Finding Political Art Distribution/Documentation (Pad/D) Posters at Moma

Finding Political Art Distribution/Documentation
(PAD/D) Posters At MoMA

Josh LaMore
05/01/2018

Pratt Institute
LIS 698-02
FINDING POLITICAL PAD/D POSTERS...
Project Summary

The New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC) Fellowship at the Museum of Modern
Art’s (MoMA) Library in Manhattan, New York, is currently focused on making the museum
library’s Political Art Documentation and Distribution (PAD/D) Poster Collection more
accessible to researchers and interested members of the general public. Specific emphasis
in this case is placed on the findability of posters within the collection by exporting,
modifying, and creating MARC Records for OCLC’s Worldcat and MoMA’s online catalog,
Dadabase, which is part of NYARC’s collective catalog for collections at the Frick Art
Reference Library, T he Brooklyn Museum, as well as MoMA, called Arcade (NYARC|Arcade,
2018).
The work done with this project so far includes: inventorying the PAD/D poster collection;
discussing poster housing, including how many posters still need housing; importing
records from Millenium to OCLC Connexion; and performing modified cataloging, with an
emphasis on descriptive cataloging using Library of Congress (LOC) Name and Subject
Headings, and through the use of Classification Web and adhering to RDA standards. The
main objective of this project through these efforts is to make the PAD/D poster collection
more accessible and findable to researchers and the general interested public. Without
these electronic catalog records and subject headings, next to no one would even know the
posters were there. Not having catalog records with call numbers also makes it difficult for
the staff to pull out a poster for a patron in the library’s off-site stacks. The goal is to
remedy this.
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Finding Political Art Distribution/Documentation (PAD/D) Posters At

MoMA: An Introduction

“The archive is in a place that will forever be there, and perhaps no one will show
it much attention. But maybe one day, someone will see it, and will.”
- Mimi Smith PAD/D Archivist (Morgan, 2014a)

The library division at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has a substantial collection of
artist posters. A large portion of these holdings are from the Political Art
Distribution/Documentation (PAD/D) poster collection, which, according to a recent
inventory of the posters in MoMA QNS’ stacks consists of close to 1000 political posters.
When I first arrived at MoMA, most of the PAD/D collection was still yet to be cataloged or
put into an online cataloging system accessible to the general public. Furthermore, most
posters that did have pre-existing records were not available in OCLC’s Worldcat catalog or
MoMA’s Dadabase catalog (https://arcade.nyarc.org/search~S8), which is linked with New
York Art Resources Consortium’s (NYARC) Arcade catalog. Also, many of the PAD/D
pre-existing records were outdated and encoded at a very low level, making them difficult,
if not next to impossible for interested patrons to find and access.
My job, thus, was to import, modify, and export PAD/D poster MARC records using
Millenium and OCLC’s cataloging software, Connexion, so that records for these posters are
findable and informative. In other words, I worked to make as much of the PAD/D poster
collection as accessible as I possibly could.
The following pages provide background information on PAD/D as well as the

organization’s collection; an overview of the cataloging work and processes I performed; a
brief theoretical framework and analysis for creating descriptive LOC subject heading
strings; a short overview of some of the tools used to successfully complete this job; a
summary of the project’s outcome; and finally, a short recommendation report for MoMA’s
future NYARC fellow who will continue the PAD/D Poster Collection cataloging project.
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The Significance of PAD/D and The Organization’s Poster Collection

Our main goal is to provide artists with an organized relationship to society. PAD
defines “social concern” in the broadest sense, as any work that deals with
issues - Ranging from sex and racism to ecological damage or other forms of
human oppression. Art comes from art as well as from life. One of PAD’s most
crucial tasks is to build and understanding of the importance of the artist in the
construction of a new “people not profits” society.
- UPFRONT, 1981 (Qtd in Morgan, 2014a)

