Collection Management Policy

University Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

This policy governs the development and management of the Interior Design collection. Policies for Architecture, Art History, Building Construction, Landscape Architecture, Visual Arts, and Visual Materials should be consulted for related collection management areas. At least annually the policy is reviewed and revised as required in response to changes in the program.

The Interior Design collection primarily supports research and instruction associated with the Interior Design program in the College of Architecture.

The Interior Design program developed from a curriculum which was assigned to the department of Architecture in 1951. Interior Design achieved departmental status in 1976. Currently, the Interior Design department offers the Bachelor of Design degree. According to the Majors College Report (Fall, 1989), the program had 107 majors, including 5 postbaccalaureate students, plus 53 students enrolled in Liberal Arts and Sciences. In 1987 the department received full accreditation for a five year period by the Foundation for Interior Design Education and Research.

From 1954 to 1979, Professor James McFarlane served as the first curriculum/program chair. Michael Young was department chair from 1979 to 1984. During 1984-86, John McRae (Architecture department chair) was acting chair. Since 1986, Jerry Nielson has served as department chair. There are normally six full-time faculty members in the department with adjunct faculty from the design professions often contributing. Architecture courses taken by students matriculating in the program are taught by Architecture Department faculty or team-taught with Architecture faculty.

The interior design curriculum consists primarily of courses covering architectural design, history and theory, and technology, with an emphasis on interior spaces. First-year students in the interior design program are required to begin the professional sequence of four architectural design courses required during the next two years of their study (ARC1312, 1314, 2311, IND2214). These courses introduce the student to the vocabulary of design, formal/spatial ordering ideas, environmental design ideas, and architectural context, or the relationships of users and the built environment. The students are also required to take a general survey of the building arts and a survey of architectural history (covering periods from prehistory through the 18th century). During their second year, in addition to the design courses, students are required to take Theory of Architecture (ARC2201); two courses in the History of Interior Design (IND2100, 2130); Materials and Methods of Construction 1 (ARC2461); and Environmental Technology 1 (ARC2681). Students apply for selective admission during Spring semester of the second year.

In the third year, selectively admitted students begin the professional sequence of four courses on architectural interiors which will involve them during the next two years. These courses (IND3215, 3216, 4225, 4226) introduce the students to the development of interior spaces from conceptual phases to final design resolutions and professional applications. Progressively more complex problems are employed culminating in a student-initiated final project. Courses in Interior Graphics (IND3313), Materials & Estimating (IND3422), Interior Lighting IND3431), and Technologies of Interior Materials (IND3424) are also required. Almost half of the credit hours during the fourth year are involved in the Advanced Architectural Interiors courses (IND4225, 4226). Additionally, students are required to take Professional Practice (IND4500), Interior Detailing and Design (IND4450), and Furniture Design (IND4421).

Recommended electives (in arts/architectural programs) in the third and fourth years include the subjects of computer graphics, architectural preservation, photography, art history, sculpture, landscape architecture (special topics), stage drawing (theatre), and urban and regional planning.

About 400 FTE's are normally enrolled in interior design courses. Courses or student interests which have heaviest impact on the library deal with professional practice and furniture design. Assignments which focus on a particular building type design are typical and have noticeable impact on library resources. Works which reveal interior spaces with good illustrations and graphics are heavily utilized.

Library surveys (1985, 1987) of building use indicate that interior design majors constitute about 2% of the AFA Library's in-building users where 12-14% was the largest user category by major. This number was consistent with other groups with the number of on-site users represents about 10% of the total number of majors. Circulation statistics (1989/90) suggest that Interior Design majors constitute 6% of AFA Library's borrowers. Two or three faculty annually bring classes to AFA Library for instruction in library use.

Faculty publications and research interests include lighting, interior graphics, professional practice, furniture design, interior design for special kinds of people, historic interiors, the relationships of interior design with popular culture, the use of simulation and game theories in the design process, the influence of interior design on behavior, and perspective techniques.

Sponsored research grants have been awarded for investigating prototypic furniture and mobility devices for physically handicapped children (1984), investigations regarding the design of hospitality structures (1987), and the relationship of domestic architecture design and the role of women (1989). Assisting with the development of state design standards for the handicapped has been a recent research involvement.

Department programmatic priorities and research trends, as reflected in its short-term plan (five-year), include development of a lighting design curriculum and enhancement of the furniture and component design curriculum. Developing computer-aided capabilities for design, drafting, and word processing are also emphasized. Increased faculty efforts in presentations of creative design, research, and publications at appropriate national conferences is also noted.

The long-range plan (1986/87-1996/97) includes the development of the Master of Science in Interior Design degree program targeted for implementation by 1992. A service component of the long-range plan includes development of a program of continuing education for design professionals. The newly approved college-wide Ph.D. in Architecture may have some impact on the future research efforts of the faculty. The recently approved Master of Science degree offered by the College, with an emphasis in historic preservation, will likely have some impact on interior design faculty and students. The continued use and development of labs for computer-aided design, lighting, and acoustics (in conjunction with the departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) factors heavily into the department's program planning.

