Annual Report (2000)
ARLIS NA West Regional Representative


Leslie Abrams
labrams@ucsd.edu
858-534-3221   858-534-0189 (fax)

Executive Board Activities:

Attended annual (2000 Pittsburgh) and mid-year (2000 Toronto) board meetings.

Member, CPAC for 2001 Los Angeles Conference.

Attended CPAC meeting in Los Angeles (May 2000).

Served as Board liaison for the Publications Committee, International Relations Committee, and Gerd Muehsam Award Committee.

Participated in board deliberations, motions, and other activities since March 2000.

Committee Activities:

Publications Committee

Assisted in final phase of H.W. Wilson contract authorizing the full text of Art Documentation to be provided in Wilson’s full text databases.

Assisted in development of Retention Policy for ARLIS/NA publications.

Assisted in editing Policy R-18, “Distribution of Free Copies of ARLIS/NA Publications” to include providing to authors of main articles in Art Documentation up to 3 copies of that issue.

Participated in drafting Policy R-26 “Publications Stock Management and Reprinting Guidelines”.

Update: A challenging year for Update! The transition from a paper publication to both paper and web was undertaken.  Still under study is what electronic format(s) should Update be produced in (currently in pdf). Reviewed and consulted with the President on the informal survey crafted by the Update editor to obtain input from membership. [Questions are included in most recent issue of Update and have been posted to ARLIS-L. Results to be collated prior to the 2001 conference.]  Consideration of various format pros and cons, what the membership prefers and/or requires for Update will be discussed at the 2001 Publications Committee Business meeting.

Brought one Occasional Paper proposal to Board.


International Relations Committee

Supported formulation of the LA conference session on Chinese art libraries and publishing.  This session will include a distinguished librarian from mainland China, Mr. Gu Yinhai, Assistant Curator and Chief of Libraries, Shanghai Museum of Art.

Congratulated Committee upon receipt of Getty Grant ($4,200.00) to support Mr. Yinhai’s travel to the United States for the ARLIS/NA 2001 conference.

Attempted to establish contact with newly formed art library association in Flanders to explore possibility of formal affiliation.

Gerd Muehsam Committee

Reviewed draft of revised award announcement flyer.

The Committee was not able to grant an award for 2000 since there were no qualified submissions.

CPAC

Monitored conference-planning process including communications via LA conference list. Closely watched problem-resolution and progress on conference plans as they evolved. CPAC members and ARLIS/SC volunteers have been highly committed and have taken full responsibility for their assignments.

Wrote introduction/invitation to LA for preliminary conference program.

Chapter Activities

Monitored and participated in chapter list serve discussions and provided advice to chapter leadership as needed.  Encouraged monetary contributions to the LA conference. Shared information as relevant to the chapter(s) from the Executive Board.

ARLIS/Southern California Chapter 

The chapter held 3 meetings in 2000, all in Los Angeles: the Museum of Latin American Art, Eames House and LACMA exhibition, and at the Fashion Institute Of Design and Merchandising. The chapter produced one issue of their newsletter, Canvas. The Southern California chapter had difficulty recruiting members to run for office.

ARLIS/Northern California Chapter

The chapter held 3 meetings in 2000: Thomas F. Schwartz Bookseller, California College of Arts and Crafts (San Francisco campus), and the Berkeley Art Museum.  Dues were increased to $15.00/year.  The chapter established the ARLIS-NC website at: http://www.sirius.com/~stebley/arlisnc/index.html.

ARLIS/Mt. West Chapter

The chapter held a successful multi-day meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. A major topic of discussion throughout the year was the feasibility of the chapter hosting the 2004 annual ARLIS/NA conference in Las Vegas. This idea came from an informal ARLIS-L survey of the membership seeking suggestions for future conference sites. Given the limited number of members in the Las Vegas area, and the relative "newness" of the Mt. West Chapter, the chapter membership did not go forward with a final formal proposal. Chapter members also wanted to explore the feasibility of other locations including Denver, Colorado. In the future, the chapter may be in a better position to support a proposal for a Mt. West site for the annual conference.

Issues for the Board

Publications Committee

  1. Resolution of electronic format for production of Update is a very high priority.
  2. Should guidelines for joint publications be produced given the possibility of additional proposals in the future (VRA as an example)?

Gerd Muehsam Award

  1. Chair currently is holding 10 years of committee materials. Was told by Terry Keenan (Syracuse Univ.) to hold off on submission since board was going to revise submission procedures. Can we confirm?
  2. Need list of library school faculty who teach art librarianship to help market the award.
  3. The cash award. Possibly increase the award (currently award consists of $200 cash plus $300 reimbursement to attend the conference). Amount has been the same since 1991 (or longer?).