Computerized Art Exhibition Catalog Program

Art cataloging: looking back in North America 1972-1982

“…In the early 1970s there was little Library of Congress (LC) copy available for exhibition catalogs. The items LC did catalog seemed capriciously chosen, and there were problems with main entries, access points and subject analysis/ 6 ' Most North American art libraries dispensed with AACR when it came to exhibition catalogs, preferring streamlined in-house techniques to organise this material/ 7^ The most innovative approach was developed at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where exhibition catalogs were indexed on-line.® These home-grown systems were quicker and easier to use than AACR; clerical workers, student assistants and volunteers could process large numbers of the catalogs at a lower per-unit cost. On the other hand, since every library had its own approach, there were no economies through shared cataloging.…”