The second joint conference of the Visual Resources Association and The Art Libraries Society of North America, titled ‘Collaboration: Building Bridges in the 21st Century’, was held this year from 24th-28th March in Minneapolis. I had the opportunity to attend this conference thanks to the generous ‘Kathe Hicks Albrecht Travel Award’ which is presented to a first time attendee. The VRA offers a number of awards every year in various categories and is particularly keen to encourage international delegates. In fact this year saw a marked increase in those attending from abroad with delegates from the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Qatar, to name a few.
There were over 500 delegates in attendance and we had all registered for our events in advance, packing-out our 4 days using the fantastically designed schedule or SCHED, which can still be visited at http://vraarlis11.sched.org/. The conference began on Thursday with practical workshops and tours of the twin cities Minneapolis, and St. Paul. This was a really great way to ease into the conference, by tasting the culture of the cities and getting some useful skills straight away. The workshops and tours were also a great way of getting to know fellow delegates at the start of the conference. I attended the morning workshop Bridging your online content to your users which provided techniques for improving use of the online resource ‘LibGuides’ (http://libguides.com/community.php?m=i&ref=libguides.com). LibGuides is a widely used resource in North America but is in the embryonic stages of introduction to the UK, currently only used by only a handful of universities and colleges, so this was a great opportunity to get a head start with a comparatively new tool. The Architectural Gems of St Paul tour in the afternoon encompassed ‘gems’ such as the astonishing art deco interior of the City Hall, the James J. Hill House and the State Capital building. The tours were very informative and conducted by knowledgeable guides from the Minnesota Historical Society. The first day finished with an opportunity to get dressed up and socialize at the Founders’ Féte Fund-Raising Event which was held at The Gale Mansion.
Friday morning began with a lavish breakfast at the First time attendees and new members breakfast - a friendly introduction to the association and a chance to meet others new to the conference experience. After this the conference sessions began in earnest with back-to-back talks, plenary, panel discussions and meetings, all of which were of an incredibly high standard. One of the highlights of Friday’s sessions was Inside Out: Examining Studio Artists’ Perceptions, Representations, consisting of two stand-out presentations. The first examined the way in which studio based art students use art libraries at different points in their program. After surveying 200 students the speaker, Anna Simon (Indiana University), was able to offer some practical and insightful suggestions on how to enhance artists’ use of our collections. The second presentation by Henry Pisciotta, (Pensylvania State University Libraries) was an original and thought provoking consideration of a selection of artists’ works from 1962 which challenge and critique the traditional role and image of libraries, and fostered some interesting discussions. Friday concluded with a Welcome Party and Ice-breaker, held in the spectacular Herzog & de Meuron extension of the Walker Art Center, which included lots of delicious food and drink, an opportunity to chat with the other delegates and visit the current exhibitions ‘Midnight Party’ and ‘Sol Lewitt: 2D+3D’.
Saturday and Sunday saw more presentations, many of which introduced innovative pedagogical techniques developed by librarians to assist faculty to use collections in teaching and students in learning. Up-and-coming technologies were of course another major theme, but there was also a lot of useful advice on how to better use the tools we are already familiar with. Engaging New Technologies was a fantastic 90 minute, fast-paced example of this, with ten speakers providing and overview of the shift to Web 3.0, and numerous emerging teaching, learning and research tools. Over the whole weekend there were so many events that you couldn’t possibly attend everything of interest to you, nevertheless the conference provided an amazing opportunity to broaden my view of the profession, develop my knowledge base and skills, and network with fellow professionals. I would definitely recommend it to any art librarian or visual resources professional, at any stage in their career.
It is undoubtedly expensive to attend this event but there are a number of bursaries and awards available for students, international delegates, part-time library professionals and those in other categories. Further information can be found on the VRA website:
http://www.vraweb.org/
For information on the 2011 VRA and ARLIS/NA conferences (which will be taking place separately) please visit their websites.
ARLIS/NA website: http://www.arlisna.org/
Finally a report on the conference, including notes from each of the sessions will be appearing in a forthcoming edition of the VRA bulletin, further information can also be found on the VRA website.
