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I. General Description of the Photography Collection and Its Users

The subject scope of the photography collection includes all aspects of the history, theory, and contemporary and historical practice of still and motion picture photography and other imaging systems. The photography collection supports the studio, research, and technically-oriented undergraduate and masters level graduate programs (student research, faculty teaching needs) of the six departments of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences and the Image Permanence Institute. The photography collection also supports the undergraduate and masters level graduate courses (student research, faculty teaching needs) in film history offered through the College of Liberal Arts to students in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences and those enrolled in other RIT colleges. Students and faculty members involved in disciplines related to photography, particularly those in the School of Art and Design, the School of Printing Management and Sciences, and the Center for Imaging Science, also draw upon the resources of the photography collection.

Students, faculty, and other associated with the Rochester Photography Consortium (RIT, University of Rochester, Visual Studies Workshop, SUNY Brockport, and the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House), local businesses, and the general public are also users of the photography resources at RIT Library.

II. Description of the Programs Served by the Photography Collection

A. Undergraduate Programs

The objective of the undergraduate curriculum of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences is to provide students with the creative and technical skills to function in a variety of professional positions in the photographic and imaging industries. Associate of Applied Science (AAS), Bachelor of Science (BS), and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees are awarded. The program of study required by each of the five majors (described below) is quite described below) is quite distinct. Scientific and technical programs emphasize the physical principles and applications of imaging. Fine art and applied photography programs provide students with a solid technical foundation in image making in a variety of media as well as training in photographic aesthetics and visual problem solving. Students in all majors are required to take a liberal arts core and a selection of courses offered through the Colleges of Science, Business, Applied Science and Technology, and other schools within the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The undergraduate programs offered by the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences are:

1. Biomedical Photographic Communications (AAS, BS)
2. Film and Video (AAS, BS)
3. Imaging and Photographic Technology (AAS, BS)
4. Photographic Systems Management (AAS, BS)
5. Professional Photographic Illustration with concentrations in one of three areas: Advertising Photography, Photojournalism, or Fine Art Photography (AAS, BFA)

B. Graduate Programs

The MFA in Imaging Arts program prepares students to function as self-employed photographers, educators, and museum and business professionals. It is a two year program offering a flexible curriculum with areas of concentration in photography, computer animation, and museum studies, culminating in a thesis project. Students are required to take courses in the humanities offered by the College of Liberal Arts and may also elect to take courses offered through the School of Art and Design and the School of Printing Management and Sciences. Students in the museum studies concentration participate in internship programs at Visual Studies Workshop, the Image Permanence Institute, and the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House.

III. Subject and Language Modifiers

A. Geographic Areas

No restrictions. Emphasis is on the United States and Western European countries.

B. Chronological Periods

No restrictions. The natural emphasis of the discipline is the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Acquisitions in the pre-history of photography are made selectively.

C. Languages

No restrictions. Emphasis is on English-language materials. European, Asian, and other languages are acceptable for heavily-illustrated materials and key sources unavailable in English translation.

IV. Date of Publication

General emphasis for acquisition of new titles is on current publications in all subject areas. Significant retrospective acquisitions (through purchase or gifts) are made of original and reprinted serials and monographs related to twentieth century applied and fine arts photography. Limited retrospective acquisitions (through purchase or gifts) are made of important nineteenth- and early twentieth-century monographic and serial titles on photography in original and reprint (hard copy and microform) forms. Acquisition and retention of material older than ten years is based upon importance of the work to the discipline, usefulness for historical information or perspective, extent of current publishing on the topic, curriculum needs for new program development, usage of existing material of same age; and physical condition of material.

V. Treatment of Subject Matter

A. Level of Treatment

Emphasis is on a collection which supports curriculum-related needs of students (primarily undergraduate) and faculty. The special needs of the NTID students are considered where relevant. Major published source material appearing in core collection bibliographies or recommended lists is included when appropriate, as are pertinent reference sources. Every effort is made to accommodate faculty requests for specific curriculum-related titles.