As the name may suggest, PAD/D’s primary mission was to build a politically leftist
collective of conscious artists and writers; encourage art activism; and archive political art,
especially ephemera and posters (Morgan, 2014a). The group of artists and activists, as
Sholette (2001) puts it were “simply desperate to be something other than, capitalist
culture” (2). The initial artist call made by Lucy R. Lippard that ignited PAD/D, however,
was simply made to discuss the creation of an archive of political documents and art (2). It
is for this reason that the second D, for Distribution, in the name PAD/D did not get added
until a little later (2).
While PAD/D was only an active organization for 6 years, from 1980 to 1986 (Sholette),
their archive of political art spans from approximately 1979 to 1990 and contains pieces
from both well and lesser known art activist groups (Morgan) from all over the world.
Without PAD/D, the history of many of these collectives Morgan (2014b) argues would be
completely lost to history. The case therefore can be made that the content this collection
consists of creates substantial potential for research, inspiration, and understanding.
Arguably this leaves potential for the PAD/D organization’s mission to remain alive and
effective even though the group has been disbanded for over 30 years.
It must, however, be noted that while such potential within the collection exists, Morgan
argues that it is “virtually unknown to the art world.” Only 1 known exhibition focusing on
PAD/D itself has been curated, and according to PAD/D member, Gregory Sholette, only a
handful of academic students have approached PAD/D members for information on the
group itself (Morgan).
This lack of awareness is surprising since the group is considered to have raised significant
socio-political awareness in their surrounding communities through their projects
(Morgan). One rather conflicting and controversial issue that appears to have both raised
awareness and helped to exacerbate the problem is the group’s works on gentrification in
New York City (Morgan). As gentrification and its odd entanglement with the arts is still a
heated and controversial issue, it would seem this collection has significant research
potential specifically on this particular subject.
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The Primary Focus of the Project

MARC Catalog Record Modification:
Improving Record Findability Through the Application of Subject Headings

Most of the pre-existing records I worked with in the PAD/D collection were minimal and
outdated records in Millennium with the considerably low coding level of “k”. Many of
these records were also still suppressed in the 999 field, making them inaccessible. The
level of encoding, found in the top portion of the OCLC’s Connexion software, under the
abbreviation “ELvl” (OCLC) refers to the level in which the MARC record is considered to be
at (The Library Corporation, 2001). In this case, records needed to be brought up to a full
level record, which is represented by “i” from the low level of “k”. In order to bring up the
coding level, descriptive subject headings and subdivisions needed to be added to make
proper LOC subject heading strings in the 600 fields, as well as specifying whether the
poster is black and white or color in the 007 and 300 fields and ensuring, where possible,
that the correct LOC Name Authority Headings for personal and organization names were
used in the 100 and 700 fields. It was also imperative to make sure that records followed
RDA rules.
Applying Subject Headings:

Descriptive Cataloging Experiences and Theory

Applying LOC subject headings, especially to the various descriptive 600 fields in MARC,
requires a trained understanding of bibliographic description principles. Two general
principles Svenonius (2000) expresses to be of great use in bibliographic systems are
Sufficient Reason and Parsimony (68). The principle of Sufficient Reason requires that each
part of a bibliographic system have a logical and useful reason. In other words, a system
and its design should not be arbitrary (68). The principle of Parsimony, couples nicely with
Sufficient Reason and states that while alternative ways of achieving a desired outcome
exists, the best way forward is the one “that best furthers overall economy” (68). In other
words, bibliographic systems, while seemingly complicated enough, need to be as concise
as possible, with every part of its system serving a useful purpose in a way that is not
redundant or superfluous.
Working with Classification Web (2018), Cataloger’s Desktop (2018), and OCLC’s MARK
Field Help Guides (2018) to put together LOC descriptive subject headings, taught me the
importance of being concise in my subject heading selection; how to construct subject
heading strings; and the importance of following LOC’s rules and guidelines for doing so
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properly. Subject Heading Rules emphasize sufficiency and economy to ensure that
descriptive subject headings help people find the types of materials they are looking for by
using authorized subject headings and subdivisions. Svenonius goes on to discuss and
define 5 other principles and subsequent sub principles, which appear to support the two
main principles discussed above.
One of the most critical aspects of applying LOC Subject Headings is first determining what
the item, in this case the poster, is about (Taylor, 2004, 242), which, due to some of the
poster’s more pictographic and artistic nature is sometimes a challenge to analyze and
contextualize. After general topics are identified, subject headings and subdivisions that
best express the poster’s aboutness are selected from LOC’s controlled subject heading
vocabulary (Taylor, 243). To help catalogers with a subject analysis, Taylor suggests the
cataloger ask themselves some following questions:
What is it?
What is it for?
What is it about? (243)
While the first of these questions for this project remained pretty much the same, using the
subject heading “Political Posters” in the MARC 655 field was effective in most cases at
describing what the posters were.
The other two suggested questions were frequently utilized and a source of constant
debate from poster to poster. Sometimes it appeared that posters were created for a
particular event, exhibition, or protest, other times they were created as a general object of
political art and/or commentary. In some cases, it was impossible to figure out what the
poster was for due to lack of text and visual context clues. In these cases, my supervisor and
I felt that the 655 field’s Political Poster subject heading plus a descriptive note in the 500
field sufficed since that was the primary focus of PAD/D’s political art poster collection.
Determining the topic or topics of a poster, the “aboutness” o f it was the most challenging
aspect of the project. As Taylor points out, it is not always clear what the topic of a work is.
Works may have several different fascents and be about many different things (243-44)
Furthermore, in most every case, the topics one person may see in a poster can vary in
expression from one person to another and from the cataloger to the poster’s creator
(245).
As tempting as it often was to create many topical subject headings in the MARC 600 fields,
my supervisor explained that too many subject headings was possibly as ineffectual as
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there being too few. Too many subject headings also goes against the two primary
principles Sveonius (2000) discusses, which require both logic and succinctness. It is a
balancing act and, in the end, the cataloger has to be considerably objective in determining
the proper topical subject headings (245).

