SAA Student Chapter Presents

Collectors, Collecting, and Collections

May 30, 2003

SPEAKERS:

John Smith - Assistant Director for Collections & Research
The Andy Warhol Museum

Randall Szott - MFA, Collector

Amy McCrory - EAD Specialist/Archivist
Cartoon Research Library, Ohio State University

Lee Stout - Head of Public Services and Outreach
Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Penn State University

1. Collecting is a passion and characteristic of the professional commercial artist
2. Collecting and documenting examples of items representing a "type"
3. It is difficult to perform archival description regarding the details of collecting
4. The collection is an "organic whole"
5. Collecting reflects the interests of modern day culture
6. People are "driven" to collect, to acquire "more" - "passion"
7. Collecting is an art that documents personal "tastes"
8. Collecting and collections are working tools of the artist

1. Collecting is "conceptual" and "passionate" with limitations
2. The search for new acquisitions, the "thrill of the hunt" - striving for "completeness"
3. Collecting - an "experience" characterized by "competition" and "mania"
4. Collecting souvenirs and memorabilia - sentimentality and enjoyment
   

1. Collecting - the result of "ideas"
2. "Zeal" for collecting
3. Selling the "whole" collection vs. selling "pieces" of the collection
4. Establishing a "connection" or "connections" between collections of art forms
5. Maintaining a working knowledge of the collection

1. Collections growth and records management issues
2. Collecting electronic records and maintenance of Web-based collections
3. Collecting is about assuming responsibility, setting parameters, ensuring authenticity, capturing information, and remembering "experiences"
4. There is an increased interest in building websites that comprehensively cover topics of interest - collecting information resources, images of documents, and links to digital assets within the Web
5. Collecting can be a "transformative" process
6. Organizational cooperation is essential to collecting and preserving records
7. Is the function and purpose of archives to collect?