What’s the title? some challenges when cataloguing artists’ books

摘要

Many artists’ books contain title pages and colophons carrying bibliographic details and pose no or fewdifficulties for the cataloguer. However, others do not follow bibliographic conventions, lacking title pages and/orsignificant pieces of information. This may be because the artist is not interested in the bibliographic elements,is intentionally omitting them or because such conventions will spoil the layout and flow of the book or are out ofkeeping with the spirit of the work. This can cause challenges for the cataloguer. Artists’ books are held bymany different types of libraries including academic libraries and museums and galleries libraries, for exampleUniversity of Arts London Libraries (including Chelsea College of Art & Design Library and London College ofCommunication Library), Winchester School of Art Library, Scottish Poetry Library, Tate Library and Archiveand National Art Library. They tend to be held in special collections closed to general access. Therefore,access is through the catalogue, making the catalogue record of upmost importance. This article discusses thedescriptive catalogue record indicating some of the difficulties that a cataloguer may face in cataloguing artists’books.