SUMMARY OF LIBRARY HOLDINGS (as of 2010)
The library collects the following:
- Japanese exhibition catalogs
- Foreign exhibition catalogs on Japanese art
- Exhibition catalogs from major international museums
- Books and periodicals in the field of modern and contemporary architecture, photography, and new media art.
- Books
- Approx. 27,800
- Japanese
- 21,924
- Foreign languages
- 5,917
- Exhibition Catalogs
- Approx. 69,500
- Japanese
- 63,524
- Foreign languages
- 6,931
- Periodicals
- Approx. 2,000 titles
- Journals and magazines
- 700 titles
- Museums' reports/bulletins
- 663 titles
- Others (Newsletters and microforms)
- Approx. 600 titles
ABOUT THE FORMER ART CATALOG LIBRARY COLLECTION
The core of the Art Library collection includes 20,000 Japanese exhibition catalogs that ACE Japan had collected through the Japan Art Catalog Project (JAC), which were once available between 1996 and 2004 at the now-closed Art Catalog Library in Akasaka.
The vast majority of publications related to Japanese exhibitions are privately printed and only available through the galleries or museums that host(ted) the exhibitions. They do not enter normal channels or systems of publication, distribution, bibliographic control, or acquisition by booksellers or subscription agents, and hence fall under the category of "gray literature."
With an additional 20,000 copies that the Center has accumulated in its own right, The National Art Center's Art Library houses nearly 40,000 post-war Japanese exhibition catalogs, one of the most comprehensive collections in Japan.
ONLINE DATABASES
The library subscribes to the following databases, which are accessible on-site from one of the four user terminals.
- ABM: Art Bibliographies Modern (1974-present)
- A source of information on all forms of modern and contemporary art dating from the late 19th century onward, including photography since its invention, indexes and abstracts, journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, and dissertations.
- AIAP: Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (1934-present)
- A comprehensive listing of journal articles published around the world for more than 2,000 periodicals on architecture and design.
- DAAI: Design and Applied Arts Index (1973-present)
- A source of abstracts and bibliographic records for articles, news items, and reviews published in design and applied arts periodicals. Includes data on over 50,000 designers, craftspeople, studios, workshops, and companies.
- JSTOR (Available Collections: Arts & Science I – VIII, Life Sciences, 19th Century British Pamphlets)
- An online journal storage, which provides access to a backfile collection of core journals in the fields of humanities and social sciences. It includes the entire runs of these journals, from their first year until about 5 years ago.
- Oxford Art Online
- Provides access and cross-search functionality to full-text versions of the Grove Dictionary of Art, the Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms in one location. Offers biography, bibliography, and image search options.
(Please be advised that the use of this database is limited to only one person at a time.)