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Moderator: Allison Benedetti, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Case Studies Sessions showcase participants projects in short presentations followed by a break-out to tables for group discussion and demonstration.
Abstracts:
It's not you, it's Mimi! : Building an Institutional Repository Specifically for the Arts Community (Anne Hepburn, Jason Williams): Anne Hepburn, MLS, and Jason Williams, web programmer, will be discussing their collaborative process for the design and build of an institutional repository and image management system at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. They will show a demonstration of the product, called Mimi, and discuss the creative process involved.
Beyond Catalogues and Image Databases—Leading a Museum-Wide Collections Management System Committee (Eric Wolf): As the information landscape changes, librarians and VR professionals have the chance to leverage their unique skill-sets beyond traditional roles. Co-chairing the Collection Management System Committee at the Menil Collection has been both a difficult and rewarding opportunity to demonstrate the continued relevance of our knowledge of organizing information and technologies.
On Re-housing Special Collections of the Alternative Spaces (Ryan Evans): Ryan Evans is Curatorial Associate and Archivist at White Columns, New York’s oldest alternative space, as well as a 2011 MLS Candidate at Pratt Institute. The research for this paper informed an open source digitization effort for the organization’s archive.
Rethinking the Reference collection (Anna Fishaut): The Stanford University Art & Architecture Library has developed a new reference collection model which reflects current usage and publishing trends, and which augments the traditional definition of “reference book.”
[KOHA-llaboration: Utilizing the resources of the open-source community to migrate the ANS library catalog (Elizabeth Hahn): This project relied heavily on collaboration from in-house, out-sourced, and open-source options to migrate a locally developed database to a proper Integrated Library System. - CANCELLED]
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Moderator: Merriann Bidgood, Visual Resources Library, School of Art, University of Houston
Case Studies Sessions showcase participants projects in short presentations followed by a break-out to tables for group discussion and demonstration.
Abstracts:
Do You See What I See? Teaching Visual Literacy to Undergraduate Students (Tammy Ravas and Megan Stark): This session will share the experience of using visual media from the exhibit Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs to encourage information literacy in undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Montana. By promoting visual literacy as a cornerstone of lifelong learning libraries can help users extend their critical thinking skills into the realm of media while simultaneously introducing the complex issues and challenges posed by visual materials.
Engaging faculty research and teaching through collaborative digital collections (Julia Simic): University of Oregon Libraries has used traditional VR collection development strategies as a foundation for creating all Libraries digital collections. We will discuss the creation of new digital collections based on a collaborative faculty model.
The Role of the Information Professional in an Increasing Digital World (Teresa Slobuski): Research was completed to determine the potential success of finding particular images in fine art databases given knowledge of a student not beyond Art History 101. Given the results, art librarians and visual resource professionals have the opportunity to use their skills and experience to position themselves as an indispensable member of any academic community.
Q (a)R(t) Code Project: a Convergence of Media (Liv Valmestad, Architecture and Fine Arts Library, University of Manitoba): Liv Valmestad, through a convergence of media, including Google Maps, Flickr, blogging, and QR codes, has not only created a virtual art gallery accessible to you through your Smart phone, but has also explored augmented reality with Wikitude and FourSquare.
Works and Fair Use: Can Bridges Be Built Between Educational Users and Copyright Owners? - Jule Sigall, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft
Organizers: Gretchen Wagner, ARTstor and the VRA Intellectual Property Rights Committee
Moderators: Elisa Lanzi, Imaging Center, Smith College; President, VRAF and Cara Hirsch, Assistant General Counsel, ARTstor
Copyright remains one of the most divisive and challenging topics facing both copyright owners and users. Despite the views of many (both among copyright owners and users) that there should be a distinction between the use of images and other materials in the classroom and for research, and the use of those materials for commercial purposes, finding a consensus on how to draw such distinctions remains elusive. Similarly, though many content providers and users see the value of making orphan works more broadly accessible and usable - and though legislation was supported by the Copyright Office - such legislation (which was particularly opposed by photographers) seems to have died on the vine.
