----------------------------Original message----------------------------
------------------
Hello -- Below you will find the current VRA conference schedule. This
schedule varies somewhat from the flyer that was included in the ARLIS
pre-registration packet. The biggest difference is in the Saturday
schedule.
ARLIS members are welcome at all Friday sessions and roundtables and at
all Saturday events except the workshop with just their ARLIS conference
badge. They also are welcome to sign up for the Sunday tour. Attendance
at other VRA events will require registration for the VRA conference.
If you would like to receive a VRA pre-registration packet, please fax or
email William Broom, VRA Secretary, at 919/684-4398 or
bbroom=40aas.duke.edu.
We look forward to seeing ARLIS members at the VRA conference. Please
feel free to contact me with questions. My information is at the bottom
of this message.
-----------------------------------------
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM SCHEDULE
For the most current conference information, check the VRA web site:
http://www.oberlin.edu/=7Eart/vra/98con.html
Tuesday, March 3
2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Workshop I
Digital Stone Soup: Developing a Digital Image Bank for American
Architecture
Instructors: Micheline Nilsen, University of Pennsylvania=3B Betty Antrim,
San Jose State University=3B and Jeff Cohen, Bryn Mawr College.
Registration Fee: =2445.00 Limit: 30 participants
Location: University of Pennsylvania Libraries electronic classroom
This workshop is intended as a follow up to the Virtual Swap Meet
(Roundtable III) held in New York on February 14, 1997. It is viewed as a
step in the development of an image bank of projection-quality digital
images to be shared for the teaching of American architecture. The image
bank project was initiated under the auspices of the Society of
Architectural Historians and gathered curators from the Philadelphia area
to select and process images that are to be made available on the web. It
is intended that the images incorporated in this project will be available
freely, using the same kinds of guidelines as those used in the academic
community for scholarship: use, quote, discuss, and give credit to
originator. The workshop will be an opportunity for members interested
in this project to experiment with linking to images and loading records
from different institutions. Familiarity with HTML would be a plus but
participants can be paired up to share expertise. Detailed specifications
on advance preparations for participants will be communicated after
registration begins. For additional details, please contact Micheline
Nilsen at 206/898-7086 or nilsen=40pobox.upenn.edu.
5:15 p.m.
Meeting
VRA Executive Board I
Wednesday, March 4
8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Session I
The Digital Image: Friend or Foe?
Organizer and moderator: Howard Smith, University of Southern California.
More and more visual resources collections are not only considering
digitization, but are compelled to do so with the new digital technology.
Promises of powerful management tools with solutions to 24-hour World Wide
Web access and the often illusive subject access have spurred the VR
curator into action. Now that we have some experience behind us, what are
the implications of the digital image for the future, the pitfalls, the
pros and cons? How can we best plan for a course of action in making this
p rocess as painless and as efficient as possible. Questions about
hardware, software, databases, archiving, and the web still loom on the
horizon. This session will bring together five unique digital projects at
various stages of completion and focus on the successes and stumbling
blocks along the way. A critical stance will be taken in evaluating this
process so as to bring up-to-date information to the membership.
Abstracts are available at: www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/slide/VRA.
Edie Cherry, University of New Mexico, =22The Plant Materials Image
Collection Project.=22
Maureen Burns, University of California at Irvine, =22Noble Goals/Harsh
Reality: Library of UC Images and Current Trends in Copyright Law.=22
Miranda Haddock, Western Michigan University, =22Creating a Visual Catalog
for the Visual Resources Library.=22
Nancy Shelton, Old Dominion University, =22Digitizing and Storing Images for
Teaching and Website Presentation in Art 121A =5BImageAXS=5D.=22
Jean Krchnak, University of Houston, =22The Houston Collection - Digitizing
a Historic Photograph Collection.=22
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Roundtable I
Strategies for New Visual Resources Curators
Organizer and moderator: Marcia Poore, SUNY at Binghamton.
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, and Professional Development. This is
an excellent opportunity for mentoring and sharing ideas.
Roundtable II
Who is Kongo Rikishi and Where Can I Find Him?
Organizer and moderator: Giovanna Jackson, California State University at
Chico.
Panelists: David Hogge, Freer Museum=3B John C. Huntington, Ohio State
University=3B Sara Jane Pearman, Cleveland Museum of Art=3B and Hannah
Tandeta, Mills College.
