College and Research Libraries


By R U T H E. S C H O N E M A N 

The Union Catalog in the A r t Field 
Miss Schoneman is a cataloger in The Uni-
versity of Chicago Library. 

TH E S E R E M A R K S 1 are limited to a brief description, a partial comparison, of 
three union catalogs of art. 

As might be expected in projects of es-
sentially the same nature, they present 
points of similarity: in coverage, the in-
clusion of a selected group of libraries in 
a given city; in regard to method, the 
transcribing of cards by W . P . A . workers 
under the supervision of trained and ex-
perienced librarians; and particularly in 
respect to fundamental aim—the making 
of art books in the particular locale more 
easily available. T h e r e are also, however, 
certain points of divergence, especially in 
location, type, and use. 

In Baltimore a dictionary union catalog 
of art is flourishing at the Enoch P r a t t 
Free Library. T h i s catalog is designed 
for the field of fine arts and does not in-
clude related subjects. W . P . A . workers 
copied entries from the art sections of the 
shelflists of nine other libraries.2 T h e 
slips were coordinated ( t h a t is, entries 
from all libraries filed in one alphabet) 
and checked against the catalog of the 
P r a t t L i b r a r y ; if any edition of a particu-
lar title was in that library, the slip was 
discarded. ( T h i s method of handling 

1 Read b e f o r e a m e e t i n g of the College A r t As-
sociation in Chicago, J a n u a r y 29, 1941. 

2 J o h n s H o p k i n s U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , Goucher Col-
lege L i b r a r y , B a l t i m o r e M u s e u m of A r t , M a r y l a n d 
I n s t i t u t e L i b r a r y , W a l t e r s A r t Gallery, Peabody 
I n s t i t u t e L i b r a r y , F r i e n d s of A r t , M a r y l a n d Insti-
t u t e Atelier, a n d the Lucas Collection. 

SEPT EMBER, 1941 

editions seems strange; if an individual 
wishes the 193 5 edition of a work, he 
will not necessarily be content to use the 
1940 edition just because it is in the public 
library.) For the remainder, L . C . cards 
were ordered. W h e n these were not 
available, the main entry card with all 
tracing was copied from the catalog of the 
contributing library, entries were checked 
to conform to the Enoch P r a t t catalog, 
which follows L . C . practices, and cards 
were typed. For each item, main entry, 
subject, and title cards were filed in the 
public and art room catalogs of the P r a t t 
Library. T o the end of 1940 about forty 
thousand cards (twenty thousand in each 
catalog) for 5300 titles were filed. All 
copies of a title located were indicated on 
each card of the set. Full provision was 
made for the maintenance of the catalog: 
the cooperating libraries send to Enoch 
P r a t t each month copies of the main card, 
with tracing, for each art title newly re-
ceived or recataloged. Each year about 
300 titles are added by the method utilized 
for the first slips prepared by the W . P . A . 
workers—L.C. cards are ordered or catalog 
copy prepared for typing, entries checked, 
and the two sets of cards symbolized and 
filed. For the current additions no 
W . P . A . help is used except for the typing 
of cards. T h e other work, checking for 
duplicates, establishing entries, etc., is 
done by the cataloger who handles the 
art material for the P r a t t Library. 

T h e r e are two points which might be 

341 



raised in respect to this type of catalog: 
the expansion necessary in the catalog to 
accommodate twenty thousand additional 
cards, and the expense of purchasing two 
sets of L . C . cards for each title to be 
added, necessary authority work, typing 
headings, and filing. T h i s catalog is 
largely used by librarians for reference, 
interlibrary loan, and ordering purposes, 
and by the general public which, as word 
from Baltimore indicates, makes extensive 
use of the subject cards. T h e expansion 
and expense would thus seem to be fully 
justified. 

Philadelphia Catalog 

T h e r e was established at the Philadel-
phia Museum of A r t between 1934 and 
1937 a subject union catalog of art and 
such diverse but related fields as topo-
graphy and folklore. Cards in shelflists 
and under a selected group of subject 
headings in dictionary catalogs of nine-
teen libraries3 were transcribed by W . P . A . 
workers. About sixty thousand slips were 
written, of which two thirds were dis-
carded as duplicates as only one location 
of each title, that in the library nearest 
the Philadelphia Museum of A r t , was 
noted on the permanent card. ( W h y the 
slips were not coordinated and all copies 
of an entry noted on the one card it is 
difficult to say, unless the catalog was 
planned for use only by the museum staff 
and not outsiders.) T h e entries were as-
signed subject headings to conform to the 
practice of the museum library and added 
to that library's separate alphabetical sub-

3 W i l s t a c h Collection, J o h n G. J o h n s o n Collection, 
R o d i n M u s e u m , F r e e L i b r a r y of P h i l a d e l p h i a , 
Y a r n a l l L i b r a r y of St. C l e m e n t ' s C h u r c h , D i v i n i t y 
School of the P r o t e s t a n t Episcopal C h u r c h , D r o n s i e 
College, F r a n k l i n I n s t i t u t e , B r y n M a w r College, Ger-
man Society, H i s t o r i c a l Society of P e n n s y l v a n i a , Uni-
v e r s i t y of P e n n s y l v a n i a libraries, L i b r a r y C o m p a n y 
of P h i l a d e l p h i a , M e r c a n t i l e L i b r a r y , D r e x e l I n s t i t u t e 
of Technology, a n d P h i l a d e l p h i a M u s e u m School of 
I n d u s t r i a l A r t . 

