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17:610:580 Knowledge Structures
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
Department of Library and Information Science
Instructor: Marija Dalbello
Fall2004Assignments

Assignment 3: Decoding Artefacts (due: December 13; assignment begins on November 8; statement of intent due: November 1)

In this assignment, you will focus on an artefact from a museum collection, considering it as a hybrid of physical properties, technological production and historical construction through processes of "museification," art history scholarship, art appreciation, information systems, markets and previous ownership. The works which are particularly appropriate for this assignment are multiples such as prints, that were distributed in editions larger than one though you may choose a painting, or another object for which you can work out an analysis that will start with your response and continue with the research of different contexts for the emergence of this artefact at the time of its production, and its biography as an art object in the context of a museum. This assignment will call for research of art history sources and of the information systems that construct this object in the museum context.

You will identify a type of object and the period that you want to focus on early in the semester, and in consultation with the instructor. A trip to the Zimmerli Art Museum (on RU campus) will be scheduled in mid-semester in order for you to be able to get a sense of museum processing. This semester, for those working in the Zimmerli museum, the assignment will focus on a coherent collection of works - prints for an actual exhibition opening in Spring 2005, with prints from 19th-century Whistler to contemporary (see what list will include). The work in the Zimmerli collection may result in an online exhibit running in parallel with the actual exhibition. Download list with student selections (as of November 8).

In writing your report on the artefact and the context of its production, please make sure that the following steps have been included:

• choose an artefact from the museum collection
• define the artefact you have chosen (1-2 paragraphs)
• describe the object in your own words, then present it in terms of relevant representational schemes (e.g. AACR2R, Ch. 4, local museum classifications; Getty Thesaurus, etc.) and then comment on how do they differ and how would they impact retrieval
• discuss the appropriateness of the current display and implied uses in the museum
• (optional) document the provenance or history of that particular object according to the records available in the museum
• compile annotated bibliography or write a bibliographical essay encompassing literature about the artefact
• compile annotated bibliography or write a bibliographical essay encompassing literature about the type of objects that you have chosen
• reception and perception: what can you determine about the history of technology that gave rise to this object; about the community that it was intended for in its original context of use
• write an essay dealing with the period in which this object has emerged, identifying this work's communicational role; the communities it served (as determined from the evidence you have encountered in reconstructing the history of the object, the past and current uses, or the uses of similar objects)
• list (and annotate, as appropriate) works used to write your essay

You should prepare this text in essay form and submit two copies to the instructor.

Additional Instructions:

The library resources help page identifies sources that can be located in the Art Library. Handout distributed by Sara Harrington during the bibliographic instruction session on November 8.

describe the object: First, describe the object in your own words (for example: this is a multicolored lithograph depicting a woman standing on a bridge); then describe the object using Anglo-American Cataloging Rules 2Revised, Ch. 4 (for manuscripts), or Ch. 8 (for graphic materials) if you have taken cataloging; otherwise, rely on the printout with the museum description of this object; make special note of the museum description as displayed in the record for this object and comment on how it aids or impedes retrieval. Note that the descriptions are accessible via a searchable database created in Access db management software. You will use Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum Collections Database Data Dictionary compiled by the Registrar's Office staff, to interpret the fields and how they relate to internal classification systems. Make sure to interpret any accessioning numbers on the records. How does this relate to the arrangement of objects in storage.

discuss the appropriateness of the current display and implied uses in Zimmerli: The objects are either displayed or in storage; some of them are loaned for exhibits. You will comment here on the conditions of storage to the degree that this information is accessible to you. Can you determine (from artists' files) that the object has been exhibited and in what context?

document the provenance or history of that particular object (to the best of your abilities, and within reasonable effort expended): Using the artist's file, accession files and if using the Zimmerli collection, you will sent a note to Leslie Kriff, Associate Registrar (kriff@rci.rutgers.edu), to find out as much as you can about the history of that particular object: how it came into the collection, the restrictions on access etc. (you will again use the record from the database and Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum Collections Database Data Dictionary); please note that provenance research is an involved process that may include searches of auction catalogs and other resources.

compile annotated bibliography or write a bibliographical essay encompassing literature about the artefact: The main sources for you will be the Bibliography of the History of Art (accessible from IRIS electronic gateway online), where you will find listing of works about the authors, and the artists' files. Your original contribution will be in the annotations. Bibliographical essay is a narrative form that summarizes the literature on this subject. I would recommend this format for your paper.

literature about the type of objects that you have chosen: You will comment on the technology of production here, in a single brief paragraph. The useful sources are the handout Printmaking Processes: Gallery Notes, the sources you will find in the Zimmerli reference collection ( Fritz Eichenberg, The Art of the Print; Gascoigne's How to Identify Prints), ABC for Book Collectors (John Carter), A New Introduction to Bibliography (Gaskell), and Prints and Visual Communication (Ivins).

reception and perception: This section is narrative, summarizing what you have learned about the object from the museum records, your observations, etc. and using as needed the literature listed in the previously.

essay: You will use the literature that you identified from the Bibliography of the History of Art, and other secondary sources to interpret this work in its social context.