The responsibility of archivists is to preserve society's documentary heritage. Visual artists contribute to this heritage thorough their creative vision of man and his civilization. Because the archival purview to preserve some representation of the artist's activity is evident, it is necessary to determine, from a theoretical perspective, which part of the artist's output is of archival nature and how archivists may appraise this output for acquisition and selection. This thesis uses published sources of European and North American archival theory, aesthetic philosophy, business, and law and data gathered from interviews with four British Columbian artists to investigate the validity of theoretical appraisal principles for the evaluation of records generated and received by artists. The study concludes that artistic activity is clearly divisible into functional components and productive of many basic record types. Because of the pressures and requirements of the often-conflicting interests of art, business, and law, artists must depend on their records as a basis of security, a means of operating, and a source of memory. These records are archival in nature because they are generated out of a practical activity, constitute an organic accumulation, and are used and then retained for the use of their creator. Except under certain circumstances, the finished work of art is not of archival nature. Consequently, archival repositories do not have the right to preserve works of documentary art. Artists' records can be appraised in accordance with the theoretical principles of archival science. Appraisal results in a decision about acquisition and a decision about selection. Both decisions are based on the archivist's knowledge about the artist's contemporary society, his life, and his activities and records. The result of the first decision will be the acquisition of organic bodies of records representative of their contemporary society, complementary to the primary and secondary sources preserved in the area where the repository acts, and relevant to the acquisition policy of the repository. The second decision will be the selection and preservation of those records considered as having been most essential to the organization, function, security, and memory of the artist's activities. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

Illustrations not reproduced. The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 25, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Kristin Schwain. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-300).

Thesis (Honors)--Minot State University, 2002. / Accompanying CD-ROM located in pocket inside the front cover. Also available on the author's website. Address as of 8/19/02: www.metheus.net.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1993? / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 537-561).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1997. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-127).

No description available.

No description available.

This study identified selected characteristics of sexual identity and artistic development using 481 pictures from a collection of 1,008 pictures drawn by first through fourth grade males and females. The pictures were collected by the E. C. Brown Trust Foundation to study children’s concepts of reproduction. Three general hypotheses were developed: 1. Sex differences are observable in children's art; II. There are observable differences in artistic development as grade level changes; III. Observations by social workers of content in children's art are reliable. From a search of the literature, certain variables were identified, including content, use of color, and aspects of form, space, and execution. Hypotheses stating that these vary in relation to grade level and sex were developed to be tested. Data were collected by means of a pretested schedule. A sample of sixty pictures was viewed by each of five observers, independently and blind. Data were transcribed and evaluated using tests of reliability and association. The findings indicated that differences related to sex and grade level of the artist can be observed with statistical reliability by social workers. Three factors affected the interpretation of the findings: a number of uncontrolled variables; the absence of norms of children’s art verified by research against which to measure findings; and the relatively low reliability of judgment. Implications for social work are mainly cautionary. Art is such a complex and subjective matter that until parameters have been established by research, its use as a tool for evaluating human behavior cannot be recommended.