Bringing the Studio into the Library: Addressing the Research Needs of Studio Art andArchitecture StudentsAuthor(s): Hannah BennettSource: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 25,No. 1 (Spring 2006), pp. 38-42Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949400 .

Accessed: 10/06/2014 22:16

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

The University of Chicago Press and Art Libraries Society of North America are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmerica.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Bringing the Studio into the Library: Addressing the Research Needs of Studio Art and Architecture Students Hannah Bennett

Introduction

For the academic art and architecture librarian, two of the most difficult groups to draw into the library are the studio art and architecture students. These students often do not regard the library as logically fitting into their studio projects or course

work, and as a result do not recognize their own valid and

extremely challenging research needs. This is not to say that all studio students are unsuccessful researchers or that they never use the library. Nor is this to say that librarians, when asked,

immediately have all the services and answers for these students when the latter do use the library. The difficulty lies in aligning these unique student needs with what are perceived as tradi tional library public services. This is rather tricky, particularly

when such alignments question or confront what is meant by traditional library public services. Throw into the mix the ever

changing means, media, and pedagogy of studio programs, and one finds that art librarians must constantly renegotiate their role to support scholarship and learning in these areas.

This article discusses different methods by which the art or architecture librarian can successfully lure the studio students into the library. Unlike some of the other articles written on this topic, which have made important contributions through user pattern case studies or targeted interviews with librarians,

artists, or students, I offer examples of what I have tried at my institution's library and what I plan to try. Questions I have considered and continue to ponder include how visual literacy initiatives can be integrated within a studio art or architecture student's education; in other words, how does one incorporate the discovery, gathering, and incorporation of images (in any

media) into research methodology and instruction that connect collections and library services with studio students?

Logical Fit in Seemingly Illogical Places The Yale Art and Architecture Library serves several different

constituencies, from museum curators and faculty members to

undergraduates and visiting scholars. The library has mandated

bibliographic instruction programs associated with the School of

Architecture, and several art history faculty members routinely request customized research method sessions for their courses.

Yet the studio art and architecture camps remain on the fringes of

library outreach and have always been difficult groups to target. The unassuming studio student might indeed wonder where the library logically fits within his/her art studio curriculum. Studies have shown and practice has proven that "resources"

for studio students so often imply or are assumed to be items

fostering original observation through accidental discovery. One then wonders how the library can have an organic place within a student's visual representation of a memory, mood, concept, or event. What role could a library or librarian possibly have in

helping students inform their artwork? To what degree is "infor mation" part of their design, model, sound, or vision? What does a studio art/architecture student consider "successful retrieval"

to be? At first glance, it is easy for librarians, as information special

ists, to see how these questions can be addressed. Nevertheless,

it is at this juncture where I see my role morphing from a tradi tional subject specialist and instruction librarian into a resource

"explorer" for these students, navigating to and experimenting with resources and collections that might not otherwise be considered. Another point to remember is that many studio

students, particularly those on the strict BFA to MFA track, typi cally enroll in traditional academic courses as ?lectives. Many of these students find themselves suddenly facing a different type of learning that they have not experienced for several years, such as the history research paper or the art history formal analysis. These students are certainly capable of performing at the same level as their peers, but they enter into these classes grounded in an entirely different educational experience and tend to feel a little more intimidated by the library or by the prospect of asking for research help.

What I Have Tried: Student Focus Group Without dismissing the importance of those literature

contributions to this discussion, very little ink has been spilt over this type of student library outreach and instruction. Those articles that have been published, most recently Sandra Cowan's article in Art Documentation in 2004, routinely begin with a call for more analysis in this area. My article is no different. As noted in the articles and studies I did find, the way in which these student groups use information is very difficult to study. When I decided to target these groups during the academic semester

(February/March 2004), I did not afford myself the time to plan a formal case study or thorough gap analysis. It was my very first semester at Yale, and I was eager to quickly establish a dialogue with the Schools of Art and Architecture.

I familiarized myself with the studio programs, and more

specifically, with what was being taught that semester, such as Architectural Photography, Visual Fundamentals, and Materials in Architecture. From the course descriptions in Yale's Blue Book,

38 Art Documentation ? Volume 25, Number 1 ? 2006

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

the university course catalog, I teased out research components that could be served by our library services and collections.

