Art Libraries Society of North America 31st Annual Conference
Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland - March 20-26, 2003

Architecture Section Minutes

Baltimore, Monday, March 24, 2003, 6pm 

Officers:

Moderator - Kitty Chibnik
Vice Moderator - Sarah McCleskey
Column Editor - Karen DeWitt

Kitty Chibnik made introductions and extended an invitation to dinner after the meeting at “Paolo’s” in Baltimore’s inner harbor.

New Vice Moderator

Polly Trump, Architecture Librarian at University of Arizona was asked to be the new vice moderator.  Polly was elected by acclamation. 

Discussion of Architecture Section Status

Kitty Chibnik posed the following questions: will we be an active section? Should we move to some other form? What about program ideas – are they worth doing as a group, since now they can be done individually? 

Janine Henri stated that the architecture section is important way for new members to meet people and become involved. Susan Rawlyk stated that the architecture section had generated ideas for two panels she worked on, and that it was very important for Susan’s participation in ARLIS. Elizabeth Byrne discussed the economic impact; why should architecture librarians come to “art” meeting?  The Architecture section is means of justifying participation in ARLIS to administrators.

A suggestion was made for meeting in another venue- perhaps a restaurant? Margaret Webster felt that there is an advantage to formal meeting rooms. Kitty Chibnik suggested using chat rooms and email instead. Joy Kestenbaum stated that the section provided mentoring and formal venue for participation; it’s very worthwhile. Several people stated that email and chat are no substitute for face to face meetings or a discussion group.

Kitty Chibnik asked if we should evaluate our programs: what is the mission of the section? Barbara Opar felt the mission is to develop a community, and foster a discussion group. Jeanne Brown agreed with Barbara; she also stated that it’s a way to have a shared community.  Some members felt that there is a tremendous benefit from meetings and   do not have a lot of faith in email to have the same benefit. Susan Lewis attended AASL and ARLIS and found ARLIS more beneficial.  She stated, “We are not professionals at AIA, we are at ARLIS.” Jane McMasters felt that AASL is more focused, but ARLIS offers more; and agreed that without the architecture section it is much harder for architecture librarians to justify going to ARLIS.

Polly Trump asked if there should there be criteria for the number of members required to be a Section, Division or Round Table.  She stated that the architecture section is a very vibrant group and since there is such interest, architecture should remain a section.

A suggestion was made that we should pay membership dues again for sections.  Kitty Chibnik ask if there were other models we should look at, and asked about the problem of overlapping meetings. Margaret Webster stated that it’s hard not to overlap; it is difficult to know who would be interested in more than one section.  She stated that scheduling all these meetings is very difficult for the conference planners. Kitty Chibnik suggested at the point that we move on to other discussions.

AASL Report

Elizabeth Byrne reported on the AASL meeting with ACSA in Louisville.  Barbara Opar is the current president. There were 21 attendees at the meeting; conference proceedings are on the website.  There was great food, and a bourbon tasting.  Sarah McCleskey is the incoming president. The conference is in Miami next year, maybe Nova Scotia the year after that. Contact Robert Gonzales regarding program ideas.

http://www.library.njit.edu/archlib/aasl/index.cfm

Architecture Statistics Report

Jeanne Brown reported on the Joint Statistics Committee of ARLIS/NA architecture section and AASL.  She passed around sample architecture statistics; they are on AASL website now. There are three phases in the project:

1st phase – deciding what statistics to collect

2nd phase – defining the categories of the statistics.  The committee defined 43 categories.  Each committee member submitted their own statistics to try out the categories and see if they felt the definitions were relevant and useful. Tim Robinson is currently working on how it will look on website; he is working on ways to designate peers online, and on designing an input form, and creating an excel spreadsheet.

The 3rd phase is collecting data.  Please look at the website and give any comments to the committee.

http://www.library.njit.edu/archlib/aasl/stats/

NAAB Standards Task Force Report

Janine Henri reported on the NAAB Standards Task Force.  The task force created a new version of Section Eight of the NAAB standards, which was approved by AASL and ARLIS, and presented it to NAAB.  NAAB’s Sharon Matthews met with the task force and submitted the changes to NAAB.  NAAB decided to come up with an addendum to the current policy incorporating some of the changes, not a major revision – this new addendum is currently in effect.  They did not use the suggested appendices.   Sharon Matthews asked the task force if they wanted to resubmit.  The task force decided to compare language and has subsequently resubmitted the revised version to NAAB.  They have been told next board meeting is fall 2003.  The new submission is linked on arch section website.

http://library.berkeley.edu/~skoskine/NAABRevisions.html

Conference Program Ideas for New York City

Numerous conference program ideas were suggested at the meeting.  These do not need section stamp of approval from the section; individuals may submit their own ideas. Margaret Webster stated the proposal form must be submitted by May 5th.   The form is available from ARLIS/NA website at: http://www.arlisna.org/proposals.html.  Margaret is working with Carol Ann Fabian and Ross Day on the program subcommittee – let them know if you need help; they are concerned that your ideas be presented.

Elizabeth Byrne suggested panel on moving libraries; bringing in experts on moving libraries, or on remote storage. Janine Henri suggested program on materials labs and possibly touring a materials library in NYC. Barbara Opar suggested panel on what students are looking for, and possibly pulling in students from NYC schools.

Joy Kestenbaum suggested program on 9/11 in general; on interior design and architecture related to 9/11.  Keith suggested a program on architectural publishing; perhaps a discussion of vanity presses.  One of the issues is the cost of so many color photos.  There are lots of publishers in New York; he suggested meeting with them. Jeanne Brown suggested a presentation on digital projects. Sarah McCleskey suggested a program on collection development issues in environmental design and planning.  She suggested session with faculty or practitioners on what they want or need; also with experienced librarian.

Kitty Chibnik suggested industrial design session; possibly getting students from Pratt to attend.  Ted Goodman suggested a tour of New York School of Interior Design; New York City is an opportunity to see specialized resources and libraries.  Leslie Goldstein suggested a panel on helping students after 9/11; citing the difficulty now of getting sections and plans.  Janine Henri suggested a program on landscape architecture of Central Park.

New Business

Jeanne Brown asked about the best way to communicate with people – is it the Arch-sec listserv, or is AASL listserv better? Janine Henri stated 68% of people on AASL are also on ARLIS listserv; 2 to 4% of people on ARLIS are also on AASL.

Kitty Chibnik presented a question from Claudia Hill, who couldn’t come to the meeting: is any one interested in working on a project to complete an annotated bibliography on 9/11 from an architectural standpoint? Respond to Kitty.  The question will also be posted to Arch-sec and maybe AASL. 

Sarah McCleskey made closing remarks and thanked everyone for coming. 

Adjourned for dinner-

New Officers:

Moderator – Sarah McCleskey
Vice Moderator – Polly Trump
Column Editor – Karen DeWitt