Draft workflow - December 2021
Use in conjunction with our Art Book Cataloging workflow for now.
“Books that are produced by artists and intended as visual art objects.”--Library of Congress Genre/Form Headings
“Books, whether unique items or multiples, made or conceived by artists, including commercial
publications (usually in limited editions), as well as unique items formed or arranged by the
artist.”--Getty Research Institute
“An artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of “book” as inspiration. It is the artistic initiative seen in the illustration, choice of materials, creation process, layout and design that makes it an art object.” --Anne Evenhaugen, What is an artist’s book? (Unbound (Smithsonian), June 1, 2012).
“Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.”--Wikipedia, accessed November 30, 2021.
“The field of artists’ books includes work that spans the full spectrum of cultural objects, handmade originals, calligraphic and typographic experimentation, conceptual productions, and works produced in the traditions of fine printing and independent publishing.”--Rare Books School, accessed November 30, 2021.
“Artists' books are books made or conceived by artists. There are fine artists who make books and book artists who produce work exclusively in that medium, as well as illustrators, typographers, writers, poets, book binders, printers and many others who work collaboratively or alone to produce artists' books. Many artists' books are self-published, or are produced by small presses or by artists' groups or collectives, usually in limited editions.”--Victoria and Albert Museum, Artists' Books.
Whether or not item does or doesn’t match the above, catalog according to the artist’s intention: if an artist states that the item is an Artist’s Book, then it is an Artist’s Book.
See also our attempt to further pin Artists' Books (and their near relatives) below (Artist’s book, Private press, Small press, or Livre d’artiste?)
The item’s primary content is textual (or wordless with relatively flat pictures)
The item’s format is that of a “regular” book (has page(s) of some kind)
The item’s primary content is non-textual
The item is a deck of cards, kit, 3D object, or other non-book format
Use cataloger’s judgment
Also, don’t completely redo another catalogers judgement in format when copy cataloging
N7433.4.A-Z (Special artists), A-Z
Under each artist:
.xA7-.xZ6 Individual artists' books. By title, A-Z
or N7433.3 (general works) for several artists working together or artist unknown?
Common relationship designators include:
Work-level:
$e book artist
$e artist
$e author
Manifestation-level:
$e engraver
$e lithographer
$e papermaker
$e printer
$e publisher
Item-level:
$e binder
250 Special deluxe edition.
Artists' books can be difficult to describe concisely, especially more the more unusual items. The unusual aspects of the Artist’s book can be obscured by brief 300’s. So, give lots of detail in the 500 Artefactual details notes (see below). Often dealer’s websites or publisher’s description sheets are a useful source for 500 artefactual notes which can be quoted in full or part.
Specific example:
245 10 Biosphere.
300 1 volume (unpaged) ; ǂc 12 x 9 x 3 cm + ǂe 4 sphere books + custom box (24 x 11 x 6 cm)
500 "Box divided into two sections by wooden piece. Sections contain coptic bound book on left side and four wooden spheres with accordion books on right side ... Spheres measure 1.5" diameter with each a different color. Each sphere is halved to contain an accordion structure book and has a magnetic closure"--Vamp & Tramp website, viewed on September 30, 2019.
Add more 33x terms for other formats, as needed. In many cases text is minimal and the content is driven more by the illustrations. And other types might be enclosed such as sound or video discs.
Specific example:
245 10 Celsius 233 / ǂc Philip Zimmermann.
300 40 unnumbered pages : ǂb illustrations, ǂc 17 x 23 cm ǂe 1 Blu-ray HD DVD in box.
