The Collection:
The Art Slide Collection of Olson Library consists of 15,000+ images accessible through the Slide Locator and located in the Instructional Media Services office (LRC 326).
As a work in progress, the collection is organized in various ways: the main collection is classified according to the Tselos system of the University of Minnesota, which divides works into various geographic/cultural groups, and within those groups by time periods, nationality, art form and artist. The completed sections of this collection contain Western painting and sculpture thru the twentieth century. A large part of the main collection, however, remains unclassified; this portion contains the majority of the architecture slides, various "minor arts," and sets of images not yet integrated into the main collection. Unclassified slides ARE in the Slide Locator.
The other main part of the collection is composed of sets which have accompanying print material. These are classified by the Library of Congress system and are integrated into the Media Collection. Individual images of some of the larger sets have also been entered into the Slide Locator.
Tselos: a quick summary:
| ABORIGINAL |
Native and tribal art; in our collection at the moment this contains African and Pre-Columbian images. |
| FAR EAST |
Central Asia, China, India, Japan, Korea and SE Asia; at the moment no work has been done in this area. The collection is very small. |
| NEAR EAST |
Anatolia, Cyprus, Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria; in our collection at the moment this grouping contains works in the ancient art of all areas. |
| WEST |
Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Russia; at the moment our collection contains mostly European and American works in the following time periods:
Ante-History Within WESTERN art, the time periods are subdivided basically into Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Minor Arts. Each medium is further subdivided by Country and within the Country by Artist in modern eras and other devices for earlier periods. In the Twentieth Century there are no national subdivisions due to the extensive mobility of artists. |
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| Access: |
As can be seen, working effectively within the classified collection is not a matter for simple browsing--in fact, browsing is discouraged. In order to make best use of the collection, it is strongly suggested that patrons discuss their needs with IMS Supervisor Keenan Tunnell, who will assist in searching for appropriate images. Search results can be printed out for future reference and a list of any slides borrowed will be provided. If an extensive search or large number of slides is required, an appointment would be in order and can be made by e-mail or by phone. Mr. Tunnell is available from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday thru Thursday. Generally speaking the "48 hour rule" applies, as does the 3-day loan period. A small light table, caramate viewer, and empty carousels are available for organizing slides, and a projector can be booked for classroom presentations. |
