----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Call for Papers
16th Annual Visual Resources Association Conference
March 3-7, 1998
Philadelphia
The sixteenth annual Visual Resources Association conference will take
place March 3-7, 1998, in Philadelphia. The Warwick Hotel (1701 Locust
Street) will be our conference headquarters. Pre-registration materials
will be mailed in November 1997.
VRA Vice President, Jeanette Mills, and the Local Arrangements Committee,
chaired by Micheline Nilsen, are working on an exciting program. In
addition to at least two workshops, which will be scheduled on Tuesday,
March 3rd, and the roundtables and sessions described below, the
conference planners are making arrangements for tours, open houses, a
helpful local guide booklet, the New Technology Roundup, a Luraine Tansey
Travel Award Dinner, and other events. We also have worked with the
planners of the ARLIS/NA conference (March 5-12, 1998, Philadelphia) in an
effort to make the two conferences best serve the members of both
organizations.
If you have general questions about the conference, please contact
Jeanette Mills, VRA Vice President, School of Art, University of
Washington, Box 353440, Seattle, WA 98195-3440; phone: 206/543-0649; fax:
206/685-1657; email: [log in to unmask] Questions about local
arrangements can go to Micheline Nilsen, Slide Curator, Fine Arts Library,
University of Pennsylvania, 220 S. 34th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-9308;
phone: 215/898-7086; fax: 215/573-2066; email: [log in to unmask]
Please note that some of the roundtables and sessions listed below still
need participants. Contact the organizers/moderators directly with a
letter of interest for roundtables or a paper proposal (no more than one
page in length) for sessions. These are due to the organizer/moderator
by September 15, 1997, at the latest. However, the sooner you make a
submission, the more likely you will be considered for inclusion in the
program.
ROUNDTABLES
"Strategies for New Visual Resources Curators"
Moderator: Marcia Poore, Curator of Visual Resources, Binghamton
University, Binghamton NY 13902-6000; phone: 607/777-2215; email:
[log in to unmask]
The purpose of this roundtable is to give recently hired curators a chance
to meet with more seasoned professionals and ask questions. Voices of
experience are welcome to tell their stories and give advice to those new
to the profession. Possible topics to cover: establishing authority,
management, cataloging, operations & professional development. This is an
excellent opportunity for mentoring and sharing ideas. We are looking for
a good mix of new and established curators to be involved in this
roundtable.
"Who is Kongo Rikishi & Were Can I Find Him?"
Moderator: Giovanna R Jackson, Visual Resources Curator, Department of
Art & Art History, C S U Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0820; phone:
916/898-6878; fax: 916/898-4171; email: [log in to unmask]
This roundtable will address the basic knowledge needed to deal with
Japanese images in single-curator visual resources collections. Many of
us have little applicable knowledge of the arts of non-Western cultures
and must often learn on the spot when a new class is introduced into our
curriculum, a new faculty member arrives, or new slides need to be fit
into an established system. The following topics should provide a good
introduction and overview of the problems and issues which need to be
considered when working with the arts of Japan: basic reference works,
image sources, authority files, organization of complex sites & art works,
the decorative/minor arts of Japan, and the use of various cataloging
schemes. People with knowledge of Japanese art history and experience
working with Japanese art slide collections are needed to act as panel
members for this discussion.
"Subject Indexing and the Visual Resources Collection"
Moderator: Wendy Botting, Visual Resources Librarian, Slide Library,
Department of the History of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14851;
phone: 607/255-7047; fax: 607/255-1454; email: [log in to unmask]
This roundtable will focus on establishing appropriate subject terminology
within visual resources collections. Often a thorny issue for
non-traditional collections, subject indexing can also be seen as an
exciting, intellectually challenging result of the need to manage complex
data within networked environments. After a brief introduction to the
issues of vocabulary control, data standards, and thesauri, three or four
short, informal presentations will be given by visual resources curators
whose collections include materials such as Asian or Islamic art and
architecture, Native American materials, or medium-specific collections
such as graphic design. They will be asked to focus on the following
questions: what particular problems have you had to resolve regarding
subject terminology? What have the solutions been to your terminology
quandaries? Which thesauri and indices would you recommend visual
resources curators turn to for vocabulary control, in order to meet the
needs of their specific collections? How would you propose facilitating
cross-collection subject terminology standards, especially for unique
visual materials? The roundtable will be useful to those curators who are
involved in developing local databases, or to those who are reworking and
refining already-existing subject terminology within their databases.