336 text ǂb txt ǂ2 rdacontent
336 still image ǂb sti ǂ2 rdacontent
336 two-dimensional moving image ǂb tdi ǂ2 rdacontent
337 unmediated ǂb n ǂ2 rdamedia
337 video ǂb v ǂ2 rdamedia
338 volume ǂb nc ǂ2 rdacarrier
338 video disc ǂb vd ǂ2 rdacarrier
500 "[H]andbound using a multi-needle coptic stitch with sewn-on hard covers made of acid-free solid-core black museum board. The paper is acid-free Pop-Tone French Paper. The images are printed using archival inkjet ink with three-color foil stamping on the cover, the title page and back cover. The interior flame sheets are loose-inserted in a slot in each interior folio. It is printed in a signed and numbered edition of 50 and comes in an acid-free phase box. A DVD is included with a one-channel video that can be used to create a viewing environment"--Publication information sheet
Often dealer’s websites or publisher’s description sheets are a useful source for 500 artefactual notes which can be quoted in full or part. But briefer notes may be all that is needed.
500 Leaves bound together with brass wire.
500 Printed on double leaves; sewn to boards
500 One-of-a-kind artist’s book.
500 Drum-leaf binding.
Specific example:
245 10 Spring opens the mountain green : ǂb a poem for Yosemite ; with a quote by John Muir / ǂc Peter and Donna Thomas.
500 One-of-a-kind artist’s book.
500 Four original watercolor paintings of named locations in Yosemite on handmade paper, mounted on double leaves, accompanied by text or maps on alternating leaves. Lettering in black, with illumination in blue and green.
500 Nested double-leaved accordion-fold book; endpapers attached to bound covers, double leaves not attached to spine; marbled paper strips woven into page edges. Covers bound in brown leather with colored leather inlays depicting mountain landscape, front and back. Issued in blue-grey paper-covered clamshell box with watercolor title label mounted on top.
500 “Limited edition of 50 copies, signed by artist.”–Colophon.
500 Sphere books signed and dated. Coptic bound book signed and numbered by the artist.
590 Utah State University Library has number #
590 Library has copy 26.
590 Utah State University Library has number 12/20; library’s copy not dated.
590 Utah State University Special Collections and Archives has number 12. ←for SCA items.
Artists books are produced by artists and intended as visual art objects; they often play with the form or idea of a book.
Small press are put out by a small press and finely produced (handmade paper, etc.) with runs of less than 500 (but can at same time be an Artist’s book)
Private press is a “guy in a garage” (but can also be used to produce an Artist’s book)
Privately printed is something printed for an individual (old rare books, not usually a 20th century thing).
Livre d’artiste is an overlapping term for books containing collections of original works of art, usually printed directly from a source created by the artist themselves, rather than from a source that was created by a technician from the artist's design. Originated in France around the turn of the 20th century.
However: if an artist states that the item is an Artist’s Book, then catalog it as an Artist’s Book
When using LCSH to describe what the item is, always follow the a genre term by Specimens to distinguish it from a book on the topic of a term.
650 0 Letterpress printing |z United States |v Specimens.
650 0 Paper, Handmade |z United States |v Specimens.
650 0 Fine bindings |z United States |v Specimens.
650 0 Toy and movable books |v Specimens.
RBMS Rare Books Thesaurus (often used in SCA) https://rbms.info/vocabularies/index.shtml
When using RBMS terms, use the individual thesaurus as a parenthetical (except for RBMS genre):
Accordion fold format (Binding) ǂ2 rbbin
Bark papers (Paper) ǂ2 rbpap
Art and Architecture Thesaurus https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/aat/
Library of Congress Genre and Format Terms (available in Classification Web) https://classweb.org/ or in OCLC authority files (sca ge: artists' books)
In practice, prefer lcgft for non-SCA items, unless the term does not exist in there.
The genre Artists' books can be found in many thesauri
655 7 Artists’ books. |2 lcgft ←Preferred for non-SCA artists books
655 7 Artists' books. |2 rbgenr ← RBMS Thesaurus genre term (no parenthetical qualifier for genre)
655 7 Artists' books (books) |2 aat ← Art and Architecture Thesaurus term (capitalize 1st letter)
There’s no need for three identical 655 fields for the same term, but we can include similar 650/655 combos in the same record. Also, we leave in all OCLC fast subject headings even though they duplicate the 650 text:
650 0 Artists' books |v Specimens.
