In what should be the beginning of good news for collectors, Culture Monster reports that LACMA has launched a new site that gives anyone access to their rare materials and out-of-print books. The Reading Room allows greater access:

The museum said that the site currently features 10 rare art catalogs, including “Six More,” the catalog for LACMA’s 1963 exhibition on L.A. pop; “Billy Al Bengston,” a rare 1968 monograph; and the surveys “Late Fifties at the Ferus” (1968). Among the features of the site are the ability to browse the publications page by page, perform text searches and  download the volumes in PDF format. […]

LACMA said it will continue to reprint books online and added that it is developing books that are intended to be published exclusively online. The museum said it is working on a prototype electronic catalog drawn from its Southeast Asian collection as part of a Getty-funded online scholarly catalog project.

LACMA Launches Online Reading Room for Rare Art Publications (Culture Monster)