Discovering Hidden Collections:

Cataloging Ethnographic Auction Catalogs in the Brooklyn

Museum Library

Rebecca PlockLIS 698 Seminar & Practicum

Fall 2014

Auction Catalogs

• In 2012, the Council on Library & Information Resources added the Brooklyn Museum Library’s auction catalog collection to their Hidden Collections Registry.

• Approximately 50% of the estimated 30,000+ auction catalogs in the Library’s holdings represent sales of American art, Latin American art, & ethnographic art (African, Oceanic, Native American)• So, just how is the Brooklyn Museum making this hidden auction catalog collection visible?

NYARC : New York Art Resources Consortium

• Brooklyn Museum Library

• The Frick Art Reference Library

• Museum of Modern Art Library

The M-LEAD II (Museum Library Education and Digitization) internship program is funded by an IMLS-grant (Institute of Museum and Library Services), which fosters collaboration between Pratt Institute’s School of Information & Library Science, the Brooklyn Museum Library, the Frick Art Reference Library, and NYARC. 

KEEP / WEED CRITERIA

There are exceptions to these rules!

The Copy Cataloging Process

• If there are no holdings in Arcade, search for a SCIPIO (Sales Catalog Index Project Input Online) auction catalog bibliographic record in OCLC’s Connexion.

• SCIPIO launched in 1980, creating a shared database for auction catalogs.

OCLC Record Before Brooklyn Museum Edits

OCLC Record After Brooklyn Museum Edits

Record in Millennium

Record in Brookmuse / How it appears in the OPAC

Value of Ethnographic Auction Catalogs

• Cultural Identity

• Market Value History

• Provenance

• Repatriation