment easily holds from 45 to 50 photographs, so that the capacity of the whole case is between 4000 and 4500, there being 90 compartments in a case. These cases hold the three smaller sizes of mounts, 11 x 14, 14 x 18, and 18x22 inches. The photographs are stacked like books; that is, they stand on end and the class numbers read from left to right, the photographs facing to the right so that the class numbers are easily seen on the white labels in the upper right- hand corner of the back, as above noted.