Art: General Guidelines
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Princeton University Cataloging Documentation

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Art

General guidelines

Subjects
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  Architecture
  Art

  SCM memos

Special topics
  Art Catalogs
  Photography
  Individual works of art
  Architects & firms

NACO
  Artist names
  Church names

Reference sources

Glossaries
  French (doc)
  German (doc)
  Italian (doc)
  Spanish (doc)

Examples

ARLIS exhibition catalog best practices

General Guidelines - Princeton cataloging for art, architecture, and photography

1xx * 245 * 246 * 5xx * 6xx

1xx: Main Entry

Determining the main entry for an art book:

Artist as main entry?

If the book contains reproductions of the artist's works:

If the person who wrote the catalog is represented as the author of the book in the chief source of information, main entry is under the heading for the person who wrote the book.

  • Otherwise, enter the book under the heading for the artist.

If the book does not contain reproductions of the artist's works, apply the following in the order listed:

  • If the book emanates from the corporate body that owns all the works listed, enter it under the heading for the corporate body. If the person or persons who wrote the book is known, enter the name(s) according to AACR2.
  • If neither of the above is applicable, enter the catalog under its title.
Otherwise, enter it under the heading for the person who wrote the book if that person is represented as the author in the chief source of information.

If entry under the author of the text is not appropriate, enter under title.

Museum/Corporate body as main entry?

This happens only for books about the works of two or more artists if it meets all of the following conditions:

  • It emanates from a corporate body
  • All the works listed are held by the corporate body from which the catalog emanates (The presence of reproductions of the artists' works or text about the artists or artists' works is not a factor in choosing the main entry if the catalog meets the above criteria. If the catalog does not meet the criteria stated above, main entry will be the heading for the person who wrote the book or under title, as appropriate. )
For a catalog of an exhibition of the works of a single artist, the museum/corporate body can only be the main entry if the catalog does not contain reproductions of the artist's works, and if the catalog meets the four criteria listed above.

LCRI 21.1B2 gives some guidance on choice of entry for Art Catalogs and Auction and Sales Catalogs.

245: Transcription of Title, Other Title Information, Statement of Responsibility

In certain situations, clarification is needed regarding what constitutes the title portion of an art book.

  1. When the title proper consists of a list of artists' names, record all names in ‡a. If the list is lengthy, the title proper may be abridged after the first five words, followed by the mark of omission. Determination of how many names is "lengthy" is left to cataloger's judgment.
  2. When the other title information consists of a list of artists' names, record all names in ‡b. If the list is lengthy, record only the first artist's name, followed by the mark of omission. Determination of how many names is "lengthy" is left to cataloger's judgment and local institutional policy.
  3. For exhibition catalogs: when found on the chief source of information, give the place and dates of the exhibition as other title information.

246 Varying Form of Title

Make added entries for variant forms of title as deemed important according to individual cataloger's judgment and/or local institutional policy. If the title proper of a book consists only of an artist's name, and the other title information is more descriptive, make a variant title entry for the other title information. If the title proper is a generic phrase (e.g., "new works," "recent paintings") and the other title information consists of the artist's name, make a variant title entry for the other title information.

For exhibition catalogs, see:  ARLIS publication on Title and Statement of Responsibility


5XX: Note Fields

  • Always make a 500 note for the writer(s) of text, or the curator(s) for exhibitions, if they are found in a source other than the chief source.
  • For exhibition catalogs: if the place(s) and date(s) of the exhibition are not included elsewhere in the description (i.e., do not appear as other title information), record them in a 500 note. For exhibitions held at more than three places, record only the first named place with a phrase such as "and 5 other museum” or “5 other venues" or “5 other American museums” to indicate that there were more places of exhibition. If possible, add “through [final date]”.   

For exhibition catalogs, see:  ARLIS publication on Notes

6XX: Subject Headings

    Provide at least one or two subject headings, at the appropriate level of specificity, from LCSH.
  • SCMs  H 1250 and H 1148 give detailed guidance for architecture books on the work of one architect or firm:
  • For art books:
  • If the book is about a single artist's works, make a subject entry for the artist's name. For exhibition catalogs, assign the free-floating subdivision ‡vExhibitions. Do not further subdivide ‡vExhibitions by ‡vCatalogs.
  • For artistic photography books:
    • For the work of a single photographer:
      • For publications consisting chiefly of photographs whose main purpose is photography as a fine art, assign the heading "Photography, Artistic" or "Photography, Artistic‡vExhibitions." "Photography, Artistic" is not subdivided geographically.
      • For books of or about photographs on a particular theme or photography of a particular type (e.g., "Fashion photography," “Photography of trees,” etc.), assign a heading for the theme or type.
    • Assign a heading for the name of the photographer (with subdivision ‡vExhibitions if appropriate).
    • If the photographs are part of an institution's permanent collection, assign a heading for the institution with subdivision ‡Catalogs or, if appropriate,  ‡vExhibitions.

SCM  H 1255 gives detailed guidance.

  • For architecture books on the work of one architect or firm:
    • Assign a heading for the name of the architect or firm (with subdivision ‡vExhibitions if appropriate).
    • If the book concerns the architect’s or firm’s works in one country or region, assign architecture headings for that country or region, subdivided by ‡xHistory‡y[century].
    • If the book concerns one building in a city, assign a 610 for the building and the corresponding heading ‡a[city heading]‡xBuildings, structures, etc.
    • If the book concerns architecture in a city or cities, add heading(s) for ‡a[city heading]‡xBuildings, structures, etc.
  • For subject subdivision, note that rules for art differ from other subjects, including architecture and photography.

7XX: Added Entries

There are two kinds of added entries for art books:

  1. If the main entry of the catalog is the artist, make an added entry for the person who wrote the text if his or her name appears anywhere in the item. For exhibition catalogs, make an added entry for the curator if his or her name appears anywhere in the item.  It may be necessary to search for the curator’s name on t.p. verso or in colophon.
  2. For exhibition catalogs, make an added entry for the corporate heading of the institution in which an art exhibition is held. Make an added entry under the heading for each institution if there are three or fewer, or for the first if there are four or more.