Looking at Art: A Visitor's Guide to Museum Collections by Adelheid M. GealtReview by: Susan Glover GodlewskiThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Jul., 1984), pp. 320-321Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4307767 .

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320 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

conflict with public library service, either historically or theoretically; user fees have an impact on library use but not necessarily a negative one; and user fees can help public libraries deal with budgetary constraints. Chapter 6 provides a few final remarks which advise library managers to take heed of economic theory and user behavior in their decision-making process.

User fees in public libraries is a complex issue, and, although Van House deals with its economic aspects in detail, she largely avoids the interwoven political, practical, and philosophical parameters of the topic. The author is clearly com- fortable with economic theories of public finance and time allocation, and she is familiar with the field of user fees. (She has published previously under the name DeWath.) Within the bibliography she cites most of the relevant writing on public library user fees along with important pieces from the economics litera- ture (for example, Gary Becker's work on time allocation). Public Library User Fees provides a useful perspective on an issue which will continue to hold a great deal of interest for our profession.

Ree DeDonato, University of California, San Diego

Looking at Art: A Visitor's Guide to Museum Collections. By ADELHEID M. GEALT.

New York: R. R. Bowker Co., 1983. Pp. xvii + 609. $24.95. ISBN 0-8352-1730-2.

The author states in the preface that she intends this book to function as a general guide to art in museums rather than a survey of art history and that it should provide basic information that will aid museum goers to better under- stand what they see. The chapters are arranged chronologically, examining types of art by period. Each area of collecting includes a discussion of the influences of the period, the types of art produced, and the materials and subjects usually chosen. This guide concentrates on art production and collect- ing trends rather than on specific artists, although there is generally a list of major artists, types of art produced, and their dates within each chapter. Time lines and maps help clarify each historical period and region. Each chapter concludes with a list of museums, mainly in Europe, the United States, and Canada, with a few Asian museums included, which have major collections in each of the specific areas discussed.

Each period and area of collecting has been considered in a thorough, thoughtful manner. A concerted effort has been made to define terms clearly and to explain types of art produced and mediums in which the artists worked completely, both artistically and technically. In addition, art historian lingo has been kept to a minimum.

The sociohistoric aspects of this reference work are particularly valuable. The author does not attempt to deal with elements of style or formal analysis as a way of understanding art. The explanations of the prevailing social, cultural, and political climates under which the artists labored and which affected their output and artistic trends should prove useful to those who are truly interested in gaining a clearer understanding of art from the creator's perspective.

The first 3 chapters may be the most valuable to the layperson who is trying to understand the purposes and goals of museums. The first chapter outlines the history of art collecting and patronage and the subsequent growth of museums; the second sheds light on how museums currently build art collections. To the uninitiated, and sometimes even to the sophisticated museum goer, it often

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REVIEWS 321

appears that there is little consistency or planning to many museum collections. These straightforward chapters help explain how collections are built and grow, how art is purchased, the deaccessioning process, and how and why museums change collection scope. The third chapter on museums in general deals with the organization of art museums, which can be a mystery even to old hands.

Dr. Gealt, Curator of the Indiana University Art Museum, understands her chosen subject and writes about it well. Each area of collecting is considered in a concise but thorough manner. The format is clear, the typography is clean and readable, and the index is comprehensive and easily used. While readers may not feel a strong command of art history after finishing this book, they will be conversant enough with the major periods and trends to be able to apply that knowledge when visiting museums and to heighten each experience.

The only criticisms that I have of this guide are small. First, if this guide is truly to function as a handbook to be carried around museums, the format should be smaller with a slightly lighter binding. Second, there are only 16 plates (9 in color) which illustrate the text. It would be useful to have had more illustrations scattered throughout the text to aid the reader in understanding more clearly the art about which the author writes.

There have been many guides to museums and their collections published over the years, but this is the first guide targeted for the casual museum visitor to aid in looking at and understanding that art. It is a useful perspective for both the layperson and the expert. As such, it is a welcome addition to the literature on art and museums.

Susan Glover Godlewski, Art Institute of Chicago

Standards for Art Libraries and Fine Arts Slide Collections. Occasional Papers, no. 2. Tucson, Ariz.: Art Libraries Society of North America, 1983. Pp. 46. $10.00. ISSN 0730-7160.

This work covers the areas of staffing and collection development in the art library and visual resources collection. It was developed over the past eight years by the Art Library Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Standards Committee and the Joint ARLIS/NA-CAA (College Art Association) Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Standards for Visual Resources Collections.

The work is organized into 3 main sections that vary in style, format, and degree of astuteness. Section 1 covers standards for staffing art libraries. Sepa- rate standards are provided for academic, museum, and public libraries, and for each of these types there are separate standards for small, medium, and large libraries. Section 2, which provides standards for staffing fine arts slide collec- tions, is more comprehensive, despite some superfluous information. Its appen- dix, "Professional Training for the Fine Arts Slide Curator," is a balanced treatment of a complex and controversial issue. The third section, "Collection Development Standards for Art Libraries," begins with a general discussion of collection development and 3 rather weak appendices: "Collecting Levels," "Ba- sic Art Bibliographies," and "Materials Collected by Art Libraries." The collec- tion development standards themselves are delineated in the same way as those in section 1-according to type of library and, within types, according to size.

All 3 sections are written in clear, competent, though somewhat lifeless, prose. The visual presentation is somewhat dull and occasionally obstructs the content.

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