The interior design collection dates back at least to 1925, when the legislature, in approving the state's first architecture program, decreed that funds regularly be set aside to acquire library materials. Subsequently a reading room developed and moved about to various locations as the academic program grew and changed. In 1957, the reading room was granted the status of "college library" and was named the "Architecture and Fine Arts Library." The AFA Library settled into its current location in December, 1964. The collection was greatly augmented when, as part of the move to FAA Building, most (but not all) of the art materials in Main Library were transferred to AFA. Music materials which went originally to AFA or were housed in the Music Reading Room were later consolidated and transferred to form the Music Library. In its new location, the AFA Library quickly began to expand its collection partly due to the efforts of generous donors, including scholar Turpin C. Bannister, a Dean of Architecture and principal founder of the Society of Architectural Historians. Bannister's core collection, with many publications dating from the 18th century, forms the nucleus of AFA's rare book collection. In 1990, the architectural/visual arts collection remaining in Library East was transferred to the AFA Library.

The current collection, in all formats, is primarily housed and service in the Architecture and Fine Arts Library which is the primary location for architectural/visual arts resources in the University Libraries. The interdisciplinary nature of architectural research makes most of AFA's holdings of some relevance to Interior Design. The AFA Library holds approximately 92,000 items, including 85,000 bound volumes and growing collections of microforms, videotapes and architectural drawings.

Special resources supporting the program include the ten-part Design Drawing Videotape Series, several videotape titles on interior construction, and tapes on contemporary architects whose work is of relevance to design researchers. Microform sets include Art Exhibition Catalogs Republished on Microfiche (sections on furniture, architecture, Art Nouveau, metalwork, and antiques, dating from 1898), the Furniture History Library Microform Collection, the Historic American Buildings Survey, the National Register of Historic Places, Trade Catalogues at Winterthur (Library West), and Sweet's Catalog 1900-1949. Slides are housed in the Visual Resources Center.

Other resources include the Library's extensive collection of Historic American Buildings Survey mounted photographs and plans for Florida and adjacent Southeastern states. A collection of over 1,000 architectural preservation projects, created by the College of Architecture Preservation Institute, provides original documentation of important preservation efforts with a growing coverage of sites in Florida, the Caribbean, and Nantucket, Massachusetts. The architectural drawings collection primarily intended for instruction now numbers about 400 items.

The Interior Design collection is primarily classified in NK (Library of Congress Classification) and 740-749 (Dewey Decimal Classification). The approximate number of titles in these classes is 4,200. Of about 640 current periodical subscriptions in architectural/visual arts, about forty are specifically about interior design. Microform resources, described above, total about 22,000 items.

The AFA Library is the primary collecting unit for Interior Design program materials. The Marston Science Library is the secondary collecting unit for Interior Design program materials which emphasize technological aspects of interior construction.

Faculty and students of this program occasionally make use of government publications which deal with housing, design standards, or dwelling safety issues.

Contemporary design application and theory is emphasized. There is no limitation for the history of interior design. Current imprints are emphasized. Retrospective selection of titles from Guide to the Literature of Art History (American Library Association) and Architecture; a Bibliographic Guide (Libraries Unlimited) occurs if funding permits.

English is the primary language acquired. Modern European languages will be acquired as the graduate program and research interests intensify. Language guidelines are identified by code in the Selection Guidelines below.

Most formats are acquired except slides, art reproductions and photographs, and motion pictures (See the Visual Materials Collection Management Policy).

Basic reference works and handbooks relevant to the program, particularly in technological areas, may be located in AFA Library even though another location is designated as the primary collector of materials in that subject. The development of collection management policies in related areas will further identify areas of overlap and affiliation.

Materials supporting the Interior Design program will be fully cataloged according to accepted standards. Microform sets will be acquired with the goal that their contents will be fully cataloged for public access.

Guidelines for the preservation of interior design collections will be made in consultation with the Libraries' Preservation Officer. The reports of the task forces University Libraries' Planning Preservation Program will be utilized to assess preservation priorities.

The RLG Conspectus database (particularly the Art and Architecture Conspectus division) produced by the Research Libraries Group enables the identification of many library collections having strengths in the subjects of decorative objects or furnishings with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University, and the University of Minnesota ranking high among them. Interior Design in its broadest context is well-represented in the collections of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library (Columbia University), the New York Public Library, and the British Architectural Library.

Selection Guidelines. See page 4 of this policy.

Architectural Program Report, submitted to the National Architectural Accrediting Board by the Department of Architecture. Gainesville, Fla.: Department of Architecture, 1985.

Foundation for Interior Design Education Research. Committee on Accreditation. Interim Report of the Visiting Team [to the] College of Architecture, Department of Interior Design, University of Florida. The Foundation (FIDER), November, 1986.

"Majors College Report— Fall 1989 Term," Collection Management Manual. Gainesville, Fla.: The University Libraries, The University of Florida, 1985- .