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Tools Used

Dadabase & NYARC|Arcade
https://arcade.nyarc.org/search~S8
While the records I was working on need to either be updated or newly imported
into OCLC’s Worldcat and MoMA’s portion of NYARC’S Arcade catalog, called
DADABASE, it was useful to search the DADABASE catalog to either look at records I
had previously worked on or other records to see how subject heading strings were
put together for items with a similar context. I also used DADABASE to keep track of
how many records I had entered. This was done by entering the code:
xMO20180220jL into the 852 field of each record I worked on. This particular code
reads “xMO,” for MoMA, followed by the year, month, day, and then my initials to
identify it as my record and when it was last updated by me. This made it easy to go
back and look through my work to ensure that there were no mistakes and fix the
records where I may have been in error.
Classification Web, Library of Congress

https://classificationweb.net/Menu/index.html
Classification Web was one of the tools I used the most to help me figure out what
Library of Congress Subject Headings are available that might best fit the
description of what the poster is about and for. There is also a search bar for subject
heading subdivisions within Classification Web. Search results will provide the
correct LOC subject heading along with several other related subject headings and
oftentimes provide rules for how they can and cannot be subdivided. Search results
in the subdivision bar work very much the same way.
MARC 21 Format For Bibliographic Data, Library of Congress

https://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/
As I was new to cataloging at the start of this Fellowship, this extensive guide on
MARC rules, coding procedures or input conventions, and other data elements,
helped guide me on how to format MARC records and select proper MARC fields.
This resource most frequently helped me with subfield and indicator codes as well
as how to correctly implement information in a specific subfield. I found their
example records and application of subfields to be quite useful.
Bibliographic Formats and Standards, Fourth Edition, OCLC

https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en.html
Like LOC’s MARC 21 Format For Bibliographic Data, I used OCLC’s guide frequently
to help with guidelines, rules, coding procedures, input conventions, and other data
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elements when formating MARC records. While the information is almost identical
to that found in the LOC source, what made this source more useful was that it is
linked directly into OCLC’s Connexion program by individual field, which made it
easy to reference without having to do much searching to find the information I was
looking for.
Library of Congress Authorities

https://authorities.loc.gov/webvoy.htm
I used this resource to find LOC’s authorized name headings for individuals and
organizations that each poster pertained to, for both the creation of each poster as
well as individuals referenced in the posters. Many of the authorized versions of the
headings included information other than just a person’s proper name, some
authorized headings also require titles or other forms of a name and/or dates
associated with the name.
Cataloger’s Desktop, Library of Congress

https://desktop.loc.gov
While most of the time the LOC subject heading information I needed could be found
on Classification Web, or Library of Congress Authorities, I would sometimes need
to also refer to manuals in Cataloger’s Desktop, most specifically the Subject Heading
Manual. T his was used when I need to know more about the rules of how certain
subject headings could be applied and subdivided.
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Outcomes

