In late September, I participated in “Art Books & Ebooks: A Difficult Conversation?” an event hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, organized by Ross Day, Collections Development Librarian at the Met, and focused on the future of books, e-books, and museum publishing in a digital age. Participants reflected on the changing environment for publishing and collections development and management, focusing on how monographs in the field of art and art history fit into or are exceptions to these broader patterns of change.

Art and art history collections are often highlighted as requiring special considerations as we move into a more digital environment for books; this conversation explored some of the unique challenges as well as opportunities ahead for the publication, collection, and use of art and art history monographs.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has made the videos of the presentations and ensuing discussion available on YouTube. I served as a respondent to a set of presentations by Mark Polizotti, publisher and editor in chief at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Erica Hauser, librarian, Collection Development at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Jeff Carroll, director of Collection Development at Columbia University Libraries.