Robert-Goldwater-Library

The RGL blog has moved!

The Robert Goldwater Library has been relaunched!

http://goldwaterlibrary.typepad.com

{http://goldwaterlibrary.org} 

This old blog shall remain as an archive of posts ca. 2005-2007.

Thank you!
The Management

 

EH, we salute you!

Congratulations to goldwaterlibrary.org blogger extraordinaire Erika Hauser on her much-deserved promotion to Senior Library Associate. Woo-hoo!

-- Her fellow bloggers Ross & Joy

Goldwater Library Summer Hours

During the summer months the Goldwater Library will be subject to occasional partial or all-day closures. If you are planning to visit the library, you are advised to call ahead to confirm that the library will be available (212 570-3707).

(Regular hours: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

Upcoming closures:

Anniversaries, gold & silver

Fifty years ago today, The Museum of Primitive Art opened its doors on West Fifty-fourth Street to the public.

It was the beginning of a distinguished history of presenting the finest examples of material culture from the cultures of Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas in ground-breaking, informative and imaginative displays. During those years the Museum also issued a succession of distinguished scholarly publications on these cultures and the finest private collections of the era.

For nearly that entire period the Library of the Museum of Primitive Art offered an unrivaled collection of books and journals on art and anthropology combined with knowledgeable public reference.

After nearly eighteen years the Museum shut its door on Jan. 1, 1975.

The Museum, of course, is the precursor to the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (AAOA) in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the host for this blog. In May 1969 Nelson Rockefeller, president and founding spirit of the Museum of Primitive Art, announced the transfer of the collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to be housed in a new wing ...

"So What's Your Blog About?"

We're often asked that question. And it's a good one. It's one we've had to answer ever since the blog débuted in October 2005. And while the answers have morphed over time, the basic outlines have remained the same. Here are a few typical questions with our best stabs at an answer for each.

So what's your blog about?

Library closed for three weeks

The Robert Goldwater Library and the Photograph Study Collection (AAOA) will be closed to staff and public from Monday, December 19, 2005, to Friday, January 6, 2006, due to ongoing construction activity on the Rockefeller Mezzanine. Staff needing to use these collections may be able to make an appointment for time during the closure, subject to physical accessibility and adequate staffing. You must call Ross Day (Goldwater Library) or Virginia-lee Webb (Photograph Study Collection) prior to coming to the Rockefeller Mezzanine.

The blog, on the other hand, will not be taking a holiday.

Fine Print

The opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The Metropolitan Museum of Art ("the Museum") or its employees, nor do they constitute an endorsement of these opinions by the Museum. Neither the authors nor the Museum are responsible for any content linked externally from this site.

Who are we?

Ross Day (seen here in an earlier photo) is the head of the Robert Goldwater Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Joy Garnett is the library's manager and blog-meister. Check out her growing web empire at http://joygarnett.com

Erika Hauser is a Senior Library Associate who enjoys dual citizenship between the Robert Goldwater and Thomas J. Watson Libraries. 

The Robert Goldwater Library

Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 1843
Author: John Lloyd Stephens (American, 1805–1852)
New York: Harper Bros., 1843
Gift of the Dept. of Twentieth Century Art, 1998 (UD S83 1843 v.2) MMA

The Robert Goldwater Library (AAOA)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Robert Goldwater Library is a noncirculating research library dedicated to the documentation of the visual arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Native and Precolumbian America. Part of the Museum’s Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, the library is open to adult researchers, including college and graduate students.

The Library collection comprises over 20,000 books published worldwide, with an additional 10,000 volumes of periodicals, including current subscriptions to 200 journals. Subject strengths include the art and material culture of West Africa, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya (Indonesia), and Precolumbian Mexico and Peru, with extensive holdings in related disciplines such as anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology. The library routinely collects exhibition and auction sales catalogs, as well as academic theses and dissertations.

Watsonline, the Museum’s online library catalog, provides access to the Goldwater Library’s holdings, with searching available by author, title, subject, keyword, or call number. An in-house card catalog provides access to articles in journals held by the library. A reference librarian is available during public hours to assist the visiting researcher. Library staff will also answer ready reference and bibliographic questions by telephone, fax, or email.

Hours and Access
Located on the mezzanine level of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, the library is open Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is closed Mondays, weekends, and staff holidays. No appointment is necessary except for the period from August 1 through Labor Day.

To visit the library, a pass must be obtained from the Reception Desk in either the Great Hall (82nd Street, main entrance) or the Uris Center (81st Street, ground floor), where directions to the library will be given. Museum visitors intending only to use the library do not pay Museum admission.

Policies for Use
All materials other than those in the Reading Room reference collection must be requested through the Circulation Desk by using call slips. Researchers can request items (up to five items at a time) until 4:15pm daily. The stacks are open only to designated staff.

Please note the following guidelines regarding the library:

• Coats and nonessential packages must be checked at a Museum checkroom located on the main and ground floors before entering the library.

• Researchers must sign upon arrival.

• Food and drink of any kind are forbidden, as is smoking (which is prohibited throughout the Museum).

• No form of photography is permitted.

• Cell phones must be turned off.

• Researchers may use laptop computers.

Photocopying
A photocopier located in the Reference Room is available to researchers for a small fee per copy. The library cannot assume responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the copying of materials in the collection.

History
The library of the Museum of Primitive Art, located on West 54th Street in Manhattan, opened to the public in 1957. After closing in 1975, it was transferred, with other holdings of that institution, to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1978. In January 1982 the library reopened to the public as the Robert Goldwater Library. Goldwater (1907-1973) was the first director of the Museum of Primitive Art and a renowned scholar in both modern and African art. His Primitivism in Modern Art, initially published in 1938, was the pioneering study of the subject.

Contact Us
The Robert Goldwater Library
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York NY 10028-0198

Telephone (212) 570-3707
Fax          (212) 5703879

www.metmuseum.org