Stephen Patton (Indiana State University)

In 2016, Indiana State University transferred the stewardship of its permanent art collection (later found to contain over 4,000 items) to the institution’s Cunningham Memorial Library. Upon inheriting the collection, the library’s initial focus was on locating, inventorying, tracking, describing, and digitising the objects. Next, staff shifted to such needs as discovery, circulation to campus locations and increased electronic access. The project scope was initially based on the known inventory, which expanded during the initial tracking process. The objects in the collection had also not been previously tracked in any consistent manner. During this process, the library also decided to expand the holdings to outdoor sculptural works in order to better understand the complete art holdings across the institution.

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This presentation will focus on the process of consistently inventorying the art collection, selecting a collection management tool that would allow for lending the objects to campus buildings, and digitising the objects for a custom-coded online discovery tool that would allow for modifications such as local metadata. I will also discuss subsequent considerations and expansions to the project, including the curator’s later request for higher resolution images and the unexpected use of the resource as a curriculum tool, as classes began employing the database as a research resource. The library has also continued to develop loan policies as faculty seek to move the objects (which include works by Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, and Claes Oldenburg) into their offices.

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I will also discuss current efforts to refine the search, limiters, and enhanced functionality of the database. In addition, staff are working on a project to implement a GIS component that will allow students and other users to map a walking tour of the objects on view. Considerations are also ongoing about digitised provenance information, and whether to make that information public to those searching the online database. Finally, I will also make an argument as to how a collection such as this may benefit from the library’s management.

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Stephen Patton is Chair of Systems at Indiana State University. The Systems department supports the LCVC consortial ILS, electronic resources, desktop support, multiple repository solutions and server administration. His research interests include the intersection of technology, information behaviours, and the visual arts. Stephen holds an MLIS from Florida State University and an MS in computer science from Columbus State University.