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 and art
works, the decorative/minor arts of Japan, and the use of various
cataloging schemes.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Meeting
VRA Annual Business
This is where important association business will take place, including
the discussion of future conference locations and presentation of the
travel awards. All members should attend.
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Reception
VRA Members' Gathering and Awards Presentations
Sponsor: Davis Publishing
A presentation will be made for the Distinguished Service Award and the
Nancy DeLaurier Writing Award recipients will be recognized, starting at
6:00 p.m. Hors d'oeuvres will be served, and there will be a cash bar
available.
7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
Meeting
VRA Executive Board II
Thursday, March 5
7:30 - 8:30 a.m.
Reception
Continental Breakfast for New VRA Members
Hosts: Arleen Arzigian, Membership Director, and Elizabeth Antrim,
Membership Committee Chair.
8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Session II
The Getty's MESL: Reports from the Trenches
Organizer and moderator: Caron Carnahan, Williams College.
The Museum Educational Site Licensing (MESL) Project, 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 the computerized
reproduction and on-line usage of visual surrogates with those wanting to
use such reproductions in the teaching of our cultural heritage. Now that
the trial period has ended, it is time for reflection and evaluation. Was
MESL a success? Is it an acceptable model for the licensing of digitized
images to academic institutions? This session will provide reports from a
variety of MESL participants, and a discussion of the project's impact on
future means of sharing imagery and information.
Patti McClung, Consultant and MESL Project Manager, title to be announced.
Rachel M. Allen, National Museum of American Art, =22In 'Terms' of
MESL: Striking a Balance for the Use of Museum Images.=22
Kathe Albrecht, American University, =22MESL on Campus: Academic
Applications.=22
Discussant: Margaret Webster, Cornell University, =22Reactions=21=22
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Roundtable III
Collection Development in Art/Architecture/Archaeology Related Visual
Resources Collections: Changing Times=3B What Do We Collect and Why?
Organizers and Moderators: Rebecca Miller Hoort, University of Michigan at
Ann Arbor, and Martha Mahard, Harvard University.
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. This will be an
informal discussion. Participants should come prepared to share their
views and ideas, and those who have written collection development
policies in place are asked to bring copies for sharing with the group.
Roundtable IV
From Private Sanctuary to Public Domain: Managing the Merger of Two
Distinct Facilities
Organizers and moderators: Adrienne Varady, University of Cincinnati, and
Jane Carlin, University of Cincinnati.
Panelists: Wayne Meyer, Ball State University, and Cindy Turner, Ball
State University.
This roundtable will be a discussion about the merging of the
=22traditional=22 print library with the =22traditional=22 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=3B 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.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Session III
The Changing Role of the Librarian--Publishing and Producing
Organizer and moderator: Colum Hourihane, Princeton University.
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.
Murtha Baca, Getty Information Institute, =22Shades of Gutenburg?=22
Johan Van der Beke, Brepols Publishers (Belgium), =22Providing a Future for
the Past: La Bibliotheque des Duces de Bourgogne on CD-Rom.=22
Inge Reist, Frick Art Reference Library, =22Spanish Artists from the 4th to
the 20th Centuries, A Critical Dictionary.=22
R. Brooks Jeffery, University of Arizona, =22Renewing the Role of the
Librarian in a New Paradigm: A Call for Generalists.=22
Catherine Gordon, Courtauld Institute of Art, =22Dancing on the Head of a
Pin =AD Self-Publishing from a Database.=22
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Dinner
Luraine Tansey Travel Award Fund-Raising Dinner
Registration fee: =2435.00
Join colleagues in this popular annual event, which helps to raise money
for travel awards. We will be dining at a classic south Philadelphia
Italian restaurant: Ralph's Italian Restaurant. Meals will include
antipasto, a choice of entrees (chicken or veal with a side of pasta in
red sauce, or linguine pescatore with a white clam broth sauce), spumoni,
and coffee. A cash bar will be available. The restaurant, at 760 South
9th Street, is approximately one mile from the hotel. If people are
interested, one group will walk=3B the rest of the people will take cabs
from the hotel. As always, the evening would not be complete without the
wit and wisdom of Luraine Tansey herself.