650 7 Artists' books. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst00817660
655 7 Specimens. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst01423861
655 7 Artists' books |y 20th century. |2 lcgft
Consider adding a geographical and/or time subdivision to a 650 Genre heading, as well (if known):
650 0 Artists' books |z United States |y 21st century |v Specimens.
Feel free to add more narrowly defined terms. And, if familiar with the Rare Books genre/form terms, to add them also, or Art and Architecture Thesaurus, if that is the only list that has the needed term.
655 7 Broadsides (Posters) |y 20th century. |2 lcgft
655 7 Accordion fold format (Binding) |z United States |y 20th century. |2 rbbin
655 7 Private press books (Publishing) |z United States |y 20th century. |2 rbpub
655 7 Livres d’artistes |2 rbgenr
655 7 Coptic bindings (Binding) ǂz United States ǂy 20th century. ǂ2 rbbin
655 7 Conceptual art (general art genre) ǂ2 aat
The name of the producer of the Artists book is useful to add to records, if missing. Sometimes it is difficult to find. If there is no publisher information on or with the item, check the title in dealer’s catalogs; they will often have the publisher/press and other useful details listed.
710 2 Midnight Moon Press, |e publisher. ← check authority record for form, if available
Art Book Room | ABR Oversize | ABR Case | ABR Case Oversize |
MERRILL ArtBkRm | MERRILL ArtBkRm OV | MERRILL ArtBkRm Case | MERRILL ArtBkRm Case OV |
(location = iab) | (location = iabov) | (location = ialoc) | (location=ialoc, add item note) |
949 N 7433.4 .call number ǂi barcode ǂl iab ǂt 6 ← Basic ABR 949 field
949 N 7433.4 .call number ǂi barcode ǂl iabov ǂt 6 ← ABR oversize
949 N 7433.4 .call number ǂi barcode ǂl ialoc ǂt 6 ← ABR case and ABR case oversize
907 .bnumber
See 909 full guide here: 909 MARC field - Statistics
OCLC Connexion Client
909 [NAME] ǂb [YYYY-MM-DD] ǂc COPY or ORIGINAL ǂd CMS STATS ǂe ISSUE: [SHELF READY FIX, UPGRADED OCLC, 505 ADDED, 520 ADDED] ǂz [NOTES]
Sierra:
909 [NAME]|b[YYYY-MM-DD]|cEDIT|dCMS STATS|eISSUE: [SHELF READY FIX, UPGRADED OCLC, 505 ADDED, 520 ADDED]|z[NOTES]
Examples
909 John Smith ǂb 2021-09-12 ǂc COPY ǂd CMS STATS Z ← OCLC Connexion copy cataloging
909 Jane Doe|b2021-10-03|cEDIT|dCMS STATS|eISSUE: 520 ADDED ← Sierra Bib Record Edit
Lewis, N., McCormack, A., Skeen, B., Wiederhold, R. (2019, May 15). Beyond Books: Cataloging Special
Format Items [Pre-conference training workshop]. Utah Library Association Annual Conference, Sandy, UT
USU Digital Commons copy here: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1143&context=lib_present – see slides 36-66 for Cataloging Artists’ Books by Allison McCormack.
Opening Artists' Books to the User: an example with potential approaches / Ann K.D. Myers and William Andrews Myers, 2014.
Cataloging Artists Books / Nina Schneider. 47th Annual RBMS PreConference, June 21, 2006. Still useful; downloadable PDF here: https://ninaschneider.com/Nina-Schneider-Cataloging-Artists-Books.pdf and online version here: https://ninaschneider.com/presentation.html
Artists' books : a cataloguers' manual / by Maria White, Patrick Perratt and Liz Lawes ; on behalf of ARLIS/UK & Ireland Cataloguing and Classification Committee. London : ARLIS/UK and Ireland, 2006/reprinted 2012. In print only. Dated (no RDA), but still has a practices to adapt.