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ARLIS/New York Chapter NewsSubmitted by Tony White, ARLIS/NY Secretary, (with thanks to Heidi Hass) / posted: 28 March 2005This past fall and winter have been a busy and exciting period for the metropolitan chapter of ARLIS/New York, with three presentations, the annual fall business meeting and the annual holiday party. The first program of the fall season included a presentation by Roger Kimball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, organized by Ken Soehner. Mr. Kimball discussed his recently published book The Rape of the Masters, How Political Correctness Sabotages Art (2004). Mr. Kimball, who is managing editor of the New Criterion and an author of five other books, proved to be a lively speaker. A spirited question and answer session followed the presentation. The talk took place in the Douglas Dillon Board Room with a reception sponsored by Casalini Libri following in the Terrace Room. The Brooklyn Museum of Art Library hosted the fall business meeting on October 14, 2004. Deirdre Lawrence and her staff welcomed ARLIS/NY members into the newly renovated library, offering an orientation to the new Voyager catalog, digitized images from the William Henry Goodyear Archival Collection, and a tour of the library stacks, archives processing area and conservation studio. In 1994 the library/museum began fundraising for renovation, expansion, the addition of climate controls, compact shelving, archives processing area, and a small room for preservation and conservation activities. It is the fifth largest art museum library collection in the country, with strengths in the art and cultural history of North and South America, Africa, Asia, Egypt, Islam, and Ancient Middle East. The fine art collection is quite strong as well and includes information on costume and textiles. Currently there is space for ten years of collection growth. A Mellon grant is helping to underwrite the cost of archival processing. Following the tours and orientation Judy Connorton, chair of ARLIS/NY, welcomed members and reviewed the chapter's activities over the year. Ken Soehner, ARLIS/NY vice-chair and election chair, opened the floor for nominations for vice-chair, secretary and member-at-large for advertising. Future events were announced, new members were recognized, and the meeting adjourned. A wonderful reception, provided by the museum, followed the meeting in the library's reading room. The third fall program took us to the New York School of Interior Design, where Eric Wolf, director of the library, gave a brilliant presentation about the school's online image database: IDOL (Interior Design OnLine). One of Eric's first tasks was to phase out the slide collection and replace it with a digital image database that could be accessed by NYSID students and faculty as a teaching and research collection. NYSID maintains two distinct collections of digital images: one that is password protected for students, staff and faculty, and another that is available to the public. The scope of the collection includes images of architecture, interiors, furniture, decorative and fine arts. The soft ware and interfaces utilize Luna Imaging's Insight software, using both the web browser and JVA client for searching. Luna Imaging's Inscribe software is used for cataloging. Microsoft's PowerPoint is often used for presentations in the classroom. The staff use the VRA Core 3 metadata standards and they look to the VRA CCO for cataloging rules. Controlled vocabularies include: LCNAF, ULAN, AAT, LCSH, GEOnet, and TGN. Following the presentation ARLIS/NY members were treated to a reception, provided by the NYSID president's office, and a private viewing of an exhibit in the first floor gallery: Bob the Roman: Heroic Antiquity and the Architecture of Robert Adam. The annual holiday pot-luck party was held at the reading room of the Frick Art Reference Library. As with previous years this party was a highlight not to be missed. Continuing with last year's newest tradition, the board hosted a raffle to support the Celine Palatsky Travel Award. More than $150 was raised for this travel award which helps send a first time attendee to the annual conference. Contributing to the festive holiday atmosphere was an appearance by members of the Dessoff Choir who presented a seasonal selection of songs. Following the raffle Ken Soehner announced the winners of the Executive Board elections: Jenny Tobias, vice-chair/chair elect, Tony White, secretary, and Faith Pleasanton, member-at-large for advertising. Judy Connorton, chair, spoke about the past year's activities and accomplishments, introduced Ken as the incoming chair, and thanked the assembled members for their support during her year as chair of ARLIS/NY! What a fine year indeed! The first program of 2005 occurred at the Metropolitan Museum on January 6. Ken Soehner hosted the presentation and introduced Robert Faber, project director of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. This major historical resource, published by Oxford University Press in sixty volumes, was released in electronic form on September 24, 2004. Mr. Faber gave an excellent introduction to the flexibility of the online resource, which is an invaluable research tool for librarians and researchers in British and early American art. The fascinating program was followed by a reception sponsored by OUP; a wonderful way to begin the New Year. Top of Page |