Friday, March 6
8:30 - 10:30 A.m.
Session IV
The Future of Comprehensive Reference Collections
Organizer: Margaret Welch, Winterthur Library.
Moderator: Deborah Prosser, Cooperstown Graduate Program of History Museum
Studies
Special visual resources collections aim to document portions of the art
and artifact universe completely. Their comprehensive nature appeals to a
national and international audience, but users in the past often 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. The session papers will
discuss mission and collection development, preservation of data, and
electronic reference.
Anne Marie Logan, Yale Center for British Art Photographic Archive,
=22Migration of Photo Archives.=22
Kerry Sullivan, Frick Art Reference Library, =22Frick Art Reference Library
Photoarchive: Automating for New Access to an Old Collection.=22
Margaret Welch, Winterthur Library, =22Reinventing the Comprehensive
Collection for the Digital Age.=22
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Roundtable V
Subject Indexing and the Visual Resources Collection
Organizer and moderator: Wendy Botting, Cornell University.
Panelists: to be announced.
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.
Roundtable VI
Visual Resources Software Users Discussion Group
Organizer and moderator: Trudy Jacoby, Trinity College.
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, Filemaker Pro, Re:Discovery, etc.
Discussion topics may also include migration, use of the Core Record and
sharing data. All are welcome to participate.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Session V
The Cultural Commune: Recent Collaborative Data Sharing Ventures
Organizer: Elisa Lanzi, Lanzi/Warren Associates.
Moderator: Ben Kessler, Princeton University.
The move to create integrated =22cultural information resources=22 has set =
the
stage for multiple data sharing demonstration projects, focusing on
cultural artifacts, images, and the information about them.
Simultaneously, the quest for =22standard=22 data models and structures to
accommodate this data have proliferated. This session will present
several recent projects and examine the current data model scene.
Elisa Lanzi, Lanzi/Warren Associates, =22The VRA Core Categories and the
VRA/RLG Testbed Project.=22
Howard Besser, University of California at Berkeley, =22Data Models by the
Dozen: Where Are We Now?=22
Anne Whiteside, Harvard University, and Martha Mahard, Harvard University,
=22In Our Own Backyards: An Intra-institutional Collaborative Data Sharing
Project.=22
Patricia Barnett, Frick Art Reference Library, and Kerry Sullivan, Frick
Art Reference Library, =22The REACH Project and the VISION Project:
Participant's View=22
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Meetings
VRA Committees
8:00 - 10:30 p.m.
Reception
ARLIS/NA and VRA Welcome Party and Members' Art Exhibition
Location: University of the Arts Great Hall.
Exhibit Sponsor: Delaware Valley Chapter of ARLIS/NA.
This is the primary joint-conference social gathering. The location is
five blocks from the Warwick Hotel, in Hamilton Hall at Broad and Pine
Streets. A jazz ensemble will provide music, and refreshments will be
served.
Saturday, March 7
8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Presentation I
The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO): Educational Access to Museum
Multimedia Documentation
In October of 1997, twenty-three of the largest art museums in North
America created the not-for-profit Art Museum Image Consortium in order to
make digital documentation of their collections available for educational
use (see http://www.AMN.org/AMICO). AMICO will offer universities (and
eventually public libraries and K-12 school systems) access to an
unprecedented breadth and depth of art documentation in text, image, and
multimedia. AMICO participants will report on the development of the
consortium and the status of the University Testbed Project (the first in
a series of collaborative initiatives with AMICO's various
constituencies), which will offer a library of over 22,000 artworks to
selected universities during the 1998-99 academic year. Updates will
also be given on plans to further the growth of the library through
collaboration with foreign consortia of museums, and with artists and
artists' rights organizations. Audience questions are welcome.