B. Scholarly Works

Material covering the history, practice, and current research in photography is collected in all subject areas.

C. Picture Books

Well-illustrated works with little or no text are collected in the areas of fine art and illustration photography.

D. Manuals of Practice

Emphasis is on advanced techniques in all photographic media. A limited number of introductory and intermediate level works on photographic methods and materials area also added to the collection for the use of beginning students and non-professional photographers in the RIT community.

E. Textbooks

Textbooks are not acquired unless useful as general surveys or handbooks for a particular area not otherwise represented.

F. Serials

Journals, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, calendars, bulletins, creative directories, photography annuals, and other types of serials are of major importance to research and current awareness at all levels of study in the photographic arts and sciences. Selections are made using the subject and collection level criteria given in Section X. Subject Divisions.

G. Government Documents

No restrictions. Government publications are acquired when their content is appropriate to the subject scope of the collection. They are not maintained as a separate collection, but integrated into the collections described in Section VIII. Locator Assignments

H. Maps/Atlases

Maps and atlases are acquired selectively when appropriate for specific representations.

I. Other

Pamphlets, including exhibition documents, are selectively acquired if sufficiently important to warrant cataloging; no vertical file of pamphlet or exhibition catalogs is maintained.

J. Multiple Copies

Second copies of monographic titles are acquired only when very heavy demand is anticipated, when a copy in the collection has been mutilated, or at the curriculum-related request of a faculty member. Second copies of serials are acquired in hard copy if available (through purchase or donation) or in microform when hard copy editions have been extensively mutilated.

VI. Cooperative Collection Development Agreements

No contractual cooperative collection development agreements for photography have been made between RIT Library and any other library. Informal exchange among local art and photography librarians does exist and monographic acquisition decisions should be made with regard to the strengths of the local collections listed below. When faculty and student research needs fall outside the primary curriculum-based scope of the on-site collection, information will be provided through traditional as well as commercial document delivery services.

Beginning in April 1993, representatives from the art and photo library collections at the University of Rochester, Rochester Public Library, International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, and RIT Library have met regularly to develop a cooperative collection development plan for regional serials holdings in these disciplines. The goal of this group is to maintain rich and diverse art and photo resources in the Rochester region despite decreasing serials budgets at all four institutions by fostering serials resource sharing, building on the unique strengths of each collection, and reducing duplication of materials of secondary interest to users of each library.

A. University of Rochester

Acquisition of very expensive titles (monograph and serial, current and out-of-print), particularly in the history of fine arts and non-Western art, should be made only after consultation with the University of Rochester Art Librarian to avoid local duplication of costly materials of secondary interest to RIT Library users.

B. Visual Studies Workshop

Because an extensive collection of artists' books and photographic portfolios and albums is available to RIT students and faculty at the Research Center, RIT Library's development of these areas is be limited to study collections.

C. International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House

Acquisition of very expensive titles (monograph and serial, current and out-of-print) and extensive reprint series in the history and practice of photography should be made only after consultation with the library staff at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House to avoid local duplication of costly materials of secondary interest to RIT Library users. Because the museum's extensive collection of photographic prints and photographically-illustrated books is available to RIT students and faculty, RIT Library's development of these areas is limited to small study collections.

VII. Publication Formats

A. Microforms

Hard copy is preferable for all illustrated materials, monographic and serial. Resources available only in microform as well as microform reprints of material unavailable (or prohibitively expensive) in hard copy are acceptable.

B. Non-Print Materials

Acquisition of traditional non-print materials (slides, videotapes, films, sound recordings, slide/tape programs) is very selective and made in consultation with the Media Resource Center Media Specialist. These materials will be housed in the Media Resource Center.