At the same time, I had the opportunity to convene a focus

group. It stemmed from a patron complaint regarding our limited circulation policy and the fines she incurred as a result.

The patron was an MFA sculpture student who, in her words,

felt "marginalized" by the library. The sculpture studios are the farthest studios from the Art and Architecture Library, and it has always been a struggle for these students to comply with the circulation policy. Rather than react hastily to an angry patron, I saw this as an opportunity to reach out to a studio group already feeling estranged from the library. It was a chance to gauge how these students used visual and textual materials, and how these

materials were found, evaluated, and incorporated into artwork.

Assuring this student that we would discuss the circulation

policy, I also asked if she and some of her peers would be willing to engage in a discussion about studio student library use. Hence, a focus group was formed.

I planned for this focus group to be rather informal?we had food, held the session after hours, and kicked off the discus sion with announcements about critiques, gallery openings, and suggestions for library acquisitions. Even before we began our discussion, all seven students, mostly MFA second years, were grateful that I was conducting this session. Admittedly, the students expected only to vent their dissatisfaction with the circulation policy. However, they became willing and receptive participants once they realized that this meeting was more about them helping me and the library through their advice and sugges tions rather than me simply condoning our circulation policy. Following a productive discussion about the circulation policy, I shifted the conversation towards library services. I asked them

pretty basic questions, including: How do you see the library as fitting into your course of studies at Yale?

How do you define research and how have you engaged in it?

How do you prepare for a project about which you know

very little, be it technically or contextually? What do you value most about the library and library

services?

It was intriguing how flummoxed these students became when asked these questions. They were not quite sure. Some of their answers to these questions included:

"The library collections are invaluable for images in art books."

"Research in the traditional sense is much more of a delib erate and staged process?not spontaneous. The process for creating artwork ranges from instantaneous to long and drawn out. It depends how an idea hits you." "I try Google or ask my professor or friends."

"The resources."

Although these students appreciated "resource discovery" through effective browsing and saw the librarian as having some sort of role in these areas, beyond charging and discharging books or interlibrary loan, they were not aware of how complex and customized "library services" could be. Many of my

presuppositions about what they needed or how they used the

library were also made clearer. I discovered that my expertise as a researcher and information specialist was better appreciated

by these students in more practical areas such as grant and

fellowship research, basic image research (i.e., how to find

pictures of justice, or images of a Japanese karaoke bar, or blax

ploi tation posters), gallery research, artist/collection research,

legislation concerning NEH funding and hot topics therein,

copyright issues relating to original artwork and digital assets, and finally what I call "exit research strategies," i.e., research

strategies focusing on free resources beyond Yale's vast elec tronic and print holdings.

Until our discussion, these students had not associated the seemingly unrelated topics of grant or fellowship research

with the library. They viewed the library and its services as finite service points; the library was a place to find images or check out books. They could not even postulate what a public services librarian did. I did not, of course, respond by billing

myself as a development officer, copyright clearance center, or career services bureau rolled into one. Indeed, I am an art

and architecture librarian, but like all of us in this field, I am also in the problem-solving and investigation business. When

"problems" arise in and out of my area of subject specialty, I begin the line of inquiry and strategize how to solve the

problem. I conveyed to these students the intrinsic intellectual

complexity of the seemingly simplistic stuff, e.g., finding a network of gallery representatives or preparing for one's own

exhibition, and how these objectives could be successfully addressed, in part or in whole, by the librarian. Indeed, these lines of inquiry, which seemed to have no place in the library, or so the students presumed, could be tackled by the know-how of the librarian. At the same time, it became clear to me that studio

faculty, in particular, presupposed that much of this "practical information" was learned inherently, alongside coursework and individual projects. However, given such presuppositions, much can and does fall through the cracks. Through subsequent individual consultations, lectures, and classes, I discovered that students felt comfortable learning this information from me; there was no fear of asking the "dumb" or simplistic question.

