Institutional Sources Study Project

Institutional Sources Study Project

Project potential

From its list of 630+ museums in the Art Museum, Gallery and Art Center index, Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) searched via Google Books in 2008 and 2009 for catalogues published by the following sample of museums to provide an indication of the potential for this project. Each museum name is followed by a count of selected catalogues with a topic of American representational art and a count of related essays published in Resource Library. Many of the sample museums have published catalogues of interest that are not listed via Google Books based on Resource Library cross-checking of museum sub-index pages. In some instances, Resource Library has published essays from books not listed via Google Books.

Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy 31 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Akron Art Museum 5 / 1 -- 7/9/08:

Albany (NY) Institute of History and Art 17 / 0 -- 7/9/08:

Albany (GA) Museum of Art 6 / 0 -- 7/13/08:

Allentown Art Museum 23 / 3 ongoing

Amon Carter Museum 11 / 0 -- 5/16/08 and 7/7/08

Anniston Museum of Natural History 0/0 -- 12/15/08:

ASU Art Museum 4/1

Arkansas Arts Center 16 / 0 -- 7/18/08

Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center 3 / 0

Arnot Art Museum 87 / 1 -- 7/9/08

Berman Museum of World History 0/0 -- 12/15/08:

Biggs Museum of American Art 2 / 0

Birmingham Museum of Art 13 / 1 -- 7/9/08

Booth Western Art Museum 0 / 0

Boston Athenæum 5 / 0

Brandywine River Museum 37 / 2 -- 7/7/08:

Brigham Young University Museum of Art 1 / 0

Buffalo Bill Historical Center 23 / 0 -- 5/16/08

Butler Institute of American Art 29 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Cahoon Museum of American Art 2 / 1

Center for Creative Photography - University of Arizona 21/0 -- 1/26/09

Crocker Art Museum 18 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Currier Museum of Art 19 / 0 -- 8/28/09

Desert Caballeros Western Museum 3/2 -- 1/12/09:

Detroit Institute of Arts 15/0 -- 3/26/08

Ella Sharp Museum 0/0 -- 12/10/08

Erie Art Museum 10 / 2 -- 7/7/08

Flint Institute of Arts 15/1 -- 3/26/08

Florence Griswold Museum 21 / 3 -- 8/6/09:

Gadsden Museum of Arts 0/0 -- 12/15/08:

Georgia Museum of Art 61 / 11 -- 7/7/08

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum 5 / 0

Gilcrease Museum 29 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Grand Rapids Art Museum 11/1 -- 3/26/08

Heard Museum 16/0 -- 1/26/09

Hickory Museum of Art 9/3 -- 12/15/08

Hudson River Museum 32 / 0 This museum is offering Full View books via Google Book

Huntsville Museum of Art 9/0 -- 12/15/08:

Irvine Museum 5 / 8 ongoing

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts 11 / 0 -- 7/7/08

Krasl Art Center 0/0 -- 12/10/08:

Michigan State University Museum 20/0 -- 12/10/08

Minnesota Museum of American Art 3 / 0

Mobile Museum of Art 3/0 -- 12/15/08

Montclair Art Museum 36 / 3 -- 7/7/08

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts 16/0 -- 12/15/08:

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture 2/0 -- 8/30/09

Museum of International Folk Art 6/0 -- 8/30/09

Museum of Nebraska Art 9/1 -- 1/12/09:

Museum of Northern Arizona 15/0 -- 1/12/09:

Muskegon Museum of Art 3/0 -- 3/26/08:

New Britain Museum of American Art 21 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

New Mexico Museum of Art 11/0 -- 8/30/09

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 31 / 0 -- 6/3/09

Phippen Museum 2/0 -- 1/12/09:

Phoenix Art Museum 19/0 -- 1/26/09:

Reynolda House Museum of American Art 5 / 0

Saginaw Art Museum 2/0 -- 3/2608:

Sheldon Museum of Art 11 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art 16 / 0 -- 7/7/08:

Stark Museum of Art 8 / 3 -- 7/7/08

Terra Museum of American Art 8/0 -- 8/30/09

Tubac Center of the Arts 1/0 -- 1/26/09:

Tucson Museum of Art 4/0 -- 1/26/09:

University of Arizona Museum of Art 10/0 -- 1/12/09:

University of Michigan Museum of Art 4/0 -- 3/26//08

West Bend Art Museum (now Museum of Wisconsin Art) 10/3 -- 12/5/08:

Westmoreland Museum of American Art 5 /1

Wiregrass Museum of Art 0/0 -- 12/15/08:

2009 Analysis:

Selected catalogues of interest with a topic of American representational art from the above list = 903

Texts published in Resource Library from the above list: 52, or texts from 6% of the identified catalogues.

Clicking on each museum's name enabled viewers to see the list of catalogues for the museum. Essays within listed catalogues may be copyrighted by the publisher or by others. Catalogue names followed by links to related essays published by Resource Library are a marker to prevent reduplication of effort.

The above Google Books-identified catalogues from the 68 museums listed above equals 13 average catalogues per museum. The average of 13 related catalogues per museum times TFAO's list of 630 museums suggests as many as 8,190 potential catalogues containing essays of interest, with some catalogues having multiple essays. Since Google Books has not listed some catalogues from the sample museums, the above computation of potential catalogues is probably less than the actual number of their potential catalogues.

The above list of museums includes those identified by TFAO to have a strong focus on American art. Many other museums are less likely to have the same level of publishing of related catalogues. Many museums within the TFAO list of 630 museums are smaller civic museums. Often these museums do not publish catalogues or rarely publish them. Museums with books in print are usually unwilling for essays in them to be published online for free viewing. Taking these limiting factors into consideration, perhaps there are less than 1,000 to 2,000 catalogues for which TFAO could gain permissions for online publishing.

Texts already published online by museums need not be re-published online by TFAO. See Online Museum Catalogues, Brochures and Gallery Guides for a listing of museums offering free online viewing of either whole catalogues or exhibition-related texts from them.

An addition to catalogues from museums, there are many catalogues with scholarly essays published by commercial galleries. Many of these essays have been re-published online in Resource Library, yet many more are potential candidates.

To the extent that museums in the future offer online free reading of their catalogues in whole or part, the need for TFAO to publish texts from them diminishes. Institutions besides TFAO will likely develop technology, models and funding to expedite placement of whole catalogues or portions of them online for free viewing.

See the Author Study and Index for a count of texts by named authors that have been published in Resource Library. Most of these texts relate to exhibitions held at American art museums. Some essays are from commercial galleries and other sources. The above small informal sample of museums is not large enough to derive an accurate estimate of total project potential, yet it does indicate substantial opportunity.

For information on an alternate solution please click here for TFAO's grant program for conversion of analog text to digital files and online publication of scholarly texts.

Please click here to return to the Institutional Sources Study Project.

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

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