C. Manuscripts

Manuscripts are not actively pursued, but donations of such material, particularly if related to RIT, and microform reprints of manuscript collections will be considered for addition to the collection. A fuller description of the criteria for adding manuscript material to the collection is given in "Collection Development Policy Statement: Special Collections" and "Collection Development Policy Statement: RIT Archives."

D. Museum Publications

Exhibition catalogs, collection catalogs, bulletins, journals, newsletters, and annual reports issued by museums and galleries are acquired when their content is appropriate to the subject scope of the collection. Ephemeral publications, such as calendars, exhibition announcements, and exhibition checklists are not retained for the collection.

E. Sales and Auction Documentation

Sales and auction catalogs of photographs and photographica are not collected. Sales and auction catalogs of books and posters are acquired selectively for office use by the Art and Photography Librarian. Secondary sources about the photography market, such as price guides, are not collected.

F. Trade Catalogs

Catalogs issued by manufacturers and distributors of historically significant equipment (for example, Kodak and Anthony) are acquired very selectively, primarily in reprint, if they will serve as primary source material for the study of the history of photography.

G. Loose Reproductions of Photographs, Study Photographs, Pictures

RIT Library does not maintain a file of source illustrations or reproductions of photographs. Material of this type issued in bound or portfolio format is considered for addition to the collection (see also Section VI.B).

H. Software and CD-ROMs

Indexing and abstracting services and other sources will be acquired in electronic formats when they meet subject collection criteria as well as the Electronic Resources Policy criteria [in process].

IX. Collection Maintenance

Continuous maintenance of the collection is based upon systematic evaluation of materials in all locations in relationship to curriculum shifts, use statistics, core bibliographies, physical space limitations, and the availability of information in alternative formats. Current periodical titles are reviewed annually prior to their renewal. All other areas of the collection should be reviewed every three to five years. The collection maintenance process includes weeding materials no longer relevant to curriculum needs of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, and related programs in other colleges as described in Section II. Description of the Programs Served by the Fine and Applied Arts Collection, eliminating superfluous titles when information is duplicated in more current or more authoritative sources, and ordering replacement copies of damaged and heavily used items still relevant to curriculum needs.

A. Weeding

1. Not Weeded
   The following collections are permanent holdings and are not to be weeded:
   a. Photography Purchase Prizes.
   b. Portfolios of photographic work by RIT faculty, departments, students.
   
   
2. Duplicates Only Weeded
   a. Monographs
   1. Publications housed in the Eastman Kodak file.
   2. At least one copy in good condition of standard and classic titles listed in major bibliographies of photography, such as Boni's Photographic Literature, Roosens and Salu's History of Photography: A Bibliography of Books, and Julia Van Haaften's "Photography" in A Guide to the Literature of Art History, should be retained in the collection.
   b. Serials
   A highly selective collection of consumer periodicals central to the history of twentieth century American design and photography is maintained as a primary resource for the study of these disciplines. Although most of the collection is housed in the Archives and Special Collections stacks, several titles (for example, House and Garden, House Beautiful, a second run of Life) are housed in the bound periodicals area. One copy in good condition of these titles should be retained in hard copy.
   