Roundtable attendees will then join in a moderated discussion following
the presentations.
"Collection Development in Art/Architecture/Archaeology Related Visual
Resources Collections; Changing Times: What Do We Collect and Why?"
Moderator: Rebecca Miller Hoort, Visual Resources Collections, Department
of the History of Art, University of Michigan, 519 S. State St., Ann Arbor
MI 48109-1357; phone: 313/647-3328; fax: 313/647-4121; email:
[log in to unmask]
Image collection development at most institutions has always revolved
around patron needs but, in these times of rapidly evolving imaging
technology and changing disciplinary focuses, collection managers find
themselves returning to the most basic questions about collection
development. What do we collect and why? Given the interdisciplinary
emphasis being used by instructors of art history, architectural history,
etc., and the widespread interest across disciplines in the use of images
for teaching and research, do we broaden (some would say dilute) the
contents of our collections to accommodate large numbers of images not
related to art, architecture or archaeology? How do we accommodate the
increasingly diverse needs of our patrons yet maintain a usefully
organized and described collection? If a widespread move to providing
images via digital means is coming sooner rather than later, should we
still aggressively build slide collections or should we think of slide
collection development on a more short-term basis? If we are undertaking
local digitizing projects, then what kinds of images should be included?
Copyright concerns are integrally connected with collection development
policies and will undoubtedly figure into the discussion. Participants
who have written collection development policies in place will be asked to
bring copies to share with the group.
"From Private Sanctuary to Public Domain: Managing the Merger of Two
Distinct Facilities"
Moderators: Jane Carlin, Librarian, Design, Architecture, Art and
Planning Library, Aronoff Center for Art and Design, University of
Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0016; phone: 513/556-1319; fax:
513/556-3006; email: [log in to unmask] Adrienne Varady, Visual
Resources Curator, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning Library, Aronoff
Center for Art and Design, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
45221-0016; phone: 513/556-0279; fax: 513/556-3006; email:
[log in to unmask]
This roundtable will be a discussion about the merging of the
"traditional" print library with the "traditional" art slide library. At
the University of Cincinnati, the Design, Art, Architecture and Planning
Library merged with the College of DAAP's Slide Library to become one
facility in a new building. The new library was planned, not merely as an
enlarged version of two formerly separate facilities, but as the next step
in the developing process of conveyance, retrieval, and storage of
information. Technology is rapidly becoming the tool by which much
written and graphic information is conveyed by digital means; the digital
replacing the analog, or at least, offering patrons an alternative format
for the distribution of information. This roundtable also will address
the issues that new technologies present in the academic environment and
how these challenges can be met. Other librarians and visual resource
professionals who have experienced the merging of facilities are invited
to contact the moderators as potential participants.
"Visual Resources Software Users Discussion Group"
Moderator: Trudy Buxton Jacoby, Trinity College, Slide Collection,
Hallden Hall, Hartford, CT 06106-3100; phone: 860/297-2194; fax:
860/297-5349); email: [log in to unmask]
The Software Users Discussion has evolved from the earlier VRMS and EmbARK
User Group Meetings. Issues may be discussed across multiple platforms
and software packages. Databases in use include, but are not limited to,
VRMS, EmbARK, Image AXS, Dataease, Filemake Pro, Re:Discovery, etc.
Discussion topics may also include migration, use of the Core Record and
sharing data. All are welcome to participate.
SESSIONS
"World Wide Web Technology and the Visual Resources Curator: Friend or Foe"
Moderator: Howard Smith, Curator, Architecture and Fine Arts Image
Collection, University of Southern California, Watt Hall Room 204, Los
Angeles CA 90089-0291; phone: 213/740-7582 or 213/740-6600; fax:
213/740-8884; email: [log in to unmask];
http://www.usc.edu/dept/finearts/hs/SLIDE/IMAGEweb.