University of Florida. University Record. Graduate Catalog, 1988-1989. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 1988.

University of Florida. University Record. Undergraduate Catalog, 1988-1989. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 1988.

Approved, July 1989

Revised, December 1990

The Blackwell-North America Approval Plan provides most current imprints for this program including publications from traditional interior design publishers such as Van Nostrand Reinhold, McGraw-Hill, Whitney Library of Design, and university presses. The Subject Guide to Books in Print is a standard reference for current selecting. For retrospective selection, the Interior Design Educator's Council's Comprehensive Bibliography for Interior Design is a useful bibliographic compilation which serves also as an evaluative checklist. New Publications for Architecture Libraries, a sub-series of the Architecture Series of Vance Bibliographies is a potential selection source.

Selectors should also be mindful of more difficult to obtain publications generated by associations and organizations important to the profession: American Institute of Architects; American Society of Interior Designers; Florida Trust for Historic Preservation; Foundation for Interior Design Education Research; Institute for Business Designers; Interior Design Educators Council; International Federation of Interior Designers/Interior Architects; International Society of Interior Designers; National Council for Interior Design Qualification; National Trust for Historic Preservation; plus other bodies representing specific aspects of interior design trade, such as furniture, lighting, carpets, wallcovering, and so on.

1. The Journal of Interior Design Education and Research (Interior Design Educators Council) is a key periodical in this area. Related course: IND4500 (Professional Practice of Interior Design)

2. Relevant literature is also covered in the broader architecture professional practice subject field (NA), as well as in non-architectural subjects of relevance, such as accounting, personnel management, office management, codes and law, etc. Related course: IND4500 (Professional Practice of Interior Design)

3. Complementing print literature is the videotape series, Design Drawing Videotapes, which comprehensively documents exterior and interior perspective drawing. Related course: IND3313 (Interior Graphics)

4. Building types are sometimes classed by the Library of Congress in the subject area of the building; i.e., hospital design is classed within medical subjects; school design, education; prisons, social science literature. Architectural Record ("Building Types Studies" series), Progressive Architecture, Interiors, and Interior Design are key general periodicals which document trends. Restaurant and Hotel Design is an example of a specialized periodical relevant to this area. Related course: IND2214 (Introduction to Architectural Interiors); 3215/3216 (Architectural Interiors 1, 2); 4225, 4226 (Advanced Architectural Interiors 1, 2).

5. The study of interior spaces is normally a consideration of comprehensive works about architects, buildings, or historical styles. Works in this selection category deal exclusively with the room interior. Related courses: IND2214 (Introduction to Architectural Interiors); 3215/3216 (Architectural Interiors 1, 2); 4225, 4226 (Advanced Architectural Interiors 1, 2).

6. Design for Special Needs and Journal of Housing for the Elderly are important specialized periodicals for this area. Relevant information will also be found in social science and health literatures. Related courses: IND2214 (Introduction to Architectural Interiors); 3215/3216 (Architectural Interiors 1, 2); 4225, 4226 (Advanced Architectural Interiors 1, 2).

7. The more technological aspects of interior construction and technology will sometimes be found in Library of Congress "T" classifications depending upon the specialization. Since many works naturally consider design in a technological context it is not always obvious how a library item will be classed. Architectural Lighting is an example of a periodical which meets special needs in this area. Related courses: IND3422 (Materials & Estimating); 3424 (Technologies of Interior Materials); 3431 (Interior Lighting); 4450C (Interior Detailing & Design).

8. Furniture design and production tends to be classed in Technology (T) classifications while the history of furniture is typically in the NK classification. The journal and newsletter of the Furniture History Society are examples of specialized periodicals supporting study in this area. The library recently acquired the extensive Furniture Library Microfilm Collection which will greatly augment holdings in this subject. Related course: IND4440 (Furniture Design)

9. Some of this material will also be covered in the general Library of Congress N classification and equivalent 700-709 in Dewey. Related course: IND2100, 2130 (History of Interior Design 1, 2)

10. In addition to monographs and periodical literature, trade catalogs referenced in Sweet's (General Construction, Contract Interiors) provide current and historical information about objects and ornaments. The collection also holds selected catalogs in microfiche version from Winterthur Museum. Many interior objects are of interest to art historians; Pre-Columbian and Classical pottery are obvious examples. Related course: IND2100, 2130 (History of Interior Design 1, 2)

11. There is not a specific Library of Congress classification for architectural preservation. The subject subheading "conservation and restoration" denotes the subject of preservation for whatever building, monument, or site is the primary subject. Historic interiors are normally treated in the context of the larger historic structure. The publications of the Association for Preservation Technology (Communique, Bulletin, and Art & Archaeology Technical Abstracts) are important reference works in this area. The AFA Library holds the entire Historic American Buildings Survey microfiche collection and significant parts of the National Register of Historic Places microfiche collection. Related course: IND2100, 2130 (History of Interior Design 1, 2)