Jule Sigall, who has served as the Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office, which assists the Register of Copyrights in advising Congress and executive branch agencies on domestic and international copyright policy matters, has agreed to speak on his experiences with the orphan works legislation, lessons learned, and the likelihood that similar legislation will be passed in the future.
In his position at the Copyright Office, Jule Sigall (who currently serves as Associate General Counsel to Microsoft), regularly represented the Copyright Office in U.S. government delegations to meetings at the World Intellectual Property Organization, including its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. He has published several articles on copyright law and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on copyright and intellectual property and lectures at Duke University School of Law and The George Washington University Law School, where he is currently an adjunct professor.
Beyond the Silos of the LAMs - Organizer and Moderator: Elisa Lanzi, Imaging Center, Smith College
Speakers: Martha R. Mahard, Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science; Marilyn Nasserden, Centre for Arts & Culture, Libraries and Cultural Resources, University of Calgary; Michael Fox, Minnesota Historical Society; Ann Whiteside, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Abstract: Collaboration among libraries, archives, and museums has been a popular theme at conferences for the last five years. As we acquire a continually increasing amount of born-digital materials, our traditional boundaries are beginning to blend. The convergence of collections and technology, and the desire for users to easily access institutional content provides us with an important moment in time to break down our institutional silos and begin to work collaboratively across communities so that access to content is more transparent. The work done by Diane Zorich, Günter Waibel, and Ricky Erway and their subsequent 2008 report titled “Beyond the Silos of the LAMS: Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives, and Museums” offers some pragmatic ways for institutions to work across boundaries to break down their local silos. The result of the LAMS report is that several institutions have been purposely working across institutional boundaries to eliminate their silos in an effort to bring the management of cultural heritage materials together for the benefit of those who use those previously disparate collections for research and teaching.
Growing New Professionals through Mentorship: A Two Way Street - Organizers: Rebecca Moss, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota and Marcia Focht, Binghamton University
Moderator: Rebecca Moss
Speakers: Marcia Focht, Binghamton University; Kim Collins, Emory University; Maggie Portis, New York School of Interior Design; Kathe Hicks Albrecht, Katzen Art Center, American University; Jacqueline Protka, Corcoran College of Art and Design; Melanie Clark, Architecture Library, Texas Tech University
Abstract: This collaborative session will have three parts: First, an overview on the value of mentoring and the variety of mentoring opportunities available to us. Included will be specific information about mentoring in both organizations, and new ideas, approaches and tools that are on the horizon for both VRA and ARLIS/NA.
Next will be two examples of successful mentors and mentees who will discuss their mentoring experience within ARLIS/NA and VRA. The mentor/mentee relationship can forge bonds lasting throughout our professional careers, and they often start with a successful pairing at our conferences.
Finally, a paper on the introduction of a Mentoring Program for librarians at Texas Tech University, detailing the goals and the planning process; the successes and hurdles that were overcome; and how it led to new collaborative opportunities and other growth among the librarians at TTU. Examples will be included of what things worked better than others and how mentoring is a two-way street with rewards at both ends.
Images Unleashed: Expanding Beyond Traditional Disciplines - Organizers: Nicole Finzer, Northwestern University and Yuki Hibben, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
Moderator: Beth Wodnick, Princeton University
Speakers: Virginia Allison, University of California, Irvine Libraries; Carolyn Caizzi, Yale University; Caroline Caviness, ARTstor; Nicole Finzer
Abstract: The demand for digital images in higher education has increased dramatically in all disciplines, creating changes in pedagogical practice, a greater reliance on technological skills, and an expanded need for digital resources. This panel session is designed for art librarians and visual resources professionals interested in using innovative ways to expand their image collections and services to encompass disciplines outside of the arts. Speakers will discuss creative methods for outreach and marketing to broader audiences, strategies fostering collaboration, innovations in digital asset management for an array of subject areas, and models for promoting image-based fluency across campus.
