Dear Ms. de Verges,
Thank you for your letter describing the interesting work that the
Worcester Art Museum and the College of the Holy Cross are doing. I look
forward to reading your paper once it is published.
The discussion on the ARLIS/NA list service produced some very
worthwhile examples of cooperative automation projects. Ursula Kolmsetter
from the Indianapolis Museum of Art ([log in to unmask]) wrote about
the work that they are doing with the Indianapolis Public Library. She even
sent me a copy of their grant proposal. Sam Duncan from the Amos Carter
Museum ([log in to unmask]) told me about the Cultural District
Library Consortium which includes the Amos Carter Museum, the Kimball Art
Museum, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, three institution with
three very different collections. Together they are automating their
libraries through Texas Christian University, a process made easier since
some of the art librarians had previously worked for the University Library.
Jean Hines from the New York School of Interior Design
([log in to unmask]) indicated the advantages and disadvantages of
working with New York University. NYU, it should be pointed out, has also
helped the New-York Historical Society with the automation of its
collection. Moira Steven from the Atlanta College of Art
([log in to unmask]) is working with the High Museum of Art, a
sister institution under the rubric of the Woodruff Arts Center. Susan Moon
from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ([log in to unmask]) teamed up with
the Linda Hall Library for Science, Technology and Engineering with
interesting results.
Other joint automation projects include the Walters Art Gallery, the
Baltimore Museum of Art, and Johns Hopkins University (contact person:
Kathleen Stacey [[log in to unmask]]); the Philadelphia Area Consortium
of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) which includes the Philadelphia
Museum of Art (contact person: Allen Townsend [[log in to unmask]]);
the Phoenix Art Museum and the Phoenix Public Library (contact person: Genni
Houlihan [[log in to unmask]]); and the Rhode Island School of Design
and the Providence Athenaeum (contact person: Phil Weimerskirch
[[log in to unmask]]).
I realize that this information is all very vague, but it is hard to
synthesize all of the responses to my inquiry. Nevertheless, I found the
discussion very useful, especially since the Newark Museum is considering
automating its library through the Newark Public Library. We have also
talked with the New Jersey Historical Society about the same kind of a
project. If you would like, I could send you all of the responses that I
have received. I kept paper versions of them to present to my
administration.
Joan Benedetti from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
([log in to unmask]) suggested that this topic might be a very good one for
a session at the St. Louis conference of ARLIS/NA in 2002. Allen Townsend
indicated that he would be willing to discuss PACSCL. Perhaps you would like
to present your paper. Of the responses that I received, the most thoughtful
ones came from Ursula Kolmstetter, Sam Duncan, Jean Hines, Moira Steven, and
Susan Moon, although all of the projects sound interesting. Perhaps one of
these other respondents would like to participate in a panel as well.
Joan also suggested that we might want to invite someone from the
Institute for Museum and Library Services to discuss funding, although most
respondents indicated that the IMLS is not funding automation projects per
se. Does anyone have a contact there who might be willing to participate in
a panel?
If anyone has any ideas about a panel on this topic, please let me
know. I would be willing to organize it. We have until next May to make our
proposal, but we should have a pretty good idea by the time of our annual
conference in Los Angeles.
Sincerely yours,
William A. Peniston, Librarian, The Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street,
P.O. Box 540, Newark, NJ 07101; telephone: (973) 596-6625; fax: (973)
642-0459; email: [log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jolene deVerges [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 11:54 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Cc: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: automation partnerships
>
> Dear colleagues,
> A few weeks ago William Peniston began a discussion on the ARLIS/NA
> listserv
> on the subject of automation partnerships. At the time, I wanted to share
> our joint institutional project with you, but technical difficulties
> stymied
> me. Two institutions in Worcester, MA , the Worcester Art Museum and
> College of the Holy Cross, entered into a partnership in 1997 that allowed
> the museum library to keep its doors open to the public and automate the
> catalog of this 100 year old library.
>
> With financial assistance from a private foundation in New England, we
> built
> an innovative system of separate bibliographic and image databases. The
> databases, accessible using the DRA web2 interface on the web, contain
> bibliographic records from both museum and college libraries, records of
> the
> college's slide collection (viewed within college's network only) and
> records of selected works of art in the museum. (a work in progress)
> These
> records are all in MARC format, use LCSH and authorities and can be
> searched
> individually or as one. The image records contain 856 URLs to the
> digitized
> images. Plans are underway to digitize selected curatorial documents
> (bibliographies, provenance, archival materials such as letters) and unite
> this material with the record and image. We are in the final year of the
> grant. The infrastructure is in place to continue building our databases
> of
> art objects, primary archival documents and bibliographic resources.
>
> The Project Director and I are co-authoring a paper, "A Dynamic Model of
> Museum and Academic Library Cooperation: Cataloging Image Collections,"
> to
> be published in an upcoming issue of College & Undergraduate Libraries.
> Your listserv discussion made us aware of the variety of cooperative
> projects that bring together museum libraries with other institutions in
> the
> community. Could we mention your projects in the paper and quote some of
> the dialogue of the discussion. Have you published anything about your
> joint venture. Did you follow a model? Can you point us in the direction
> of other projects that are similar to ours?
>
> Our catalog can be found at
> http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/library.html
> <http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/library.html>
> (search our catalog)
> Thank you,
> Jolene
>
> Jolene de Verges
> V-WAM Project Coordinator
> Worcester Art Museum
> 55 Salisbury Street
> Worcester, MA 01609-3196
> 508-799-4406, x3136
> 508-798-5646 (fax)
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
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