Artists in Canada

Citation

Horman, M.M. (2001), "Artists in Canada", Online Information Review, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 329-337. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2001.25.5.329.7

Artists in Canada combines the resources of 23 libraries across Canada to produce a union list of holdings on 42,000 Canadian artists. This represents a fairly comprehensive compilation from some well‐respected sources. The different libraries include museum libraries, university libraries and public library art collections from across Canada. This is a free Web‐based database that is part of the Canadian Heritage Information Network.

The database provides basic biographical information, which consists of birth and death dates, the artist’s last known address, the media within which the artist works or worked and, most importantly, a list of participating institutions that hold information on the artist. This information is usually in the form of vertical files kept by the institution. Contact information is also provided for all institutions. The subjects range from some of the most renowned Canadian artists to a variety of lesser‐known artists about whom it is often difficult to find information. The database itself was most recently updated in November 2000, which means that it is fairly current. The National Gallery of Canada relies on artists and others to make sure that their biographical information is up to date, so it is not clear how often the individual records are updated. The last known date that an artist was at a certain address is listed.

This database is bilingual in French and English. A link to the “main menu” takes users to the Canadian Heritage Information Network, which could be confusing for some users. On the first page the link to “perform a search” and also the link to the French version of this resource could be more prominent. The colour and size of the “perform a search” button makes it visually difficult to find. Also, the link to the French version is buried in the bottom left corner. A more prominent place nearer to the top of the screen would be a better place.

This resource represents an enormous undertaking to make available a lot of information on an enormous variety of Canadian artists. Many of these artists are currently fairly unknown, often because they are too contemporary to really have been written about extensively. With 42,000 Canadian artists and artisans, this catalogue is highly comprehensive and should be useful to a wide variety of different researchers with many different types of interests in Canadian art. There is a paper edition of the Artists in Canada index, but the last edition was updated in 1988. Other reference sources on Canadian artists and artists in general do not provide the access to information on the lesser‐known artists that this resource provides. It is recommended for anyone interested in Canadian art or artists.