Inside Out: Examining Studio Artists’ Perceptions, Representations, and Actual Use of the Fine Arts Library - Moderator: Gabrielle V. L. Reed, Massachusetts College of Art and Design Morton R. Godine Library
Speakers: Henry Pisciotta, Pennsylvania State University Libraries; Anna Simon, Indiana University
Abstract: As art information professionals, we find ourselves comfortably ensconced in the world of the art library, often taking for granted the underlying systems that orchestrate the library on a daily basis. This session encourages fine arts librarians and visual resource professionals to take a step backward in an attempt to examine the library through the eyes of one our most valued (yet elusive) constituencies—the studio artist. Presenters will explore the romantic and practical conceptions—and misconceptions—of studio artists’ interactions with the library. Gabrielle Reed will briefly introduce a recent project undertaken at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design library and IT departments to measure how their studio arts-based community view their services. This web-based project, called the MISO (merged information services organizations) survey, created quantitative results and insight into a unique institution. Henry Pisciotta examines artworks from 1962 to the present that challenge and redefine the traditional image of the library, while Anna Simon presents use-evidence from over 200 undergraduate studio students on their interactions with the library at different points in their program. Armed with insights from this broadly applicable research, the speakers posit how we can support studio practices by demystifying the library.
New Voices in the Profession - Organizer and Moderator: Maggie Portis, New York School of Interior Design
Speakers
Returning for a fifth year, the New Voices panel will provide new Art Librarianship and Visual Resources professionals the opportunity to present topics from exceptional coursework, such as a master’s thesis, or topics with which they are engaged early in their professional life. New professionals are defined as either students in MLS or Master’s programs leading to a career in librarianship or visual resources, or those 5 years post Master’s level study. For many, this is their first professional speaking engagement. This panel was begun at the ARLIS-NA 2006 conference in Banff and has received wide attention and praise in its four iterations since. The topics presented reveal new ways of thinking about old problems, as well as up-and-coming ideas, and give the conference attendees a glimpse of the academic interests and current discourse of the newest members of ARLIS/NA and VRA. Working closely with the Gerd Muesham committee this year, two speakers will be the Muesham award winners from 2010 and 2011. Additional speakers are presented at the suggestion of the VRA Education Committee, ArLiSNAP, and the VRA+ARLIS/NA Joint Conference Co-chairs for Program.
The Semantic Web, Libraries, and Visual Resources - Organizer and Moderator: Steve Tatum, Art and Architecture Library, Virginia Tech University
Speakers: Christine Cavalier, Department of Art and Art History, Tufts University; Amy Lucker, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Greg Reser, Arts Library, University of California San Diego
Abstract: The World Wide Web was conceived as a network of resources, where machines could discover data from diverse sources and assemble them into useful information, as if the web were an unbounded database assembled by infinite contributors. This is the semantic web. At its heart are well constructed metadata presented in machine readable form. Since the inception of the semantic web, tools and techniques have been developing to enable its purposes. Familiar examples are XML as a machine readable structure for metadata, Dublin Core, and VRA Core 4. Less familiar to many is RDF (Resource Description Framework), which links metadata from different sources and schemas, a function that is central to the semantic web. Although the semantic web is at an early stage in it growth, library and visual resource projects are already using its tools and concepts. One presentation in our group explores concatenating information which uses varieties of vocabularies as access points, that is, linking images and books and articles, all of which use different schema and have different content. A second describes how concept mapping in teaching art history is similar to visualizing linked data on the semantic web. A third describes writing metadata into digital images as a part of the visual resources workflow, using Adobe panels that incorporate XML and RDF. These presentations help to illumine diverse facets of the semantic web and also describe projects that are interesting in their own right. They indicate where we are headed as the semantic web gathers momentum.
