Dear ARLIS-L members,

 

I am posting this follow up message on behalf of our ARLIS/UK colleague, Alexandra Duncan. She is still hoping to find a partner for a librarian job exchange in the United States.

 

Please contact Alexandra directly at [log in to unmask] if you have any questions.

 

Thank you,

Abby

 

Abby Dansiger

Librarian

 

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

de Young

Legion of Honor

 

Golden Gate Park I 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive I San Francisco, CA 94118

p 415.750.7603

e [log in to unmask] | famsf.org

 

I’ve had this message posted on the ARLIS/NA list before, but I’m sending it out again for those who will have missed it now that some more time has passed (so apologies if this is very much old news!).

 

Please read on if you are:

 

a)     An art librarian

b)    Working in an academic institution or the cultural sector (museum/specialist library)

c)     Interested in working abroad temporarily

 

Some background:

 

I’m the Fashion and Textiles Liaison Librarian at Central Saint Martins (CSM) (http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/), University of the Arts London (UAL) and have been wanting to reach out to librarians in the US/Canada to discuss the possibility of trying to arrange a job exchange. We don’t have an exchange programme for staff already in place at our college so this means starting from square one. However, I have had initial approval for this from the CSM Library Manager and the Director of Libraries at UAL and Human Resources also think it is possible.

 

It’s been a few years since something like this has happened (for understandable reasons) but I think there’s a real precedent for it. Apart from the obvious benefits of knowledge sharing and new experiences it would be a great way to strengthen links between ARLIS/NA and ARLIS/UK (I am an active member of ARLIS/UK) and to promote the idea of an international community of art librarians. Ideally this could last at least a few months, and time of year would need to be worked out according to each institution’s calendar- I myself am flexible but aware obviously that the Fall term would probably be challenging for any institution, my own included.

 

What do I do?

 

As a subject librarian I manage and spend the budgets for the Fashion and Textiles collections, and deliver information literacy sessions to those students as well as the Cultural Studies programme, and additionally attend course/department meetings with academics and students. I also have a functional role in Collection Development, so I devise and take part in many collections and cataloguing projects (including overseeing the special collections here). Aside from the college’s international reputation for creativity, innovation and pushing boundaries, particularly within fashion education but across many subject areas within art education, there are many things that make working here great; not least my wonderful library colleagues! I’m not expecting to find someone with the same role or subject responsibilities, just an art librarian- not necessarily from an academic institution either; it could be a great opportunity to learn something new.

 

How would it work?

 

I would continue to be paid by my own institution as would you; as a UAL employee this type of paid leave would most likely be covered by our special leave policy (to be confirmed), and as a UK citizen wanting to do unpaid work/training in the US I would require a Business (B-1) visa; a non-immigrant visa allowing someone to spend time working in the US as long as they are not being paid by a US institution. These are quite simple to arrange. I would also have travel insurance provided by UAL. Your institution may well have similar procedures in place, and there should be an equivalent visa for a US citizen wanting to do the same in the UK- although that requires confirmation from the Home Office.

 

In terms of costs (flights/ visa application fee) ARLIS/UK has funding available in the form of a travel and study award, which I would apply for, and perhaps ARLIS/NA offers something similar, although excluding flights I don’t believe the costs would be prohibitive.  

If you, or any of your colleagues, are potentially interested and would like to know more about working at CSM here’s a link to a Q&A online where I give a few details about a day in the life of a liaison librarian here: http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/people/technical-staff/alex-duncan—assistant-academic-support-librarian/.

 

Please do get in touch with me if you’re interested ([log in to unmask]) or pass this message on to other people you know who might be. Look forward to hearing from you!

 

Best,

Alexandra  

 

Alexandra Duncan

Assistant Academic Support Librarian

(Fashion and Textiles)

Central Saint Martins