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The Hirsch Library Collection
Overview of the Collection
The library's collection contains materials on art and artists from ancient
times to the present. The focus of collecting is the fine and
decorative arts, but includes general reference works such as art
periodical indexes, encyclopedias, and books that give cultural context for
the art.
Although the majority of resources in the library consists of written books, periodicals,
exhibition catalogs, auction catalogs, and artists files, other
formats such as microforms, CD-ROM, and on-line databases are also available to researchers.
The emphasis of collecting by the library is on works of art that the
museum owns, exhibitions that the museum hosts, and areas in which the
curators are planning to acquire art for the museum. As a
result, the library's collection is strongest in the areas in which the
museum has collected, such as African
and Pre-Columbian art, photography, and
European and American drawing, painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and
costume.
Over 6,000 items are added to the library's collection each year. Of these, about
2,000 are books that are fully cataloged and made accessible through the on-line
catalog. The library has a periodical collection of some 650 titles, of which approximately 250
are current subscriptions.
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