Greeting ARLIS members,
I would like to assure you that the VRA White Paper authoring group
is hard at work drafting a document that will be of use to both
organizations (it is notable that many of us are active members of
both ARLIS and VRA) and we hope it will be available to everyone
before the new academic year starts. I've copied the original
announcement below for your information, but please don't hesitate to
contact any of us if you would like to know more or need assistance.
In addition, I'm aware of several session and workshop proposals
focused on these issues that have been sent to VRA for the Atlanta
conference in March 2010 and so there should be some interesting
programming focused on the current economic challenges there too.
Best regards,
Maureen
>In response to the current economic climate that has impacted the
>institutions where our visual resources facilities reside, the VRA
>Board has asked me to form an authoring group (see below) to produce
>a white paper that will not only address salient issues but also
>suggest options for dealing with the evolving visual resources
>landscape. This document will demonstrate that visual resources
>professionals and the facilities they manage actively contribute to
>an institution's mission and technological future by providing
>necessary expertise, assets, services and learning spaces.
>
>The VRA Board along with a cadre of reviewers from the visual
>resources community, affiliated organizations (ARLIS, CAA, MCN,
>etc.) and beyond will be enlisted to comment on the draft to ensure
>it is useful and will resonate with faculty, administrators and
>others outside the visual resources profession.
>
>As a first step, we are presently trying to think through ideal VRC
>scenarios in academic departments/schools, transferring operations
>to libraries, diversifying by adding IT and/or AV responsibilities,
>or adjusting roles in museum contexts. To help us with this work, we
>encourage image professionals who have been engaged in redefining
>their role and that of their facility to share their experience by
>contacting Elizabeth Schaub by June 10th, who will be focused on
>the case studies section of the paper; in addition, she may
>communicate the information you provide to the appropriate workers
>in the authoring group who may want to dialog with you.
>
>We are drafting this document over the next month in order to make
>the information available as soon as possible. If you need
>information sooner or have any suggestions, questions, or concerns
>about this white paper process, please contact Maureen Burns.
>
>Authoring group members and their respective white paper focus:
>:: Maureen Burns (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Humanities Curator, Visual Resources Collection
>University of California, Irvine
>focus: VRCs in academic departments/schools
>
>:: Rebecca Moss (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Visual Resources Coordinator, Office of Information Technology
>University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
>focus: VRC's integrated into IT units
>
>:: Meghan Musolff (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Assistant Coordinator, Visual Resources Collections, History of Art Department
>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
>focus: VRCs in academic departments/schools
>
>:: Alex Nichols (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Academic Technology Coordinator, Department of Art and Art History
>Michigan State University, East Lansing
>focus: Diversifying by adding IT and/or AV responsibilities
>
>:: Henry Pisciotta (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Arts and Architecture Librarian
>Pennsylvania State University
>focus: VRCs integrated into university libraries
>
>:: Elizabeth Schaub
>(<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Visual Resources Collection Director, School of Architecture
>University of Texas at Austin
>Focus: Case studies
>
>:: Betha Whitlow (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask])
>Curator of Visual Resources, Department of Art History and Archaeology
>Washington University in St. Louis
>Focus: VRCs within museums
At 07:26 AM 7/1/2009, you wrote:
>Dear ARLIS Friends,
>
>I sit here at my computer and read the sad news several times a week
>that librarians are being laid off, made to take early retirement,
>that art libraries are being closed etc.
>
>My question is, "What are we as an organization doing to counteract
>the impression that librarians are nonessential to the operation of
>their parent institutions?"
>
>A follow up question is "What resources do we as an organization
>provide to a librarian who has been laid off as a result of the
>harsh economic climate?"
>
>Does anyone have any answers?
>
>Sheila A. Cork
>Librarian
>New Orleans Museum of Art
>City Park
>1 Collins Diboll Circle
>P.O. Box 19123
>New Orleans, LA 70179-0123
>
>504-658-4117
>[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.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may
>be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
Maureen A. Burns, Ed.D.
Humanities Curator
Visual Resources Collection
61 Humanities Instructional Building
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-3375
949-824-8027 phone
949-824-4298 fax
[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.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
