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Three acronyms, two opportunities, one millenium: ruminations on the present and future states of art Librarianship in Britain, occasioned by the 25th birthday of ARLIS/UK & Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Clive Phillpot*
Affiliation:
Visual Arts Department, The British Council, London, England
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Abstract

ARLIS/UK & Ireland can be proud of the achievements of its first 25 years, but might benefit both from re-examining its objectives and by broadening its constituency. The fact that the National Art Library (NAL) is now fulfilling a role commensurate with that title is welcome indeed, but art libraries should be wary of depending too much on the leadership of a national library. The Visual Arts Library and Information Plan (VALIP) offers a not-to-be-missed opportunity for ARLIS and the NAL together to ensure the continuing development of art librarianship in Britain into the foreseeable future; the absence of a national bibliographic database, however, must be a handicap to future progress, while the state of art provision in public libraries is a matter of concern. ARLIS is working too exclusively for specialists; as it approaches the year 2000 its biggest challenge may be the needs of people at large. (The text of a paper presented at the ARLIS/UK & Ireland Members’ Day at the Tate Gallery, London, on the 8th November 1994).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1995

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References

1. Phillpot, Clive. ‘Book museums or virtual libraries’. Art Libraries Journal vol. 19 no. 4, 1994 p.49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. NAL is not an acronym, of course, but if you need a zippy titleGoogle Scholar
3. Art Libraries Journal vol. 19 no. 3, 1994, a special issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of ARLIS/UK & Ireland. The ‘last issue’ to have appeared when this paper was presented.Google Scholar