Artist files have a particularly special place in art libraries. These collections can comprise primary and secondary source material and are often diligently compiled and organized by an archivist, librarian, gallerist, or art historian. Artist files thus blur the line between archival and library material, presenting a unique challenge that shapes how we process and provide access to them. While these collections are extremely valuable to research, they also require a large commitment of time and space that is difficult to meet. When accepting new materials, librarians have to develop creative procedures for processing, description, collection development, outreach, and space planning. The session aims to provide librarians and archivists who may struggle with maintaining their collections-or those who hope to begin one-with useful tools and strategies. We hope, too, that it will generate more conversation on how we as a community can improve discovery and access for artist files and other collections that straddle the library/archive boundary. Presenters will discuss case studies from their institutions, detailing specific collection donations that they have accepted into their current artist files. They will explain why these particular donations were accepted and how the uniqueness of the materials impacts how they are processed and accessed. They will highlight the successes and difficulties encountered as well as plans for the future.
