Hi ARLIS folks,
Who's excited about submitting proposals for the Washington D.C. conference "Art+Politics?" We RISS folks are! In fact, we're so excited that we asked Roger Lawson, program co-chair, to answer some burning questions we had about the conference. Below is the transcript of our interview, and on the RISS blog we put together some tips and tricks learned from last year's chat session "Crafting Proposals: Pasadena & Beyond."Happy proposing to us all!
-Emilee Mathews, Reference and Information Services Section Moderator, 2013-2014
My Interview with Roger Lawson
EM: What's your favorite thing about being an art librarian in Washington, DC?
RL: I am always impressed by the rich variety of our collections, as well as the talents devoted to preserving and promoting them.
EM:
Why did you volunteer to serve on the conference planning committee?
RL: There have been many changes to Washington since 1987, the last year the conference was held in the city -- and having assisted with that conference, I was eager to help show our members what Washington and the entire DC MD VA Chapter have to offer.
EM: What has been your favorite ARLIS conference and why?
RL: It would be difficult to choose only one: New Orleans, 1980 (my first) for introducing me early in my career to so many dedicated art librarians willing to accept a novice; Los Angeles, 1985 and 2001; Banff, 2006 and Denver, 2008 (great programs in beautiful settings); but every conference is memorable for individual reasons.
EM: How did you decide on the "Art + Politics" theme?
RL: It seemed a natural theme for a city preoccupied with politics, where policy decisions have broad national and international impact. It is purposefully a big topic, one that can bring to light considerations of major issues such as intellectual property and copyright, provenance, and preservation as they relate to the arts and their documentation.
EM:
ARLIS members come from a vast array of institutions, geographic
locations, skill sets, experience levels, and job duties. How do you
balance all of those factors in the conference theme and
call for papers?
RL: We seek proposals for papers, sessions, and workshops from students and practitioners in a wide range of professions, not just librarians and visual resource specialists. We want to offer a program that will be as interesting and as valuable to the newly-minted art information professional as to the seasoned employee, and that will present viewpoints from outside the confines of conventional thinking.
EM: What do you hope that conference attendees will take away from this experience?
RL: We hope that conference attendees will be able to use the information and skills acquired and put them into action creatively -- and we expect to see the results of ideas planted here brought to fruition in future conferences and accomplishments. Most importantly, the ARLIS/NA annual conference presents professional networking opportunities well beyond those provided by social media and email (as convenient as they may be). Attendees will be able to engage in lively person-to-person discussions with peers and experts alike, and form friendships that can last throughout a career.
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