The universal availability of art publications: a global context

Abstract

‘Universal Availability of Publications’ (UAP) and the universal availability of art publications should be considered in the context of ‘one world’, a world in which we all share responsibility for our fellow human beings. In this context both librarianship and art, and thus art librarianship also, should be seen as services rendered to humankind at large. IFLA’s UAP programme has been conceived as a service, intended to supply genuine human needs, and art librarians, who are constantly frustrated in their efforts to serve users of art libraries by the limitations to the availability of art documentation, can readily identify a need for ‘Universal Availability of Art Publications’. Nevertheless, a worldwide programme of this nature is in danger, first, of being pursued for its own sake (or for the sake of ‘needs’ which are imagined, over-emphasised, or misconceived), and second, of reinforcing cultural imperialism. Safeguards include acceptance of the necessity to proceed step by step in pursuit of a success which can never be complete; the fact that UAP is founded on local collections developed to meet local needs; recognition of the imbalance in the production of publications in different parts of the world; and recognition of the importance of unpublished documentation and of ‘publications’ which do not as yet exist. A greater emphasis on increasing the availability, and generating the production, of publications from countries which publish relatively little, is proposed. A fourth safeguard ought to derive from the professional ethics and grass-roots experience of librarians, who serve and identify with library users, actual and potential. The pursuit of universal availability of art publications should be based on realistic assessment of what is feasible, and on local, regional, and national resources, with all possible encouragement being given to developing countries to document their own arts. Art librarians may be paying too little attention to the needs of users and, especially, of non-users of art libraries, and should be aware of the barriers to availability which can result from the prevalence of a narrow, elitist conception of ‘Art’ and from the provision of library services primarily for an elite. Without neglecting the service of scholarship, the art library profession should try to shift the balance of its commitment towards the provision of a service for everyone, everywhere, so that our interpretation and pursuit of the ‘Universal Availability of Art Publications’ truly reflects a vision of our whole world’s heritage and practice ‘of divers arts’.This is the text of a paper presented to the Section of Art Libraries, at the 1985 IFLA Council in Chicago.