Annotated Bibliography

Archives Practicum

Portland Art Museum: Conservation Department

Robyn Ward
 Annotated Bibliography

Appelbaum, B. (2007). Conservation treatment methodology. Oxford: Butterworth-

Heinemann.

The author argues for a systematic methodology for approaching conservation

treatment. She provides a detailed grid system in which social and scientific

matters are considered regarding treatment and analysis. She argues that this step-

by-step approach is needed for standardization, which has not been addressed in

such an in-depth way in the past. The book also provides excellent information

regarding preservation and the goals of treatment, conservation concepts and

methodologies, and provides a compelling argument for the purpose of

documentation with specific examples.

Baca, M., Harpring, P., Lanzi, E., McRae, L., & Whiteside, A. (Eds.) (2006). Cataloging

cultural objects: A guide to describing cultural works and their images.

This book serves as a guide for setting standards for data structures, values, and

contents to help in descriptive cataloging. The aim of the authors is to create a

framework for consistency for documentation, the ability to share records

between repositories, and to increase access for users. It is a good resource for

those in the field of cataloging of objects within museums and other cultural

institutions.

Bright, B. (2005). No longer innocent: Book art in America 1960-1980. New York, NY:

Granary Books.

The author begs the question of how to define an artist book and addresses the

complications of being able to classify and assign a genre to these books. Artists
 books are multi-media and how can they just be relegated to print collections?

Libraries, museums and archives may struggle with knowing how to handle such

collections. The author provides an in-depth look at the history, process, and

related fields associated with the artist book such as typography and printing.

Conti, A. (2007). A history of the restoration and conservation of works of art. Oxford:

Elsevier Ltd. [translated by Helen Glanville]

This text has been described as being a hermeneutics of conservation. It is a very

theoretical and philosophical approach to looking at the history of art

conservation. The chapters go into great detail regarding the three levels of

restoration techniques and show specific examples and illustrations for analysis.

These levels are 1) restoration as conservation, 2) aesthetic restoration, and 3)

visible restoration.

Forde, H. (2007). Preserving archives. London: Facet Publishing.

This is a excellent guide for archivists in developing preservation policies and

strategies. The author provides in-depth coverage of addressing issues regarding

environment, risk-management and assessment, handling, storage, digitization,

access, exhibiting and setting up a workshop. It is a very practical and useful

guide not only for archives but for libraries and museums as well.

Gascoigne, B. (2004). How to identify prints: A complete guide to manual and

mechanical processes from woodcut to inkjet. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.

This book is an excellent reference for printing techniques and terms. The book is

divided into three sections: detailed descriptions of print types, how to identify

prints, and then a vocabulary of terms, bibliography and a glossary index. This
 resource is flexible in that it can be an excellent reference for the complete novice

or for an expert.

Gorman, G. E. & Shep, S. J. (Eds.). (2006). Preservation management for libraries,

archives and museums. London: Facet Publishing.

This is a collection of essays that address contemporary preservation and access

issues within cultural institutions. It examines how these two issues are one in the

same. More and more museums, libraries, and archives are collaborating and

pulling together limited resources in order to provide access to distributed

collections. With this comes negotiation of cultural, social, economic and political

factors that play important roles in holding collections. This is a thought

provoking collection.

Greenfield, J. (1988). The care of fine books. New York, NY: Lyons & Burford

Publishers.

This is a concise and straightforward work dedicated to the care of books. The

author is an authority on preservation having worked at Yale and also as a private

conservator. The book covers preservation techniques and provides a short history

of book-construction methods and materials and covers the issues of storage and

handling of books.

Kosek, J. M. & Jacobs, D. (2005). What happens to enclosed paper? In J. Reyner, J. M.

Kosek, & B. Christensen (Eds.), Art on paper mounting and housing (pp. 29-35).

London: Archetype Publications Ltd.

Paper is made of biodegradable material, which can survive for hundreds of years

under proper protective conditions. But confined microenvironments can

 potentially create deterioration problems, even if both environment and material

seem stable. The author takes a case-by-case approach in presenting problems that

can arise using certain enclosures for paper. The article is quite technical and is

clearly written for other conservators.

Pacific Northwest College of Art. (1999). Gordon Gilkey printmaker. Portland, Oregon:

Pacific Northwest college of Art.

This is an exhibition catalog of Gordon Gilkey’s work. The exhibit was a

retrospective of over 60 years of his prints and photographs. The etchings

contained within the catalog give an eclectic and broad view of Gilkey’s work. It

is also a nice concise retrospective of Gilkey’s life and accomplishments.

Parshall, P. & Schoch, R. (2005). Origins of European printmaking: Fifteenth-century

woodcuts and their public. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Origins of European Printmaking is a collection of essays and an extensive

catalog representing early printmaking. The authors focus on the 15th century

woodcut as the medium for questioning the long standing thought and history

surrounding printing and its implications. It is understood currently that much

work hasn’t been done and what has is questionable. That the most current

theories are taken second and third hand and the most recent are from the early

20th century. A very thought provoking and detailed look into the history and

medium.
Ross, J., Romano, C., & Ross, T. (1990). The complete printmaker: techniques,

traditions, innovations [revised and expanded edition]. New York, NY: The Free

Press.

This book is a comprehensive resource, which goes into great detail describing

and covering not only the origins and developments of the various printing

processes but also covers materials, techniques, technology, the art of the book,

and the handling and storage of prints. This resource is a must have for printers.

Stratis, H. K. & Salvesen, B. (Eds.). (2002). The broad spectrum: Studies in the

materials, techniques, and conservation of color on paper. London: Archetype

Publications Ltd.

This is a compilation of papers from a conference held at the Art Institute of

Chicago in October 1999. These papers cover conservation issues dealing with

various art mediums ranging from materials used from the nineteenth to twentieth

centuries. Issues of examination, conservation, storage, and display of materials

are also covered. A big focus of the conference was to discuss the distinction

between materials and meanings in works of art... technical and scientific versus

historical and curatorial.

Wythe, D. (Ed.). (2004). Museum archives: An introduction. Chicago, Ill.: The Society of

American Archivists.

This is a seminal work regarding museum archives. This collection gives a good

overall analysis with specific examples. It delves into issues of context of

collection development, archival fundamentals such as description, arrangement

 and appraisal, and archive management such preservation, disaster planning and

security issues.

Young, L.S. (1995). Bookbinding & conservation by hand: A working guide. New Castle,

Delaware: Oak Knoll Press.

This practical hands-on, technical guide leads the reader step-by-step through the

binding of books and also the making of protective boxes and covers. The book

serves as a great resource for the novice as well as the professional. The author is

known as one of the founders of what is considered the “modern conservation

movement”. The chapter relating to general guidelines for conservation is

extraordinarily helpful.

Zigrosser, C. (1957). The expressionists: A survey of their graphic art. New York, N.Y.:

George Braziller, Inc.

This is a concise look at expressionism as a movement and focuses in particular

on German expressionism and the key players within this movement. German

expressionists tended toward woodcuts, etchings, and lithographs. This book

focuses on these three main mediums. Beautiful examples of each method along

with discussion of key artists responsible for this work are highlighted throughout

the book.