conversation 124654
Question by buzz@oregonlibraries.net on Tue, 11/11/2008 - 10:15am
Is there an institution in Portland, or even Oregon in general, that circulates artwork in the same manner that the library circulates books?
anonymous: Hi, librarian.
librarian: Hi anonymous!
librarian: You asked if there's a lending library of artwork in Portland -- what a great question!
anonymous: Exactly! Does such a thing exist?
librarian: I'm actually not sure if there is one or not, but I can think of a few places to look.
librarian: do you have a minute for me to check?
anonymous: Yep!
librarian: okay, i'll just be a sec :)
anonymous: Thank you so much. :)
librarian: Okay, I'm back. . .
librarian: I didn't find a library that says they lend artworks, but
librarian: there are several libraries in portland that focus on art as their main subject. . .
librarian: and one of them might know of a good resource.
anonymous: Okay, can you link me up?
librarian: yep!
librarian: first, there are the art school libraries.
anonymous: So, maybe OCAC?
anonymous: I know there are more schools than that in Portland, but that's all I can think of.
librarian: Pacific Northwest College of Art http://library.pnca.edu/ , Oregon College of Art and Craft http://www.ocac.edu/#/about-ocac/campus/library/libcollections/ , and the Art Institute of Portland http://www.artinstitutes.edu/portland/StudentLife/Library.aspx
librarian: then, there's the Portland Art Museum's library: http://www.pam.org/education/library/
librarian: and the library at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art http://www.pica.org/programs/resourceroom.aspx
librarian: I am pretty sure that none of those libraries lend materials at all, except to art students and faculty. But they might know of another place that lends art objects or prints.
librarian: Another possibility is the Independent Publishing Resource Center's library http://www.iprc.org/library.php
anonymous: Sorry, I missed what you just said because my backspace key took me away from the page
librarian: The IPRC is a community center for independent publishers, but they do a lot of art-related work, so they might know of something
librarian: sorry, I said that another possibility is the Independent Publishing Resource Center's library http://www.iprc.org/library.php
librarian: might be helpful too.
anonymous: Okay.
anonymous: it seems like such a thing would be undertaken on a very small scale
librarian: yes, i think so.
librarian: A loooong time ago (like 20 years ago)
librarian: you could check out art prints from the public library -- but no longer, sadly.
librarian: Oh, i thought of something else, though!
librarian: (can't believe this didn't occur to me right away!)
anonymous: Well, in the interest of full disclosure
librarian: if you are interested in smaller prints, or in images generally, Multnomah County Library does have
anonymous: I work in a library, at Linfield college.
librarian: ah!
anonymous: When I brought this topic up at a meeting, soembody said something similar
librarian: it's nice to hear from a colleague!
anonymous: that they remembered libraries checking out prints
anonymous: but as for circulating original artwork?
librarian: I was going to say that Multnomah County Library does have a clippings file,
librarian: like a vertical file but for images
anonymous: clippings file! okay, that's interesting
librarian: mostly cut from magazines, discarded books, and that sort of thing.
librarian: it is very under-advertised -- it's not in the catalog
librarian: but there is some information about it on the library's webpage, in the section about zines
librarian: (because zinesters use picture clippings a lot)
anonymous: interesting, see, I've never even heard of a clippings file
librarian: let me find the link, hang on
librarian: the picture file is described in the second paragraph
anonymous: interesting, patrons can even check the clippings out.
librarian: yes. it's pretty cool.
anonymous: how are the clippings catalogued?
librarian: better for some subjects than others, though.
librarian: they are cataloged using a subject system created here at the library over the years as the file has evolved.
librarian: it's a little esoteric.
anonymous: ah, that must be the reason they aren't in the main catalog
librarian: actually they're not exactly cataloged, they're *classed* using a system developed here at the library (to be more libraryishly precise!)
librarian: ;)
anonymous: :)
anonymous: okay.
anonymous: this is the starting point i was looking for.
librarian: great!
librarian: is there anything else i can help you with?
anonymous: librarian, thanks tons, this chat thing far exceeded my expectations.
librarian: awesome!
librarian: i'm glad to hear that :)
anonymous: no, I think that's it, but
anonymous: it said the system would automagically e-mail the transcript?
librarian: yes, it should go to you at whatever email you entered in at the begining.
anonymous: awesome.
anonymous: Well, thanks librarian, and I hope you have a good day!
librarian: you're welcome! and you have a great day too :)
anonymous: bye!
librarian: thanks for your question!
librarian: bye.
