This winter, as part of the Research Support Services program, Ithaka S+R is launching a new investigation of researcher practices and support services needs in the field of art history. Our goal is to examine the evolving needs of researchers on a field-specific basis in order to best understand how libraries and other information services providers meet these needs. We are grateful to the Getty Foundation and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for their joint funding of this project.

Our work on this project is guided by an advisory board comprising

  • Stephen Bury, Andrew W Mellon Chief Librarian, The Frick Collection;
  • Patricia Fidler, Publisher for Art and Architecture, Yale University Press;
  • Anne Collins Goodyear, Curator of Prints and Drawings, The National Portrait Gallery and the current President of the College Art Association;
  • Paul Jaskot, Professor of the history of art and architecture, DePaul University;
  • Max Marmor, President, The Samuel H. Kress Foundation;
  • Kathleen Salomon, Assistant Director, The Getty Research Institute; and
  • Joan Weinstein, Deputy Director, The Getty Foundation.

In this project, we will examine art historians’ work processes, their use of primary and secondary sources, their publication habits, their adaptation to the digital environment, and more. The final report will convey these findings and suggest new ways that libraries, visual resource centers, publishers, database providers, and funders can work to meet the needs of art historians.

This project will join completed Research Support Services projects in history and chemistry; the report from the history project was released in December and is available here, and the Chemistry report will be released later this month.

We will engage with the community of researchers and research support professionals in art history during the course of this project, and we plan to provide periodic updates about the project through this blog.