A project from the Medieval Academy of America’s list of Medieval Digital Resources, MetPublications is a database that contains content listings from the publishing program by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. It includes in-print books that can be purchased, out-of-print books that can be downloaded, PDFs from the Metropolitan Museum Journal and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, and information on art from the museum’s collection.
Sources
The database has over 1,500 publications related to art history from The Met since 1911. The medieval content that can be searched range from 400 to 1600 with primary source materials of architecture, art, artifacts, and material evidence.
Processes
All of the publications are organized so that they can be searched for by factors such as name, author, keyword, type of text, and date. Most publications include a description, table of contents, information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to suggested content that have relevant authors or themes.
Presentation
The homepage has a search bar and links to content that have been organized into categories such as “Recently Published” and “Favorite Titles.” These groupings help the user explore new content when no particular publication is desired. These users can range from art history scholars researching specific pieces to people who have visited or wish to one day visit The Met. Thus, the site is organized well enough to obtain research information and is also set up so that an amateur audience can be mildly enlightened and entertained.
Wyen, this is a great source. I can see the website being useful for art amateurs, such as myself, and art historians alike as one can see artifacts without needing to be in New York. I know that I would enjoy looking at paintings that, due to the pandemic, I can not easily visit. I can’t wait to keep browsing!