Friday 22 April 2011
Conference Session: 'Paving the way for an uncertain future: teaching art information management in the 21st century'
A panel discussion entitled 'Paving the way for an uncertain future: teaching art information management in the 21st century' was held at the ARLIS NA and VRA Joint Annual Conference. This session dealt with many of the major issues facing students, trainees, and new proffessionals. Below are notes of two of the discussion points, dealing with the value of a second Masters in the current competitive job market, and the key skills of a 21st century librarian.
Question: What strengths of art information professionals can be leveraged or sold to both libraries and library students as assets in an increasingly digital arts and education environment?
Amy Lucker (Pratt Institute,New York) pointed out that in the last few years the growth of standards in still image, moving image, and sound have been huge. However the bibliographic field has had these for some 50 years, and although there is a move from AACR2 to RDA this is still a small set of new standards by comparison. Institutions are realizing that metadata management is actually the same as cataloguing and that people working with art information have metadata skills that apply to more than just bibliographic materials. University and museum libraries are hungry for people who understand image metadata and standards, so this is a huge skill that can be sold to a central library, especially if you are coming out of a department library.
Heather Gendron (UNC, Chapel Hill, USA) added that subject specialists also have a deep understanding of pedagogical issues such as how artists work, how they work in an academic environment, how art historians do research, how artists do research and expectations of students in curricula. Bauer added that the technological applications provided should enhance learning and must make the connection to an arts constituency and make it relevant to them, which is the remit of an arts professional. Further it is not necessary to have an exhaustive knowledge of all technologies but have enough knowledge to put the person with the right specialist.
Tony White (University of Indiana) agreed that the Metadata component, pedagogical knowledge, media fluency, and teaching and outreach are critical skills, as well as the curiosity to engage technology and promote it to faculty.
Question: Is a second Masters degree more or less important now?
Gendron carried out an analysis of institutions a few years ago for a core competencies project and found that the number of job descriptions that included a second masters as a requirement were very few. While it is definitely required a lot in Visual Resources and Museum Librarianship, many in academic librarianship do not have a second Masters. Gendron would argue that it is not required for most academic positions, and Gendron herself does not have a second Masters but rather an undergraduate degree in Studio Art. She advises students that a second Masters represents a huge financial and personal commitment and it is possible to find a job without this.
However Lucker cautioned that a survey of job postings now as opposed to a few years ago indicates a significant change and it is also necessary to take into account that there is much more competition now, and in many cases the person with the second degree wins out.
White agreed with Lucker. Having chaired a variety of job search committees in the past he found that candidates having a dual degree go in the preferred pile. Unless other candidates have specialized skills such as languages or are studio artists applying for studio programmes they do not progress further. Because the job market is very competitive he advises students who want to be art librarians to get the dual degree. He also drew attention to the policy at NYU, in which those without the dual degree are placed on a 9 year tenure track instead of a 7 year track, and are expected to get the second Masters degree whilst completing all the requirements for tenure. He commented that it is very difficult to do all this simultaneously. For those students who cannot afford it he recommends they do the specialization, get involved in ARLIS, and start publishing so they have a professional network and they can start building opportunities.
Ken Soehner (Pratt Institute, New York) commented that the second degree has a legitimizing value in terms of gaining respect from faculty and he also tells students that they should pursue it, but they should definitely find alternative funding rather than funding it themselves if possible. However he also feels that while it is good to have special knowledge in an additional subject, it does not necessarily benefit the library. Rather it is more important to have technological, language, management, project management and budget skills. He advocates getting away from specialization and towards the ‘deep generalist’.
Full notes from the session will be published in a forthcoming edition of the VRA Bulletin, details of which can be found on the VRA website at:
http://www.vraweb.org/
Question: What strengths of art information professionals can be leveraged or sold to both libraries and library students as assets in an increasingly digital arts and education environment?
Amy Lucker (Pratt Institute,New York) pointed out that in the last few years the growth of standards in still image, moving image, and sound have been huge. However the bibliographic field has had these for some 50 years, and although there is a move from AACR2 to RDA this is still a small set of new standards by comparison. Institutions are realizing that metadata management is actually the same as cataloguing and that people working with art information have metadata skills that apply to more than just bibliographic materials. University and museum libraries are hungry for people who understand image metadata and standards, so this is a huge skill that can be sold to a central library, especially if you are coming out of a department library.