342 COLL 

ject catalog. N o provision was made to 
maintain the catalog, and in effect it was 
abandoned in 1939. A t that time the 
museum library was moved, its catalog 
reorganized, an author and title catalog 
established, and the subject catalog elimi-
nated entirely. T h i s experience would 
seem to indicate that a subject union cata-
log without a main entry file is not prac-
ticable. T h e thought occurs that with 
the establishment of the Philadelphia Re-
gional Catalog in 1938 the subject catalog 
of art at the Philadelphia Museum of A r t 
Library might have come into full use-
fulness. 

T o be successful a union catalog must 
be used, and one may query whether this 
success is entirely a matter of chance. 
J u s t as with an art object the form must 
be suitable to the medium and both to the 
purpose, in regard to a union catalog the 
type must be suitable for the place and 
both be proper for the use planned. T h e 
union catalog of art in Baltimore fits this 
specification: made for the general public, 
it was wisely located in the public library 
and logically was of the type—diction-
ary—most familiar and helpful to that 
group of users. It is suggested that the 
abandonment of the subject catalog in 
Philadelphia may have been permitted be-
cause no particular group made extensive 
use of it. For what group was it planned? 
If for the general public, the location may 
have been at fault—thousands of public 
library patrons are hesitant to enter an art 
museum; if for the art scholar, the fault 
perhaps lay in the type—for him, the 
author catalog seems indicated rather than 
the subject approach. 

Chicago Catalog 

In planning the third of this group of 
union catalogs of art, the attempt was 

EGE AND RESEARCH ) L I B R A R I E S 



made to consider these three factors of 
place, type, and user. T h e now develop-
ing Union Catalog of A r t in Chicago4 is 
designed primarily for the art specialist; 
it is therefore to be a main entry catalog, 
since the most common question is expected 
to be: W h e r e in Chicago is which edition 
of this particular title? W o r k on this 
catalog is now in progress under the direc-
tion of an editor, library trained and with 
experience in an art library, appointed on 
a three-year grant from the Carnegie 
Corporation of N e w York. T h e editor 
has conferred with representatives of the 
cooperating libraries in order to define the 
scope of the catalog, which is to include 
fine arts and related fields, as archeology, 
art of the American Indian, book arts, 
costume, landscape gardening, numisma-
tics, and such theater arts as scenery and 
settings, costume, and make-up. A list 
of subject headings has been compiled, so 
that there will be drawn into a coherent 
pattern the various ramifications of the 
fields covered. T h e participating libraries 
are of different types, and therefore, as 
one might expect, a variation in approach 
is necessary for each. A f t e r surveys and 
discussions, the editor mapped out meth-
ods of procedure. For the W . P . A . 
workers these procedures are broken down 
to clearly stated work steps; this is done 
by the library-trained W . P . A . supervisor. 
Groups of workers are now engaged in 
transcribing cards in the catalogs and 
shelflists, coordinating the slips from the 
various libraries, and typing the perman-
ent cards. All copies and editions of a 
title located are to be indicated in the 
permanent catalog. 

4 A r t I n s t i t u t e of Chicago libraries, Chicago P u b l i c 
L i b r a r y , N e w b e r r y L i b r a r y , a n d U n i v e r s i t y of Chi-
cago L i b r a r i e s . 

Location of Chicago Catalog 

T h e catalog is to be housed on the 
University of Chicago campus, adjacent 
to the A r t Library. Scholars in Chicago 
and elsewhere are accustomed to call on 
the university libraries for reference aid 
and interlibrary loans. W i t h the estab-
lishment of the Union Catalog of A r t in 
Chicago on this campus, f u r t h e r reference 
assistance will be available, covering not 
only the university collections but also 
those of the cooperating libraries. In 
instances where materials may not be sent 
on interlibrary loan, the fully equipped 
microphotographic laboratory of the uni-
versity may be utilized, so that a negative 
or positive film of pages from a rare book 
in any of the cooperating libraries can be 
substituted for the volume itself. T h e 
service of the catalog, while primarily 
planned for the scholar, will at the same 
time be available to the general public 
through the participation of the Chicago 
Public Library, which will be able to re-
quest assistance for its patrons. 

T h e stress in these remarks has been on 
the aid to the user of the union catalog. 
Its service to the cooperating libraries, in 
disclosing unique titles so as to prevent 
unnecessary duplication, in giving in-
formation to catalog departments in re-
gard to anonymous and pseudonymous 
items, and so forth, is probably obvious. 
Cooperation typified by the union catalog, 
which will offer assistance to individuals 
and libraries, seems particularly important 
at this time. W h i l e European libraries 
are being destroyed or collections scat-
tered, and European book markets are 
practically closed, we must make available 
for their fullest use the collections in this 
country. 

SEPT EMBER, 1941 343