First Post!

Random stuff that may be of interest to you three, because of your particular histories/passions (more later....):

Artcataloging

Paleo-Future

TaggerSteve Museum

Digital Libraries


and

from: David Wagner

Julia,

I got my art degree at the University of Minnesota and lived in Minneapolis for many years, the Paris of the Midwest. I'd be living there now if it wasn't so cold in the winter
and hot in the summer. It's a wonderful town.
The wonderful downtown library on 3rd street was one of my major hangouts
(even at night - the new Federal Building across the street has an enormous
layout of granite slabs that became a big scene for performance artists,
skateboarders, street theatre, and most important, girls.) and had
voluminous stacks. I know about the fireplaces now - I am a public art
consultant, and was involved in some of the art in the library. I remember
getting blank stares when asking about where the books were going to be
stored. I visited the library in late February and it is very pretty, but
disappointing.

The library I am building here will be called the Library of the Sky. A
reference to the land here, which is spectacular big sky country, and to my
own particular background in aviation, art and history. I have been
involved in many projects, usually public art, that incorporates wind,
aviation, air, and sky. I also have a considerable collection of American
and Asian fiction.

I had a couple inspirations for my library. One is my very close friend,
Jim Wells, who was the director of the Washington County Library system in
the Twin Cities for many years. He always had an unconventional approach to
book and film collection, and especially, the way it was accessed. Needless
to say, never very popular with the Library Board, or with some of the
librarians (he forbade the use of Google by his librarians), but he retired
a couple years ago and now sends me a large box of books every few weeks.
I was also very impressed with the Prelinger Library in San Francisco. I
lived in Oakland for the last 6 years, and I happened into their non
descript building because I got lost looking for the studio of an artist I
was working with. Their approach to collection layout, dependent on context
and proximity, was eye opening to me. I didn't know you didn't have to use
the Dewey Decimal System.

Jim and I are still formulating a way to approach this. I am planning to
purchase a large chunk of the collection of Tal Streeter, a New York
minimalist sculptor who retired here in Santa Fe recently and a very old
friend of mine, and this has made a change in the way we are looking at the
collection.

But I enjoy your concept very much. Let me know if you accept books from
donors and what is the best way to do this.

You're right - The Hell Hole was written by a husband and wife team. Their
photo inside depicts a fun loving couple - cocktails, cigars, and palm trees
abound.

Best,

David Wagner
4007 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Tel 505 795 5286