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Workshop II
Digital Imaging 101
Instructor: Dennis Kois, koisdesign and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Registration Fee: =2445.00
Limit: 50 participants
Back by popular demand, this is an updated version of last year's
=22sold-out=22 workshop. Beginning with the mechanics of digital imaging =
and
expanding outward, this workshop will provide attendees with the knowledge
necessary to cogently consider and discuss the technological and practical
issues of the field. Information will be presented in a manner that
avoids jargon and instead focuses on practical issues, answers common
questions, and recognizes real-world constraints. Basic topics that will
be addressed include: terminology, technical considerations and
equipment, editing software, file formats and compression, image display,
and output. A brief sampling of the related topics that also will be
discussed includes: differences in digital images for use in-house, for
printing, and on the Internet=3B costs=3B conservation issues=3B key issues =
for
digital imagery on the Internet=3B Macintosh vs. Windows PCs=3B =
technological
advancements=3B and future trends. NOTE: There will be a lunch break
between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Although much technical information will
be repeated from last year's session, this year we will attempt to focus
on covering a greater variety of related issues. This session is meant to
be introductory and is not intended for those with advanced knowledge of
digital technologies. A basic understanding of computers (e.g., you use
one) is expected. Time will be provided for questions.
Dennis Kois is a designer and computer consultant who works extensively
with digital imaging technologies. He is presently a designer at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His company, koisdesign, works
with a variety of clients, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design
Museum, the Smithsonian, and Routledge Press. Mr. Kois' articles on
digital technology have appeared in a variety of publications, including
the AAM's Museum News and indelibleNews (www.indelibleink.com), where he
formerly served as an editor and art director.
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Roundup
New Technologies
Coordinator: Abby Goodrum, Drexel University.
Exhibitors: to be announced.
This year we hope to have a comparison of various hardware: digital
projectors, slide scanners, printers for labels (with several brands of
labels available for testing), and, possibly, digital cameras. Keep an
eye on VRA-L and the VRA web site for updates on this. At present,
please contact the Conference Coordinator, Jeanette Mills, if you have
comments or suggestions on the New Technologies Roundup (see contact
information in the signature below).
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Presentation II
Museum Digital Licensing Collective (MDLC)
The Museum Digital Licensing Collective (MDLC) is a non-profit corporation
formed to provide technical and financial assistance for the digitization
of museum materials and to manage the storage, distribution, and licensing
of digitized materials to educational institutions and the public. The
MDLC will be organized and run in conjunction with museums to serve the
entire American museum community. The MDLC will fund the necessary
technical services to handle all aspects of safely storing and
distributing digitized museum materials and licensing these images. The
MDLC also will help finance the digitizing by museums of significant
museum holdings through grants and donated funds, then license these
collections to build eventually a stream of site licensing income to fund
continuing digitization projects. Prominent museum and educational
organizations have expressed interest in the development of the MDLC,
including the American Association of Museums, with which the MDLC expects
to have a special affiliation. Computer services will be performed under
contract with academic research libraries at the University of California,
Berkeley, and Cornell University. Sun Microsystems will be the initial
technology provider for the MDLC. There will be time for questions after
the presentation.
12:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Open House
Slide Collection, Fisher Fine Arts Library, Furness Building,
University of Pennsylvania
Location: 220 South 34th Street (detailed directions will be provided in
the final VRA program).
The collection is housed one floor below the Reading Room, one of the most
pleasant interior spaces in the city, and holds 400,000 slides. There is
an active digitizing program in progress. For more information see:
www.library.upenn.edu/finearts/slide /slidecollectionhome.html.
Sunday, March 8
8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Tour
Barnes Foundation
Sponsor: VRA
Registration fee: =2420.00
Limit: 50 participants
Includes: transportation via school bus
Even if you were able to see the Barnes collection when it toured the
country a few years ago, this is an excellent opportunity to see it as Dr.
Albert C. Barnes meant it to be seen. Established in 1922, the Barnes
Foundation's collection includes strong holdings of Renoir, Cezanne, and
Matisse, as well as many other examples of Post-Impressionist and early
French modern painting, watercolors by Charles Demuth, decorative arts,
and African sculptures. This will be a great way to wrap up the
VRA conference. The bus will pick us up at and return us to the Warwick
Hotel.
Unless otherwise specified, all activites are at the Warwick Hotel, 1701
Locust Street.
=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C==
2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3=
E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E
JEANETTE C. MILLS School of Art
University of Washington
Director of Visual Services Box 353440
Seattle, WA 98195-3440
Vice President, email: jcmills=40u.washington.edu
Visual Resources Association voice: (206) 543-0649
fax: (206) 685-1657
=22I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.=22
Jorge Luis Borges
=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C==
2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3=
E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E=3C=2A=3E
