Dear ARLIS/NA Colleagues,

The Executive Board has approved my request to form a Special Interest Group for materials collections. The request stated, "These entities vary from institution--sometimes called labs, centers, libraries, collections, etc.--but they share a common interest in acquiring, presenting, and educating users on the properties and creative possibilities of physical materials in the areas of architecture, design, and all the fine arts that are the purview of an association such as ARLIS/NA."

I will serve as the group's representative at this time. I have submitted a request for a meeting at the 2011 annual conference (see below). Look also for the Materials Special Interest Group to be added soon to the ARLIS/NA website.

I want to thank RISD Library Director Carol Terry for encouraging this initiative and to the other materials librarians who also lent their support.

Sincerely,

Mark Pompelia
Visual Resources Librarian
Rhode Island School of Design

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2011 Meeting Request:

Materials-based collections represent a challenging new mode of art librarianship with regards to subject specialization, physical description and accommodation, their close relationship to industry, and institutional mission. Whether a fully realized studio, a modest lab, or a nascent collection of samples, they play an important role in presenting the physicality of art and design objects to a digitally native audience of students from varied interests and disciplines that include architecture, interior design, furniture, textiles, lighting, color, painting, sculpture, etc. Increasing in number, materials collections are staffed by an equally diverse profile of librarians, curators, and directors. This proposed Materials Libraries Special Interest Group would ideally situate the gathering of such diverse yet common interests within VRA-ARLIS/NA’s strong legacy of best practices for art librarianship and visual resources.

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