This session will address issues surrounding new digital technology and
the role of the visual resources curator. Database management, web
authoring, and access to image collections are all topics visual resources
people have been talking about for years. Many visual resources curators
are already creating web sites for classes and planning digital archives
to meet new demands with web access. However, now is the perfect time to
step back and take a critical look at these projects. Are web sites for
classes still valid? What are the realities and potential pitfalls of
these web projects? Digital Databases--are they still the preferred way
to manage digital images? The ultimate goal of this session is to push
our conception of the digital image and the world wide web, producing
information that we can take back to our collections and implement. There
will be special emphasis on new, ground-breaking projects. Paper
proposals covering one or more of the following subjects are sought: web
site production for classes; digital pitfalls (equipment costs, personnel,
training, the "lure of the latest"); access for faculty and students to
images--what really works; copyright and the web--web sites that are rich
in digital images and ways to insure "Fair Use," at least for the moment;
and database projects--planning for the future--millions of records.
"The Getty's MESL: Reports from the Trenches"
Moderator: Caron Carnahan, Williams College, Art Department, Slide
Library, Lawrence Hall, Williamstown, MA 01267; phone: 413/597-2015; fax:
413/597-3498; email: [log in to unmask]
The Museum Educational Site Licensing Project (MESL), part of the Getty
Information Institute's Imaging Initiative, attempted a cooperation
between museums and academic institutions in the supply and usage of
digitized images and information. The project, scheduled to run from
January 1, 1995, through June 30, 1997, also examined the difficult issue
of intellectual property rights and attempted to create a workable
relationship between those wanting to control usage and reproduction of
visual surrogates with those wanting to use such reproductions in the
teaching of our cultural heritage. As this important trial draws to a
close, one wonders if MESL met with success. There will also be a
discussion of the project's viability as a future means of sharing imagery
and information. MESL participants from both the museum and academic
communities are invited to submit abstracts of papers that will report on
their experience with MESL.
"The Changing Role of the Librarian-Publishing and Producing"
Moderator: Colum Hourihane, Director, Index of Christian Art, Princeton
University, McCormick Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544-1018; phone:
609/258-6363; fax: 609/258-0103; email: [log in to unmask]
The traditional role of the library was that of a repository. Images and
text were acquired, catalogued and filed enabling users to access the
resources in as easy a manner as was possible. Card catalogues and
in-house systems provided access on a limited basis, which rarely went
beyond the physical confines of the library building. With the advent of
computerization, the traditional role of the library and librarian has
changed. Instead of being solely a passive provider of materials to the
wider world the library has adapted to the role of producer and publisher.
Computerization of collection catalogues firstly enabled librarians to
share information with a wider community. With the advent of the internet
as a means of publishing, the role of the librarian is destined to be
extended. Visual resource professionals who have created publications
(digital--CD-ROM, Web, etc.--or printed) based on their collections are
invited to submit paper proposals.
"The Future of Comprehensive Reference Collections"
Organizer: Margaret Welch, Visual Resources, Winterthur Library,
Winterthur, DE 19735; phone: 302/888-4703; fax: 302/888-4870; e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
Certain visual resource collections document portions of the art and
artifact universe completely. Their comprehensive nature appeals to a
national and international audience, but users could not pursue research
due to geographic distance. The advent of automation and the Internet
promises greatly improved access but also raises profound questions for
the future of these collections. Representatives from the Frick Art
Reference Library, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Winterthur
Library will discuss collection development and mission, cataloguing
standards, and electronic reference among other topics. Katharine
Martinez will be the moderator; all speakers have already been chosen.
"The Cultural Commune: Recent Collaborative Data Sharing Ventures"
Organizer: Elisa Lanzi, Lanzi/Warren Associates, Box 1046, Bennington, VT
05201-1046; phone: 802/442-1570; e-mail: [log in to unmask]
The move to create integrated "cultural information resources" has set the
stage for multiple data sharing demonstration projects, focusing on
cultural artifacts, images, and the information about them.
Simultaneously, the quest for "standard" data models and structures to
accommodate this data have proliferated. This session will present
several recent projects and examine the current data model scene. The
session will be moderated by Ben Kessler; all speakers have already been
chosen.
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JEANETTE C. MILLS School of Art
University of Washington
Director of Visual Services Box 353440
Seattle, WA 98195-3440
Vice President, email: [log in to unmask]
Visual Resources Association voice: (206) 543-0649
fax: (206) 685-1657
"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."
Jorge Luis Borges
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