Quantity
I have successfully imported and modified 431 PAD/D Poster records from the MoMA
library since September, 2017, working only 8 hours a week. Records can be found on
DADABASE, Arcade, a nd OCLC’s Worldcat where they can now be more easily found and
subsequently requested for viewing at the offsite MoMA QNS library and archive storage
facility in Queens, New York.
Quality
Of course, the success of this fellowship can hardly be measured in quantity. In my mind,
the quality of the work and the outcomes far surpass that of the 431 records created. Each
poster was dutifully researched, and the subject headings selected to describe the posters
were carefully thought out and investigated to help create as accurate and powerful a
catalog record as I could. Over time, with more confidence, understanding, and experience,
especially with the terms that most frequently pertained to the subject matter these
posters deal with, I became more efficient and effective in my cataloging and applications of
subject heading descriptions.
Oftentimes, especially in the beginning, my supervisor would meticulously go through the

records, especially subject heading strings I had made and explain where I had gone wrong
as well as how they could be fixed and why. This approach brought my cataloging
experiences and the theory I had been learning together, which has resulted in a much
deeper understanding of cataloging and cataloging principles.
The quality of my training and practice, as mentioned above resulted in substantial

improvement of my cataloging. And while this particular fellowship is coming to a close, the
progression of my work and learning will only result in even more quality cataloging in my
occupations to come.
Successes
There are still many PAD/D and other artist posters still left to be cataloged in MoMA’s
library and archive. And, for that, I am rather glad. I believe that due to the subject matter,
the medium, and the nurturing environment at MoMA working on cataloging these posters
a fantastic learning opportunity for developing Library Information Science students, most
specifically anyone wishing to learn more about cataloging.
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Even though it was early in my fellowship, a currator’s interests were peaked by the South
American Political posters in the PAD/D collection. He requested many of the posters I had
recently modified and exported to Worldcat and DADABASE. It was my application of the
subject heading string: $a Nicaragua $x Foreign relations $z United States $v Posters t hat
brought him to find the PAD/D collection. To me it was proof and reassurance that the
work I was doing as a cataloger brought resources people were looking for out and to their
attention. I had made a portion of the PAD/D collection findable and accessible. Now, that
mission for me is stronger than ever.
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Recommendations For MoMA’s Future NYARC Fellow on the

Continuation of the PAD/D Poster Collection Project

Literature and research done on the PAD/D poster collection and the rest of the PAD/D
archives appears to be quite sparse. Yet, there seems to be an agreement that this collection
has significant research and exhibition potential. Some of the articles discussed in The
Significance of PAD/D… s ection of this paper point to the noncommercial nature of the
organization being at the center of why the artwork and organization itself have remained
relatively unknown. Another conjecture is thought to be because of the political emphasis
of the group. Regardless of the reason, helping to make this collection known as well as
accessible and findable should be an important aspect in the future continuation of this
project.