Heather Gendron (UNC, Chapel Hill, USA) added that subject specialists also have a deep understanding of pedagogical issues such as how artists work, how they work in an academic environment, how art historians do research, how artists do research and expectations of students in curricula. Bauer added that the technological applications provided should enhance learning and must make the connection to an arts constituency and make it relevant to them, which is the remit of an arts professional. Further it is not necessary to have an exhaustive knowledge of all technologies but have enough knowledge to put the person with the right specialist.
Tony White (University of Indiana) agreed that the Metadata component, pedagogical knowledge, media fluency, and teaching and outreach are critical skills, as well as the curiosity to engage technology and promote it to faculty.
Question: Is a second Masters degree more or less important now?
Gendron carried out an analysis of institutions a few years ago for a core competencies project and found that the number of job descriptions that included a second masters as a requirement were very few. While it is definitely required a lot in Visual Resources and Museum Librarianship, many in academic librarianship do not have a second Masters. Gendron would argue that it is not required for most academic positions, and Gendron herself does not have a second Masters but rather an undergraduate degree in Studio Art. She advises students that a second Masters represents a huge financial and personal commitment and it is possible to find a job without this.
However Lucker cautioned that a survey of job postings now as opposed to a few years ago indicates a significant change and it is also necessary to take into account that there is much more competition now, and in many cases the person with the second degree wins out.
White agreed with Lucker. Having chaired a variety of job search committees in the past he found that candidates having a dual degree go in the preferred pile. Unless other candidates have specialized skills such as languages or are studio artists applying for studio programmes they do not progress further. Because the job market is very competitive he advises students who want to be art librarians to get the dual degree. He also drew attention to the policy at NYU, in which those without the dual degree are placed on a 9 year tenure track instead of a 7 year track, and are expected to get the second Masters degree whilst completing all the requirements for tenure. He commented that it is very difficult to do all this simultaneously. For those students who cannot afford it he recommends they do the specialization, get involved in ARLIS, and start publishing so they have a professional network and they can start building opportunities.
Ken Soehner (Pratt Institute, New York) commented that the second degree has a legitimizing value in terms of gaining respect from faculty and he also tells students that they should pursue it, but they should definitely find alternative funding rather than funding it themselves if possible. However he also feels that while it is good to have special knowledge in an additional subject, it does not necessarily benefit the library. Rather it is more important to have technological, language, management, project management and budget skills. He advocates getting away from specialization and towards the ‘deep generalist’.
Full notes from the session will be published in a forthcoming edition of the VRA Bulletin, details of which can be found on the VRA website at:
http://www.vraweb.org/
Conference Photos - ARLIS NA and VRA Joint Annual Conference
The State Capital building
Interior of the State Capital building
' Welcome Icebreaker Reception' at the Walker Arts Center
Lunch at the Hilton Minneapolis Ballrooms
'Vendor Slam' featuring Artist's BooksSunday 17 April 2011
Student Bursary Award for the ARLIS 2011 Conference
This years ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference ‘Weaving New Futures: collaboration and reinvention in the digital age’ is being held at the University of Leeds from 13-15th July 2011 and is fast approaching. As always the conference has a great deal to offer students, trainees and all who are interested in a career in art librarianship, with opportunities to network and acquire new skills and knowledge.
The Student Bursary Award is once again available to full or part-time students working towards a first degree or postgraduate qualification in Library and Information studies. The generous award enables one student per year to attend the conference free of charge (excluding travel costs). The bursary extends to those enrolled on a course at any point in the current year – so students commencing their qualifications in September are still eligible to apply, and we would encourage you not to miss out on this opportunity.
Further information can be found on the ARLIS website at:
http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2
Please check the awards page on the ARLIS website for the application deadline (normally early May):
http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2
The Student Bursary Award is once again available to full or part-time students working towards a first degree or postgraduate qualification in Library and Information studies. The generous award enables one student per year to attend the conference free of charge (excluding travel costs). The bursary extends to those enrolled on a course at any point in the current year – so students commencing their qualifications in September are still eligible to apply, and we would encourage you not to miss out on this opportunity.
Further information can be found on the ARLIS website at:
http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2
Please check the awards page on the ARLIS website for the application deadline (normally early May):
http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2
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