3 - Picture libraries and librarianship

Summary

Most forms of published media use still images to add value to, illustrate or break up spoken or written words. The number of images used has increased in the past few years because of technological possibilities and commercial pressures. Even radio programmes now often run websites illustrated by pictures associated with their broadcasts. The ever-expanding number of platforms for images has made media organizations hungry for new sources. Many media organizations run their own picture archives and, bucking the early 1990s trend for disposing of in-house resources, are finding them profitable sources of income, especially if they have invested in a sales infrastructure or e-commerce platform. Other media organizations rely on external sources of pictures, notably photographic agencies, libraries and archives, which either represent their own unique collections or are mediators for other people's photographs. The range of collections useful for publication may cover not just photographs, but engravings, manuscripts and lithographs.

This chapter takes an overview of picture collections, how they can be used by picture researchers and the issues that emerge for those managing picture collections. Questions concerning managing collections are largely dealt with in the earlier part of the chapter and the role of the picture librarian in the second part. The author is particularly interested in giving a taste of the picture library world for those new to the profession or considering entering it. Although it is primarily aimed at picture librarians who work for media organizations, those in that position may identify themselves more with the wider picture library community than with the other kinds of information professional within the media or even within their own organization. The author, who currently manages both still and moving images run by the environmental charity Greenpeace, has worked in a range of areas, from a picture collection at fashion magazine publisher Condé Nast, to an information research unit at the BBC, to the library at the Glasgow School of Art. This gives him a unique insight into the common ground shared between librarians working in the media industry and those working in other fields, but also the ability to identify the picture-related issues which concern media librarians in particular.