Suggested Efforts For Outreach
Developing a Finding Aid that describes the poster collection, especially the
collectives and artists posters that are part of this collection; the various themes and
subjects; as well as some of PAD/D’s history will help potential patrons understand
what the collection is about, what it may contain, and how it might help contribute
to specific research. A finding aid could also help to peak someone’s interest and
encourage them to take a closer look
Social Media Outreach Posting pictures on instagram, twitter, and maybe even
facebook with tags that connect to the poster’s subject and help to connect their
content in a relevant way to similar topics that are current today, would be a great
way to help spread awareness of this collection to those who may not even know
that PAD/D ever existed.
Blog Posts and Articles Writing short blogs and articles focusing on experiences
related figuring out what a poster is “about”; who it was created by; it’s history; etc.
might really capture the attention of a researcher or an interested patron and
encourage them to look deeper into MoMA’s PAD/D collection.
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Professional Observations
After reading Watkins’ short piece What is Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care
(2013), I have come to realize that the culture of MoMA, specifically the library division, is
difficult for me to articulate. I also need to be honest; I have never been much of a fan or
believe in the work culture concept and Watkins to me is mostly unconvincing. Defining
what a work culture is, even if it is constantly shifting, forces a box around the people in the
organization and puts pressure on members to conform, which might not only feel
oppressive, but distract people from doing quality work. Defining a work culture, as
Watkins suggests, in order to change a culture also sounds desperate, it feels to me that
creating a culture is like creating a new problem in order to solve it. At the end of the day, I
want to be in an organization full of people, not a company of people trying to conform to
constantly shifting organizational cultures. I am aware too that what I just described can be
seen as a culture, and if that is the case, then I have to ask: does seeing it as a culture change
anything? My own quick response is yes, it makes people self-concious of who they are at
work and still reduces the organic nature of personality and work dynamics.
I deeply enjoyed working at MoMA because work culture was deemphasized, or at least,
was not apparent in the library department. There was a great sense of freedom, where it
seemed that everyone on the library staff was truly able to be themselves without the
pressure to do so based on a defined culture.
Within this freedom and maybe an offshoot of it, was the fluidity of positions. While it is
difficult for me to say that it is a good thing, my first supervisor was hired at another
institution and left before I even started the fellowship. Within a few months, my new
supervisor was also offered another job and left the institution. Both of these situations got
me thinking about the importance of being flexible with career progress and goals. The
second of my two supervisors, for instance, focused her career around her personal
mission statement. She often expressed this mission, which was to make materials
accessible through cataloging. So, when the California Museum of Modern Art headhunted
her, she knew the role would allow her to even better fulfill her mission. Her movement
and career flexibility, along with her general mission, reflects what MoMA director, Glenn
Lowry advises, which is not to think about the ultimate position you want in the field, but
instead to have a goal or mission that reflects being good at a particular aspect of the
profession, in his case, he focused on “becoming a great art historian” (Shapiro, 2016). In
my own case, I am still learning, gathering experiences, new understandings, and skills to
better figure out how I can best be of service to the art, cultural, and academic community
so that I too can have a genuine personal mission as it relates to a career.
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Having a personal mission, while helpful, does not appear to cover all the bases that one
should focus on while pursuing careers in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums
(GLAM). Anne Houston (2016), for instance, reminds us that we need to be forward
thinking, looking into the future of libraries, and staying up to date on the latest ideas and
news in the field (259). This concept of keeping up to date and being conscious of where
GLAM is headed is not something I noticed in the staff of the MoMA library department.
Part of that could be due to just how much work there was and the large demands put on
the staff members, which oftentimes made it appear like the entire department was in a
constant scramble. This could be due to lack of leadership, as Houston discusses its
importance with library projects (258). I, however, am unsure as to whether that is the
case, but if the staff had more leadership, guidance, and were better at taking greater
forward-reaching initiative, maybe the scrambling efforts would not be as necessary.
Regardless, my experiences working at MoMA were insightful and have helped me to focus
my interests; define a personal mission statement; and remain flexible. I feel that I did not
just gain cataloging skills and insight, I also gained a supportive mentor in my supervisor,
who I feel comfortable discussing the profession with and my future in it.
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References
Houston, Anne M. (2016). “Building Your Professional Toolkit.” Reference & User Services
Quarterly, Vol 55, iss 4.
The Library Corporation. (2016). “Encoding Level, Leader/17.” Retrieved from

https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/editgde/editgde
/idh_leader_17_ceg.htm
yperallergic.
Morgan, Tiernan. (2014a). Art in the 1980’s: The Forgotten History of PAD/D. H
Retrieved from: https://hyperallergic.com/117621/art-in-the-1980s-the-
forgotten-history-of-padd/
etrieved from https://authorities.loc.gov/cgi-bin

NYARC|ARCADE. (2018). Nyarc|arcade. R
/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
OCLC. (2018). “ELvl: Encoding Level.” Retrieved from https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en

/fixedfield/elvl.html
Sholette, Gregory. (2001). A Collectography of PAD/D. Retrieved from:

http://www.gregorysholette.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/14
_collectography1.pdf
Taylor, A. (2004). Ch. 9: Subject Analysis (p. 241-259). In The organization of information.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Shapiro, Michael. (2016). “Seven tips from the top: essential job advice from US museum
directors.” THE ART NEWSPAPER, N o 276, Feb. 2016.
Svenonius, E. (2000). Chap. 5: Principles of Description (p.67-85). In The intellectual

foundation of information organization. Boston: MIT.
Watkins, Michael D. (2013). “What is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care?.”
Harvard Business Review, May 15, 2013.
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