What came out of this focus group? I received numerous ideas that I have since been developing and plan to implement in the upcoming academic semesters. I am currently in the process of developing an arts and humanities grant research workshop specifically for School of Art students. This workshop will focus on resources and methodologies for finding and applying for

grants and fellowships. I will include a calendar of important deadline dates for major grant and fellowship applications. This is not a workshop designed to show a student how to write a

grant; rather, it will introduce him/her to methods and resources in the library collections and elsewhere that will identify the right funding agency. I am also in the process of writing a guide for

researching art galleries (both current and historical/defunct) and another for beginning auction research?a sort of "what you should know as an artist about the business of art sales." The focus group participants assured me that such workshops and

guides would benefit studio students, and many of them later followed up with me for assistance in these areas. What I think the students gained from the focus group was not just a clearer

understanding of what the library could do for them beyond

Volume 25, Number 1 ? 2006 ? Art Documentation 39

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

discharging their books. They also discovered that we, like their

faculty, were invested not only in helping them throughout their careers at Yale, but also beyond Yale.

What I Have Tried: Guest Lectures?Studio Photography for Architecture Class

In the spring 2005 semester, I had the chance to guest lecture in Photography for Architects, a studio photography class. The course catalog description read: "...a study of photography as an investigative and interpretive medium. Through lectures and

assignments exploring technical and expressive concerns, this course emphasizes the development of basic photographic skills and their professional application/' The instructor contacted me about a basic orientation to the library with particular focus on our architecture photography book collections. I saw this as another

opportunity to go beyond the basic library tour and directly align our collections and services with specific class projects. The critical conversation I had with the instructor involved discussing not only her objectives for the course but also her objectives for the students vis-?-vis their final projects. I was fortunate to be

working with a faculty member extremely generous with class time. It was not difficult to sell her on something more compre hensive than a tour of the library. After reviewing her syllabus and reading all of her students' final project abstracts (most were less than a page in length), I identified key research topics and

strategies. Following are selections of some of the abstracts:

"My project will be a series of portraits of children in the suburbs...this project hopes to bring out more serious or negative issues surrounding growing up in the suburbs."

"I am interested in capturing urban entertainment (Coney Island, Atlantic City, Fox Woods Casino and Resort, Theater District) in such a way that is both surreal and

banal, weird and normal, social and isolating, alluring and repulsive, serious and funny."

"The idea is to look closely at both American culture and Lebanese culture through the lens of their social activities on the weekend....I plan to look at public spaces in both cultures as well as 'Trash Day' to take a close look at the

post-modern society that is characteristic of disposable and instantaneous and consumerist society."

After reviewing the abstracts, the major themes at which I arrived and folded into my guest class included Cultural

Commentary Through Images; Urban Landscapes/Urban Entertainment; Suburban Gothic; Photographic Narratives;

Photography and Memory or Collective Unconscious; and

Buildings as Sitters of Portraits. Before my lecture, I reviewed

my class outline with the instructor to ensure that I was covering relevant and useful information. Working with the topics found in the students' abstracts, the overall theme of my presenta tion was what I called contextual image research. In addition to walking them through some of our general image databases and browsing techniques, I challenged these students to flip their inquiries inside out. For example, in the case of the student

working with "suburban gothic," I suggested researching not just those striking, artistic images of gothic suburbia ? la Bill Owens but also those images of suburbia originally intended to "sell" it as appealing, such as images and articles in House and Garden or

Ladies' Home Journal from the 1950s and 1960s. I then constructed searches focusing on these types of resources.

Student and instructor feedback was quite positive, and several of the students later contacted me and my colleagues in other departmental libraries as a result of the session. I believe that research initiative and drive in these students were hardly latent before my session, but by introducing them to different research strategies, different collections, and different resources

within the parameters of their abstracts, they became quite enthu siastic about how the library could contribute to a composite course studio project.

What I Have Tried: Guest Lectures?Analytic Models In the fall 2005 semester, I taught a research methodology

course designed specifically for the undergraduate architecture

analytic models class. This is a required class for all architecture

majors which has changed shape over the years. Its current catalog entry describes it as an "introduction to the history and practice of architectural analysis. Students produce drawings, models, and

diagrams of significant architectural works in order to facilitate a

comprehensive understanding of specific architects, buildings, and contexts. Description of a variety of approaches and the reciprocal relationship between analysis and design." As already mentioned, the School of Architecture undergraduate and graduate programs require all majors to complete a mnety-minute library instruction class. While this program has been extremely successful over the

years, it must continually be rethought and retooled to remain relevant and vital to the studio architecture curriculum. I raised this issue with the dean of undergraduate studies (DUS) in the School of Architecture, and she suggested coupling the class with the department's required analytic models class. The timing of this could not have been better as the course was, at that point,

without an instructor for the fall term. Consequently, and with the approval of the DUS, I was able to lock in a required library component within a required studio architecture class at a time when the course itself was being redefined.

