See Also at the NYPL Picture Collection Site specific participatory research, publication, and exhibitNew York, New York
2022—2023
See Also responds to the New York Public Library Picture Collection as a social environment and place for sharing knowledge and learning from each other. Working on-site through my artist fellowship , I watched as researchers looked at pictures and librarians answered questions. Identifying the “right” moments that would not be intrusive or interrupt, I started conversations with eight participants, talking with them about what they were seeking and their processes. This became a way to meet people, with project participants letting me into their research in the Picture Collection and most importantly, their lives outside the library. The relationships the emerged from this project are manifestations of “see also”, a term librarians use to direct researcher from a preferred term to other related terms. This can indicate a related term and other avenues for exploration.
I presented the project at a public event onsite at the NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Many of the participants were in the audience and spoke about their experiences in the project as well as their current “see also” endeavors. Each participant was also featured in a series of large posters exhibited in the Picture Collection. Subject headings were added to each poster by a librarian and at the conclusion of the exhibit, each poster was added to the Picture Collection and filed according to its assigned heading. Now when patrons research terms such as artists, moonlight, and costume-apron, they will find these posters, bringing the “see also” project full circle.
Our conversations, adventures, and encounters are also documented in an independently published book that is included the NYPL catalog and available as a reference book in the Picture Collection. Each person received a copy of the book which is also available to check out from the NYPL catalog and was available to buy in the NYPL gift shop.
This project was supported by New York Public Library’s Picture Collection Artist
Fellowship Program in the Picture Collection of which I was in the first cohort of four fellows.