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A Guide to her Papers at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Julia Kilgore

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Irvine, Betty Jo.

Collection No.
C648

Extent
10 cubic feet (10 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
This collection consists of the personal research, publications, correspondence, and teaching materials of Betty Jo (B.J.) Irvine, the Director of the Indiana University Fine Arts Library from 1969 to 2007. It also contains work related to her activities with professional organizations such as Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA).

Access Restrictions

Select files closed to researchers. The majority of the collection is open for research. Advance notice required for access to collection.

Biographical Note

Betty Jo (B.J.) Kish Irvine is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. She earned her B.A. degree in Art History with a minor in studio art from Indiana University in 1966. In the summer of 1966, Irvine was hired by the IU Libraries and Henry Hope, the chair of the Fine Arts Department, to manage the department’s sizeable slide collection. Irvine was appointed Director of the Fine Arts Library in 1969 after completing her master’s degree in library science at IU. Irvine completed her Ph.D. in library science in 1982 with a dissertation focused on women in academic libraries, higher education, and corporate management.

During her time at IU Irvine was actively involved in obtaining faculty status for IU librarians and played crucial roles in the formation of the Bloomington Library Faculty Council and the Indiana University Librarians Association. She was also the driving force behind the creation of IU’s Fine Arts Library. In 1992, she was presented with the William Evans Jenkins Award for her work and dedication to the Indiana University Libraries.

Irvine is also a well-established member of the library community outside of IU. She was one of the first members the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), where she served in various capacities including a term as president from 1992-1993 and as an executive committee member from 1991-1994. She also chaired numerous committees, task forces, and initiatives for the organization, including the ARLIS/NA Standards Committee on Physical Facilities, for which she edited Facilities Standards for Art Libraries and Visual Resources Collections (1991). In 2002 she was awarded the society’s highest honor: ARLIS/NA Distinguished Services Award. Irvine retired from her position at the Fine Arts Library in July 2007.

Arrangement

The collection consists of four series: Publications, Professional Activities, Art Libraries Society of North America, and Teaching Files.

Scope and Content Note

The Betty Jo Irvine papers document Irvine’s personal correspondence, research, publications, and professional activities, and contains materials dating from 1963-2013. The content is organized into four series: Publications, Professional Activities, Art Libraries Society of North America, and Teaching Files. The collection contains records that Irvine created in her official capacity as director of the IU Fine Arts Library.

The Publications series is further organized into three subseries. The Slide Libraries: A Guide for Academic Institutions and Museums (1963-1981) subseries contains correspondence and research related to the publication of the first (1974) and second (1979) editions of Irvine and Eileen Fry’s work Slide Libraries: A Guide for Academic Institutions, Museums, and Special Collections. The second subseries, Guide to the Literature of Art History 2 (1995-1997 and undated), consists of documents and files pertaining to Irvine’s contributions to the edited volume Guide to the Literature of Art History 2 (2004). The final sub-series, Publications, Papers, and Interviews (1975-2013), contains various publications and interviews authored or associated with Irvine’s career.

The Professional Activities series (1969-2013) is further organized into four subseries. The first pertaining to Faculty Status (1968-2003) contains any and all documents related to faculty status and are arranged first in committee groups and then in rough chronological order. Consultation Projects (1970-2002) is comprised of documents and correspondence relating to various consultation projects Dr. Irvine completed over the years. The Professional Activities by Date sub-series (1969-2013) and Contributions to Professional Groups subseries, relate to various committees and professional organizations she served such as the College Art Association (CAA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries.

The Art Libraries Society of North America /College Art Association (ARLIS/NA) series (1974-2009) is organized into two subseries. The first consists of general files from approximately 1974 to 2009 and the second consists of working files for the ARLIS /NA Standards Committee on Physical Facilities of which Betty Jo was the Committee Chair (1984-1990).

The Teaching series (1969-2007) is comprised of research, resources, student assignments, and other lecture materials for Dr. Irvine’s class A575 “Research Sources in Art History” which she taught annually.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Irvine, Betty Jo--Archives.
  • Irvine, Betty Jo--Correspondence.
  • Indiana University, Bloomington. Fine Arts Library--Faculty--Archives.
• • Topics
  • Art--Study and teaching (Higher)--Indiana--Bloomington--History--20th century--Sources.
  • Art--Research--Indiana--Bloomington--History--20th century--Sources.
  • Librarians--Indiana--Bloomington--History--20th century--Sources.

Separated Material

Twenty original photos for the second edition of Irvine’s book Slide Libraries: A Guide for Academic Institutions, Museums, and Special Collections. were separated from the main collection.

Numerous photographs were transferred to the IU Archives Photograph Collection.

Related Material

Records from Irvine's tenure as director of the IU Fine Arts Library are located in the Indiana University Fine Arts Library Director’s records, 1950-2007, Collection C637.

Related photographs may be found in the Indiana University Archives Photograph Collection.

Administrative Information

Container List