I met with the instructor later in the summer to discuss how my part of the course would incorporate class assign ments and objectives. Concepts the class would cover included

drawing form and space; tectonics and structure; notation; and

function, movement, and time. Within these concepts and from my discussions with the instructor, I identified areas that I could address in a research methods class, e.g., researching analytic

drawings and models, or major architectural projects in history, or urban environments, buildings, and settings. Although this research class had to be held outside the normal class period (in the

evening), all students were required to attend. It was made very clear to them that this class was designed for analytic models and would address the specific assignments due throughout the class, hence its mandatory status. Because one of the key components to the final project was a lengthy annotated bibliography, I also had the opportunity to tie in key types of resources that would consti tute a scholarly bibliography, such as archival materials, theses or dissertations, reviews, drawings, plans, other primary source

materials, and catalogs. For many of these students, this assign ment was the first time they had ever been asked to compile a

scholarly annotated bibliography. At the end of the semester, I met with the instructor to discuss the assignment and how he saw the

library research component affecting the student performances.

40 Art Documentation ? Volume 25, Number 1 ? 2006

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Conclusion

My experience working with the studio contingencies at Yale has taught me how inventive I can become in fashioning library services to suit unique studio student needs. What better reward could I be given than to see these students view the library no

longer just as a building but as an indispensable resource they routinely call on for their studio projects? The library may not be the first place these students go when thinking about a design.

However, if I can relate "traditional library services" to their

designs or to the evolution of a project within their context, I am confident that these students in turn will incorporate traditional

library services into their careers at Yale and beyond.

Selected Bibliography Atkins, Priscilla. "Information Literacy and the Arts: Be There?

Or Miss It!" College and Research Libraries News 62, no. 11

(December 2001): 1086-88,1092.

Barnes, Susan J. "The Electronic Library and Public Services."

Library Hi Tech 12, no.3 (1994): 44-62.

Bliss, Laurel, and Barbara Rockenbach. "Persuading Architecture

Faculty That Library Instruction is Essential: A Yale Case

Study." Art Documentation 21, no.2 (Fall 2002): 21-24.

Brewer, Janet. "Beyond the Book 'Case': Overview of Case Study Methodology Used for Bibliographic Instruction at Murray State University." Research Strategies 15, no.3 (1997): 177-86.

Brewer, Thomas M. "An Examination of Intrinsic and Instrumental

Instruction in Art Education." Studies in Art Education 43, no.4

(Summer 2002): 354-72.

Brown, Jeanne M., ed. Library Instruction for Students in Design Disciplines: Scenarios, Exercises & Techniques. Kanata, Ontario: Art Libraries Society of North America, 2002.

Colman, Alison. "Net.Art and Net.Pedagogy: Introducing Internet

Art to the Digital Art Curriculum." Studies in Art Education 46, no.l (Fall 2004): 61-73.

Cowan, Sandra. "Informing Visual Poetry: Information Needs and

Sources of Artists." Art Documentation 23, no.2 (Fall 2004): 14-20.

Crowe, Edith. "Art History Information Competence Project:

Bibliography."http: / / www.sjsu.edu/~ecrowe/art/infcomp bib.htm, (accessed December 20, 2005)

Currie, Gillian, and Margaret Shaw. "What Price Art Librarianship in the Twenty-First Century?" Art Documentation 21, no.2

(Fall 2002): 32-34.

Cutrone, John, and Roberto C. Ferrari. "Books as Aesthetic Objects: The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlantic

University." Art Documentation 23, no.l (Spring 2004): 33-37.

Eaton, Gale, and Cheryl McCarthy. "The Art of the Possible:

Integrating Information Skills and Literature into the Curriculum." Emergency Librarian 23, no.l (September/ October 1995): 24-28,30.

Frank, Polly. "Student Artists in the Library: An Investigation of How They Use General Academic Libraries for Their Creative Needs." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 25, no.6

(November 1999): 445-55.

