Scholarly text from private sources

Scholarly Text from Private Sources

An emphasis of TFAO's Resource Library publication is making available to its online readers scholarly texts beneficial for the study of the history of representational art in the United States in all centuries of the nation's history and from all geographic regions and states. While the majority of texts published by Resource Library are accepted from institutional sources, topical articles and essays from individuals and other private sources are also published.

Texts with solid educational and historic value are welcomed from individual writers, artist organizations and commercial galleries. Texts from galleries are usually essays from exhibition catalogues. Resource Library publishes, however, no publicity articles concerning current and upcoming commercial gallery exhibitions or for group exhibitions of artist organizations at museums or art centers. Resource Library selectively publishes publicity articles concerning exhibitions of artist organizations' individual members at museums or art centers. Artist organizations include cooperatives, clubs and other membership societies.

Why is this publication valuable to the public?

Access

Many Americans who want to learn about our Nation's art live away from metropolitan areas. Rural libraries often hold few scholarly texts related to

art. Resource Library readers from all corners of America have access to hundreds of texts from exhibition catalogues and other sources.

Resource Library's use of HTML word wrap feature allows for widths of lines of text to automatically adjust to fit various screen sizes. Word wrap makes it possible for Resource Library pages to be easily read on all devices that connect to the Internet including computers and hand held devices. (right: the Apple iPhone, which contains a browser, is a recent example of a device that provides access to the full contents of TFAO's web site. Image courtesy Apple Computer)

Aid for the handicapped

Visual impaired individuals can easily increase the size of Resource Library texts they are reading on the screen. This benefit is possible by the way in which Resource Library publishes articles and essays.

Freedom from economic constraints

Since Resource Library does not bear the cost burden of printing and distributing articles and essays on paper, whole texts can be published online instead of condensations. Also, there is no charge to readers.

Search capability

100% of the content of texts in Resource Library is searchable both externally and internally, sharply reducing the time needed to find relevant information.

Translation

One of the features of Resource Library's method of presentation is that every published page can be easily translated to a variety of languages through simple online instructions.

Why is this publication valuable to the copyright holder?

Increased visibility and stimulus for sales

Resource Library increases the visibility of copyright holders' texts, guide viewers to copyright owners' web sites and provides stimulus for additional sales -- all at no cost to the owners of the texts. TFAO's website is the world's most visited site devoted to American art.

Sources and source documents are thoroughly identified and credited. Links are provided to copyright holders' web sites and appropriate phone numbers are provided.

Here are two examples:

Texts are generally unaccompanied by images and their captions to encourage readers to purchase original paper-published catalogues. Generally speaking, online texts are very valuable to students and scholars conducting research, while people who seek coffee table books are those who most want images accompanying the text

For each article or essay attributable to a named author, Resource Library welcomes a narrative biography to help readers become familiar with the education and accomplishments of the author.

To stimulate sales, many university presses and commercial publishers including Abbeville have made available on their web sites online essays from art-related titles. In addition, numerous publishers have cooperated with Amazon and Google Books to allow online access to texts in their books. In the case of art books, often these texts are Introductions.

No charges to sources

TFAO does not charge for publication of biographies. Conversely, no payment is made to copyright owners for published texts. Choice of content is not influenced by gifts or sponsorships. Also, TFAO does not accept advertising.

Protection of copyright

Texts are usually republished from paper-printed exhibition catalogues and gallery brochures. Approval is given by the owner of a text for one-time republishing -- with no dilution of the owner's copyright. Resource Library dissuades individuals from copyright infringement and plagiarism in its User Agreement page. This publication encourages students to thoroughly learn about plagiarism. We also encourage teachers to explain the meaning of plagiarism, how it may occur, the harm it causes and the legal penalties for its practice. Traditional Fine Art Organization covers plagiarism and copyright infringement in the General Resources section of its Resources for Collectors, Life Long Learners, Students and Teachers of Art History.

Protection from unauthorized editing and posting

Unlike Wikipedia and similar web sites, texts published in Resource Library cannot be edited or directly posted by the public. To provide oversight of source authenticity, TFAO's director has personally approved all content for publication since Resource Library's inception. For further information please see Resource Library's complete content presentation guidelines. Also please see information on guidelines for submitting materials

Other texts

Individuals are invited to submit by email information on artists mentioned in previously published Resource Library articles. This information may be intended to correct previously published information. Accepted text will be placed after the end of the article within a new editor's note. The source of the new information will be given credit for the submission. The name of the source will be accompanied by contact information such as a postal address, email address or phone number.

Next steps

For next steps, please see information on guidelines for submitting materials. Also please see Resource Library's complete content presentation guidelines.

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