   
3. Selective Weeding
   The photography collection is a blend of materials related to the arts, the sciences, and technology. As such, photography materials retain their currency for varying lengths of time. In general, technical and scientific titles have a shorter useful life than those on fine art and illustration photography. However, some technically-oriented materials, particularly those describing processes, methods, and equipment from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, have continuing value as documentation of the development of the medium and are vital sources of information for the preservation of images from pre-modern times. Similarly, older works on the history, criticism, and aesthetics of photography are often essential in establishing the historiography of the still-emerging discipline of photography history. Therefore, weeding of the photography collection should be extremely selective in all areas.
   a. Monographs
   Multiple copies should be carefully scrutinized in all areas. If recent circulation statistics do not show a need to retain them and at least one copy is in good condition, extra copies should be deaccessioned.
   b. Serials
   1. Indexing and Abstracting Services
      Bibliographic control of the periodical literature of the photographic arts and sciences is far less comprehensive than for science, technology, social science, and even the fine arts. Although access to some photography titles is provided through systems serving other disciplines (particularly engineering and art), this is far from systematic. At present, the large general access systems such as CARL and Lexis/Nexis provide only minimal coverage of photography.
      There is virtually no overlap in indexing and abstracting coverage of any aspect of photography. Thus, the publications cited below (which constitute all the available indexing and abstracting services specific to photography) should be discarded only when equivalent or improved coverage and access is available through new sources, printed or electronic (i.e. covers approximately same or more pertinent journal titles in the field and/or provides enhanced search capabilities pertinent to our programs). Indexing coverage for scientific and technical photography is provided by Imaging Abstracts (1921-date under various titles) and Abstracts of Photographic Science and Engineering Literature (1915-1972 under various titles). Coverage of fine art and applied photography is provided through Photohistorica (1978-date), International Index to Photography (1978-1984 under various titles), Photography Magazine Index (1978-1985), and Photo Info (1989-1990). Coverage of motion picture periodicals is provided by Film Literature Index (1973-date) and International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-date).
   2. Scholarly Publications
      Long runs of key scholarly journals in all aspects of photography that meet the criteria given in the introduction to this section should be retained indefinitely. Priority for retention should be given to titles accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library and titles not available in any other Rochester-area library. Short runs and broken runs should be scrutinized more carefully and retention decisions should be based on the collecting levels assigned in Section X: Subject Divisions.
   3. Photography Annuals
      Photography annuals such as Graphis Photo, Deutsche Lichtbild, American Photography, and Advertising Photography in Japan are invaluable sources for the study of both contemporary developments and the history of fine art and applied photography. Only duplicates and severely mutilated items should be weeded from the collection.
   4. Creative Directories
      A selection of well-illustrated creative directories (for example, Creative Black Book, Workbook) is maintained as a visual record of the history of contemporary commercial design and photography, functioning in much the same way as design and photography annuals. Only the current issue of creative directories that are not illustrated or have few illustrations (for example Green Book) should be retained.
   5. Trade Journals
      Retention of trade journals should be carefully scrutinized. Those that provide primarily timely information (industry news, new products, market trends, etc.) should be discarded after a period of one to five years. Those that include articles of more lasting value should be considered for longer retention, particularly if they are accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library.
      
      
4. Current Editions Only Retained
   a. Monographs
   1. Modern (post-1960) textbooks.
   2. Modern (post-1960) manuals of practice.
   3. Career guidance and professional information (legal, business, tax, grant, etc. materials)
   4. Standards
   b. Serials
   1. Newsletters, calendars, other current awareness services providing timely information about the events and activities of organizations and institutions, employment opportunities.
   2. Membership directories of arts organizations
   3. Directories of museums and other arts organizations

B. Replacement of Materials

1. Lost, Mutilated
   
   Every effort should be made to replace lost or heavily mutilated titles if they are judged to be of continuing relevance to the collection. Out-of-print materials should be searched through general search services or special photography book dealers. When mutilation is confined to a few pages, replacement copies of these should be requested through the Information Delivery Service (see RIT Library Bindery Policy: Monographs and RIT Library Bindery Policy: Serials).
   
   
2. Duplicate Gift Copies
   
   Gifts which duplicate existing holdings should be used to upgrade the condition of collection by replacing worn circulating copies with more sound gift copies.

C. Stacks Maintenance

Because the "TR" and "OVER" areas, where the majority of the circulating photography materials are housed, are among the most intensely-used areas of the RIT Library collection, they should be shelf-read frequently . The condition of items shelved in these areas should be monitored to ensure those in need of repair and rebinding are attended to before they are irreparably damaged.

 

X. Subject Divisions

[rev. 7/94]

Maintained by Sheila Smokey