Annual Report (2003)
ARLIS/Travel Awards Committee

Submitted by:
Carole Ann Fabian
cafabian@buffalo.edu
(716) 645-7700 ext.2 / fax (716) 645-6207

2003 -2004 TAC chair: Carole Ann Fabian

2003- 2004 TAC members: Jacqui Allen, Margaret Boylan, Janice Chadbourne, Paula Epstein, Alan Michelson, Barbara Rockenbach

ARLIS/NA Awards Committee Chair: Clayton Kirking

Executive Board liaison: Kay Teel

Leadership update:

2004-2005 Co-chairs: Nensi Brailo, Kitty Chibnik

Activities:

Membership met at the ARLIS/NA-VRA Conference in Baltimore; discussion focused on Awards available for 2004. Award criteria and selection process were reviewed. Timelines for award announcements, submission deadlines, review deadlines and award notification dates were set.

The Committee worked with AWS web master Derek Crosley to update the Travel Awards announcements web page and the online application form http://www.arlisna.org/forms/travelaward2003.html.

The online application form was used by ALL applicants this year, insuring complete and standardized applicant information.

Donor commitments were secured for all awards. The Research Libraries Group increased their level of sponsorship for both the RLG Conference Award ($2000) and the RLG Asia/Oceania Award ($2000).

TAC members updated distribution lists for international and student travel awards. Award announcements were placed Vicky Roper via email and in print to names, organizations and addresses that TAC supplied.

Award Winners:

The Committee reviewed 42 applicants for eight awards as follows:

ARLIS/NA Conference Travel Award (7 applicants for 2 awards)

Heather Ball
Virginia Tech

Polly Trump McCord
University of Arizona

Research Libraries Group Award (7 applicants)

Nicole Gjertsen
Fine Arts Division
University of British Columbia Library

RLG Asia/Oceania Award (4 applicants)

Joye Volker
National Institute of the Arts Library & Resource Centre
The Australian National University

Howard and Beverly Joy Karno Award (2 applicants)

Jorge Orlando Melo
Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango
Bogotá, Colombia

Andrew Cahan Photography Award (5 applicants)

Tom Beck
Special Collections
University of Maryland

Puvill Libros Travel Award (5 applicants)

Eila Ramo
University of Art and Design
Helsinki, Finland

Salander O'Reilly Student Travel Award (13 applicants)

Sandra Cowan
Dept. of Information and Media Studies
University of Western Ontario  

ARLIS/NA Strategic Plan Action Items 2000-2005

Develop and maintain funding for a domestic travel award. (I C) ARLIS/NA supported the Conference Attendance Award for the second sequential year.

Executive Board issues:

The Committee would like to clarify its role in “developing” as opposed to “administering” the Travel Awards. Specifically, direction is needed regarding responsibility for securing ongoing commitments for existing Travel awards through external sponsors under the ARLIS/NA comprehensive committee structure. Timely attention to sponsorship commitments is essential to TAC success in maintaining a workable timetable for announcement, application, review and notification.

Current US Travel Visa restrictions have made it difficult for international awardees to secure travel visas in the short time between our announcement of awards and the national conference dates. The 2004 TAC suggests that the incoming TAC and Executive Board consider some alternatives to the existing Committee structure and timetable:

• Create two timetables for the Travel Awards, one for domestic awards and another for international awards. If an earlier international cycle is established, award notification should occur at best six months before the conference dates; i.e. October notification preceding a March/April conference. An earlier notification date would require earlier sponsorship commitments, award announcement, submission dates, and review period.
• This year the Board has appointed co-chairs to the Committee, which may be an opportunity to split oversight responsibilities for domestic and international awards. In addition to the timetable considerations, international applicants and awardees have, in our experience, benefited from more TAC attention in the application process, pre-conference and during the conference.

TAC has noted a poor application response for the Howard and Beverly Joy Karno Award. Potential causes may include: timetable, procurement of travel visas, costs, or the change to English language only award announcement (enacted 2002). For Board and incoming TAC consideration:

• Post the international awards in both Spanish and English, with clear and prominent notice that the Conference is conducted in English and that translation services are not provided.
• The Karnos have suggested expanding the Award criteria to include: any art library professional, domestic or international, engaged in significant bibliographic development and/or research related to Latin American art titles.