*Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library and ARTstor awarded IMLS 
National Leadership Grant for Built Works Registry 
<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/news/libraries/2010/20101001.imls.html>*



(NEW YORK, October 1, 2010) – The Avery Architectural & Fine Arts 
Library at Columbia University and ARTstor announced today the receipt 
of a $974,998 three-year National Leadership grant from the Institute of 
Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The funds will be used to support 
the new Built Works Registry (BWR), a collaborative project to develop a 
freely available registry and data resource for architectural works and 
the built environment.

The project will include development of the BWR policy framework, 
metadata structure, technical infrastructure, and a body of seed 
content. The Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library at Columbia 
University and ARTstor will be the principal collaborators for this 
project. The Getty Research Institute (GRI), nine other institutions, 
and an international advisory council will also participate throughout 
the three-year project development cycle. BWR will be available for 
contributions and use by scholars, catalogers, and other users across 
all types of academic and cultural heritage organizations, both in the 
United States and worldwide.

"Architectural works and the built environment present unique challenges 
for catalogers and scholars. While the creators and locations of built 
works can often be clearly identified and indexed using globally shared 
standards and names, no authoritative standards or registries currently 
exist to help identify the works themselves." said Carole Ann Fabian, 
director of the Avery Library. "Thanks to this generous grant from IMLS, 
scholars and information professionals alike will benefit from such a 
collective and consistent approach to describing built works."

A key feature of BWR will be the collaborative aspect of the resource. 
James Shulman, president of ARTstor, notes that "one of the limiting 
factors for creation of a shared works list has been the absence of a 
networked, distributed environment that allows an unlimited number of 
contributors to participate in building and maintaining the file as a 
community-generated resource. There is a fundamental need for global 
collaboration on this enormous undertaking, and the benefits of 
developing such a network should accrue to the whole arts and 
educational community. We are thrilled to be a part of such an 
undertaking along with such thoroughly learned partners and advisors."

In addition, BWR data will be contributed to the Getty Vocabulary 
Program's planned Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA). "The Built 
Works Registry will be a core contributor to CONA. The Getty is grateful 
to the Avery Library and ARTstor for taking the lead in developing 
workable tools and methods for building and sharing resources for 
documentation and retrieval in the field of art history. We believe that 
the BWR will become a fundamental resource as well as a practical model 
for researchers and information professionals, and we are excited about 
being part of this important initiative," states Murtha Baca, Head of 
Digital Art History Access at the GRI.

For works that have never had ISBN codes or any other unique identifiers 
in a standardized system, this effort should begin to provide a 
framework and a set of tools that will enhance research and education 
while reducing system-wide expenditures.

For more information about the 2010 National Leadership Grants, please 
read IMLS Awards National Leadership Grants to 34 Institutions 
<http://www.imls.gov/news/2010/092710.shtm>.

*The Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library* is one of the most 
comprehensive architecture and fine arts library collections in the 
world. Avery collects a full range of primary and secondary sources for 
the advanced study of architecture, historic preservation, art history, 
decorative arts, city planning, real estate, and archaeology. The 
Library contains 500,000 volumes including more than 40,000 rare books, 
and receives approximately 1,000 periodicals. Avery’s Drawings and 
Archives collection includes 1.5 million architectural drawings and 
records. The Avery Library is home to the /Avery Index to Architectural 
Periodicals/, the only comprehensive American guide to the current 
literature of architecture and design.

*ARTstor* is a nonprofit organization with a mission to use digital 
technologies to facilitate research, teaching and learning in the arts 
and humanities. In furtherance of that mission, ARTstor provides a 
digital library of over 1.2 million images in the arts and humanities, 
software, and services to over 1,300 colleges, universities, museums and 
schools around the world. ARTstor is also developing Shared Shelf, a 
networked cataloging and image management system.

*The Getty Research Institute* is dedicated to furthering knowledge and 
advancing understanding of the visual arts. The Research Institute 
creates and disseminates new knowledge through its expertise, its active 
collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, 
exhibitions, publications, digital services and residential scholars 
program. The Getty Vocabulary Program produces the Union List of Artist 
Names (ULAN®), Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN®), and Art & 
Architecture Thesaurus (AAT®) – multilingual databases for terms, names, 
and other information about people, places, things, and concepts 
relating to art, architecture, and material culture.

*The Institute of Museum and Library Services* is the primary source of 
federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. 
The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that 
connect people to information and ideas. The largest museum and library 
joint grant program administered by IMLS, National Leadership Grants 
support projects that will advance the ability of museums and libraries 
to preserve culture, heritage, and knowledge while enhancing learning.

*Columbia University Libraries/Information Services* is one of the top 
five academic research library systems in North America. The collections 
include over 10 million volumes, over 100,000 journals and serials, as 
well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, 
microforms, maps, graphic and audio-visual materials. The services and 
collections are organized into 22 libraries and various academic 
technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 550 professional and 
support staff. The website of the Libraries at www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb 
<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb> is the gateway to its services and 
resources.

###

-- 
Carole Ann Fabian
Director
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Columbia University
1172 Amsterdam Avenue MC 0301
New York, NY 10027
(212) 854-3068
[log in to unmask]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/join.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~