Week 2: I certainly have a lot of questions...

My main research interest when I applied to the program, and for much of my time here at the iSchool, has been regarding the practice and processes of digitizing illustrated diaries, journals, photographic prints and rare illustrated books and manuscripts in order to retain the integrity of these material objects when they are converted into a digitally accessible format. While this is certainly something I remain interested in today, and have fortunately learned much about during my studies thus far, my research interests have been steadily shifting towards art librarianship.

After completing Luker’s 15-minute exercise some of the questions I would like to pursue include:

Is art librarianship a dying profession in Canada? The cuts at the National Gallery of Canada in 2013 saw the elimination of one-third of the Library staff, a discouraging figure for aspiring art librarians to say the least. With this is mind, are there any measures in place for knowledge management/transference at various galleries, museums, archives and libraries (GLAMs) should professionals in these institutions be let go or retire? Will new librarians be hired or will the library simply redistribute duties or adopt a self-service model?

How are people using art collections? Is it primarily for educational and research endeavours: students, curators, professors, and collectors? Are users primarily internal? What is the frequency to which these collections are being used? How can we encourage people to visit and use these collections? Do people without any background or experience in art or art history feel comfortable in these spaces? If not, then how can we change this?

I am sure that many of these questions have already been addressed in the existing body of literature, but I would still like the opportunity to explore them with my own unique approach and my own unique perspective. While I clearly was not able to develop a succinct or even partially structured research question during these 15 minutes, I asked myself many questions I didn’t even realize I had.