Gerlich, Bella Karr, and Amy Perrier. "Arts Instruction in the Age of Technology: Providing Library Services to Support Studio and Survey Faculty Who Use Technology for Instruction."

Information Technology and Libraries 22, no.2 (June 2003): 79 83.

Gervits, Maya, and Halina Rusak. "Art and Archaeology of the

African Diaspora: New Challenges in Art History Instruction." Art Documentation 19, no.2 (Fall 2000): 46-48.

Grim, Jessica, Susan D. Scott, and Julia Chance Gustaf son. "Different

Models, Common Goals: Information Literacy Across the Liberal Arts Curriculum." In Integrating Information Literacy into the College Experience, edited by Julia K. Nims, 89-98. Ann

Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, 2003.

Haines, Annette. "Out in Left Field: The Benefits of Field

Librarianship for Studio Arts Programs." Art Documentation 23, no.l (Spring 2004): 18-20.

Halverson, Aniko L., and Joye Volker. "Information Literacy in the Electronic Arts Library: Strategies for the Hybrid Professional." IFLA Journal 26, no.2 (2000): 120-22.

Hardesty, Larry. "Reflections on 25 Years of Library Instruction: Have We Made Progress?" RSR: Reference Services Review 27, no.3 (1999): 242-46.

Herrington, Verlene J. "Way Beyond BI: A Look to the Future."

Journal of Academic Librarianship 24, no.5 (September 1998): 381-86.

Latimer, Karen. "SOS (Self-Help or Spoonfeeding): Teaching Students the Art of Retrieving Architectural Information." Art Libraries Journal 27, no.l (2002): 5-8.

Lorenzen, Elizabeth A. "Selecting and Acquiring Art Materials in the Academic Library: Meeting the Needs of the Studio Artist." In Selecting Materials for Library Collections, edited by Audrey Fermer, 27-39. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press, 2004.

McCleskey, Sarah E., and David J. Allison. "Collaboration for Service Learning in Architectural Education." Art

Documentation 19, no.l (Spring 2000): 40-43.

Pisciotta, Henry A. "Let's Talk: An Approach to Bibliographic Instruction for the Studio Major, Part One." Art Documentation 8 (Spring 1989): 24-25.

Powell, Elaine F. "Information Seeking Behaviors of Studio Artists." Master's thesis, University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill, 1995.

Reed, Bonnie, and Donald R. Tanner. "Information Needs and

Library Services for Fine Arts Faculty." Journal of Academic

Librarianship 27, no.3 (2001): 229-34.

Simor, Suzanna. "Visual Art Resources Online: Issues, Trends and

Challenges." Art Documentation 22, no.l (Spring 2003): 33-40.

Stam, Deirdre C. "Artists and Art Libraries." Art Libraries Journal 20, no.2 (1995): 21-24.

Stylianopoulos, Lucie Wall. "It's All in the Company You Keep: Library Skills Credit Courses in the Art Library." Art Documentation 22, no.l (Spring 2003): 29-32.

Tao, Dorothy. "Bibliographic Instruction for a Diverse Population: Understanding, Planning, and Teaching in the Twenty-First Century." Art Documentation 24, no.l (Spring 2005): 29-37.

Volume 25, Number 1 ? 2006 ? Art Documentation 41

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Teague, Edward H. "A Portrait for the Librarian: Bibliographic Education for Students in Design Disciplines: Theory into Practice." In Conceptual Frameworks for Bibliographic Education, edited by Mary Reichel and Mary Ann Ramey, 99 108. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1987.

Wayne, Kathryn M. "The Impact of Bibliographic Instruction on the Architecture Curriculum at the University of California,

Berkeley." Art Documentation 16, no.l (1997): 7-8.

Whitmore, Marilyn P., ed. Creative Strategies for Library Instruction in the Arts, Literature, and Music. Pittsburgh: Library Instruction Publications, 2001.

Zhang Wenxian. "Developing Web-Enhanced Learning for

Information Fluency: A Liberal Arts College's Perspective." Reference & User Services Quarterly 41, no.4 (Summer 2002): 356-63.

Hannah Bennett, Public Services Librarian, Art and Architecture Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT,

hannah. bennett@yale.edu

Art Documentation ? Volume 25, Number 1 ? 2006

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.149 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:16:33 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions