ARLIS/NA
30th / VRA 20th
Minutes
Attendance: Norine
Duncan, Board Liason; Leigh Gates; Gregory Most, 2001-2002 Chair; Allen
Townsend; Mary Wassermann, 2002-2003 Chair; Ann Whiteside, VRA President; Sheryl
Wilhite, incoming VRD Moderator.
Gregg Most convened the meeting by welcoming attendees and thanking 2001-2002 committee members. He acknowledged Leigh Gates, who has served on the committee for four years.
Website: Providing input on the VRD website was the primary business of the committee this year. Daniel Nolting did a great job with the site, with advice from Gregg Most, Mary Wassermann, and Sheryl Wilhite. Dan will continue to host and maintain the website indefinitely. Gregg suggested another call for more image catalog sites be posted via ARLIS-L. Mary reported that she has met with John Taormina (VRA) and they suggest that the VRD and VRA work together for best dissemination of information over their respective websites. Mary suggested we place an Image Provider Directory on the VRD site; Norine suggested limiting it to Digital Image Providers. Gregg mentioned that we could have/sell blocks of space to Providers on the VRD site to link to the Provider’s home site.
Visual Resources Travel Award: Discussion about creating an award specifically for ARLIS members involved in VR was tabled at the Executive Board’s mid-year meeting while the Board rethinks development and how we solicit donations from corporate sponsors.
Introduction of new Chair: At this point, Gregg turned the meeting over to Mary Wassermann, new Chair.
VRAC Structure: Mary talked about the structure of the VRAC and the desire to keep the committee a little smaller, and to continue the rotation of VRD Moderator to VRAC Chair the second year. The President of VRA should be a member of the VRAC, with the stipulation that the person must also be an ARLIS member (or, at least, a VRA Board member should sit on VRAC).
Joint Task Force on Continuing Education: This was approved, and Mary Wassermann (ARLIS) and John Taormina (VRA) have been appointed Co-Chairs. Gregg suggested asking the Board for a nominal budget (to be shared by VRA) for brochures, mailings, et cetera. The first opportunity identified by the Task Force is the Summer School in Houston (to be held at Rice University), planned for 2003. Mary said that we have the option to apply for a grant from an organization such as the Mellon Foundation. Ann suggested that an IMLS grant would be appropriate. Gregg asked if this summer program would be credentialed and whether participants would receive certificates of completion. Leigh mentioned that the summer program formerly held at UT-Austin was offered through their Continuing Education office, and wondered if Rice could do this as well. The committee agreed that ARLIS and VRA will need to think about what is needed for accreditation and what will be the backbone of the certificate.
Standards and Shared Cataloging: Since the focus on standards is growing and so is the need for shared information, there was discussion about how the VRD website might become a resource for standards. Leigh suggested that we should look to best practice, rather than standards that will go out of date quickly. ArtSTOR has talked about a shared cataloging utility, but we do not know what this will look like. Discussion also touched on the support issues for databases, possibilities with OCLC now that Paula Hardin will be employed there, and how cataloging must be collaborative. We also need broader user bases—access should not be restricted to smaller groups. Lessons learned from the Vision Project showed us that there are very different ways of describing information, and led to the “Guide to Good Practice.”
Meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheryl L. Wilhite