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The museum art library as a bridge between the artist and society, with special reference to the South African National Gallery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Josephine Andersen
Josephine Andersen*
Affiliation:
South Africa National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
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Abstract

Art museums can help to promote art in society, but not all artists have their work selected for permanent collections or temporary exhibitions, and museums may be isolated from society. In Europe and North America, the primary function of museum libraries is to serve the parent institution, thereby serving the wider community only indirectly. In South Africa, where there are comparatively fewer museums, libraries, and publications concerned with the visual arts, and where there are so many disadvantaged people, it is vital that special collections such as the South Africa National Gallery (SANG) Library collection are made accessible in the widest possible sense and that museum library information programmes should be directed externally, as well as internally to the museum staff.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 4 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1995

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