| Quick links: | Current Periodicals | Media Collection | Historical Music Recordings Collection |
The Fine Arts Library (FAL), a unit of the University of Texas Libraries, opened July 16, 1979. The library contains the art and music collections and most of the University of Texas Libraries' theatre and dance materials. Its collections support research and instruction in the College of Fine Arts which includes the School of Music, the Departments of Art and Art History, and Theatre and Dance. The Fine Arts Library collection includes approximately 300,000 books and scores, 900 current serial subscriptions, 38,000 phonodiscs, 4300 cassette tapes, almost 40,000 compact discs, 5000 videocassettes and videodiscs, 6,200 reels of microfilm, and 24,000 microfiche.
The art collection supports instruction and research for the four divisions of the Department of Art and Art History: art history, design, studio art, and visual arts studies/art education. The collection includes materials on most art and design movements and schools, photography, and art education. Artists of most periods and nationalities and studies of their works are represented, as well as most media and techniques. Materials on Latin American art and artists are located in the Benson Latin American Collection.
The music collection supports instruction and research in the School of Music, which includes applied music, composition, ethnomusicology, music education, music theory, and musicology. Most historical periods and geographical areas are covered in both classical and popular idioms, though the emphasis is on the western classical tradition. Music is represented in a wide variety of printed and recorded formats. There are other music collections at The University of Texas at Austin. Latin American music is collected at the Benson Latin American Collection. Click here for a detailed description of the Music Collections at The University of Texas at Austin.
The theatre and dance collection supports the Department of Theatre and Dance, which concentrates on performance, especially play production, theatrical design, playwriting, theatre education, and dance. Materials on other types of theatrical presentations such as magic, circuses, and pantomime are included. The Fine Arts Library holds texts of major plays originally written in English or translated into English, with contemporary plays collected most heavily. While the Perry-Castañeda Library also holds texts of plays in English and other languages, its emphasis is generally on plays as a literary form and on literary criticism.
Periodicals
Current journal issues are arranged alphabetically by title on open shelves
located on the
third level. Bound volumes of periodicals are shelved in call number sequence
along with books on levels four and five of the library. Call numbers and holdings
for bound periodicals are indicated in the University of Texas Library Catalog. Some of
our journals are also available in digital form through our Find a Journal page.
Reference
The reference collection on the third level includes standard reference materials
such as encyclopedias, directories, dictionaries, and bibliographies; specialized
materials such as iconographical dictionaries, discographies and indexes to
paintings; and many collected works, such as composers' scores and other standard
sets of music. Standard works including the Dictionary of Art, New Grove Dictionary
of Music and Musicians, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance,
and the International Encyclopedia of Dance. Catalogs of collections of major
museums are also shelved in the reference section. A few selected titles are
shelved in our Ready Reference section which contains our most heavily consulted
reference materials.
Databases and Indexes to Periodicals such as the Bibliography of the History of Art, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, and the International Index to the Performing Arts are available electronically, older volumes of these indexes are shelved on the index tables.
Media
The media collection includes compact discs, DVDs, audio and videocassettes,
videodiscs, phonodiscs and interactive media covering fine arts topics. Holdings
of these materials are listed in the University of Texas Library Catalog and may be requested at the circulation
desk.
Microform
The Fine Arts Library has an extensive collection of materials in both microfilm
and microfiche which is kept in cabinets on the third level. A state-of-the-art
reader/printer is located nearby. Circulation desk staff are available to help
users with microform materials.
Historical Music Recordings Collection
The Historical Music Recordings
Collection, located at the Collections Deposit
Library, houses more than 500,000 audio recordings. The collection is available
by appointment. To make an appointment contact David Hunter at (512) 495-4475.
