Annual
Report
(2003)
Editorial Committee Annual Report
March 1, 2004
Submitted by Judy Dyki and Kathy Zimon on behalf of the Editorial Team
Editorial Team
Judy Dyki, Contents Co-Editor
Eileen Markson, Copy Editor
Joan Stahl, Reviews Editor
Kathy Zimon, Contents Co-Editor
The Editorial Team met at the Baltimore Conference to discuss AD content and production issues. Members of the editorial team, Kathy Zimon and Eileen Markson, participated in the interviews conducted by Paul Glassman and Debra Kruse, Publications Committee, for a new contents co-editor to replace Tom Jacoby, who resigned effective with the Fall 2003 issue of AD. Subsequent to the conference, a new contents co-editor, Judy Dyki, Cranbrook Academy of Art, was appointed, term to begin with AD Spring 04 (work to begin in Sept.2003). The Contents Editors attended various conference sessions with a view toward recruiting appropriate authors/articles for publication in AD.
Two issues of Art Documentation were published in 2003 (Vol. 22, #1 Spring 2003; and #2 Fall 2003), and contents co-editors Judy Dyki and Kathy Zimon completed editorial work on the Spring 2004 issue (Vol. 23 #1, currently in production).
In 2003, each issue of AD contained an integrated
mix of eight (Spring issue) and nine (Fall issue) articles.
The Spring 03 issue included the remaining two papers from the St. Louis
VRA session “Property and Capital in Early Nineteenth Century Visual
Collections,” and the Fall 03 issue revisited the topic “The
“Indivisibility of Art Librarianship,” dealing with the founding of VRA.
Vol. 22, #1 Spring 2003: 8 articles, 3 ill., 50 p. Reviews (15), Pubs.Recd. & Index, 18p. Total p. 68. (excluding covers).
Vol. 22, #2 Fall 2003: 9 articles, 6 ill., 44 p. Reviews (10) & Pubs.Recd., 11 p. Total p. 56 (excluding covers).
Total for Vol. 22, 2003: 9 ill., 124 pages (excluding covers).
AD Contributors Guidelines were again revised slightly. The Guidelines are published in each issue of AD and are also available on the ARLIS/NA Publications Web site. The indexing information on the masthead was substantially revised and updated, and the statement concerning peer review was eliminated since it is not being done at the present time. This practice will be reevaluated at a later date to determine the desirability and the feasibility of reinstating peer review. The Review Section continues to include book cover images, when available, with each review. The Table of Contents of each issue continues to be posted to the Publications Web site.
The current cover of AD (the pointillist eye) has been in use since Fall 1997. The Editorial Team prefers not to change cover designs in mid-volume and began discussion of a new design in St.Louis. After further consultation among the Editorial Team at the Baltimore Conference and via email, it was decided that of the two potential cover designs presented to us in St.Louis, the grid design was preferred, if appropriate revisions could be made. The cost of revising the grid design, $1,000 (as quoted by ion), was set aside in the 2003 budget, but action on a new cover design was postponed, in favor of implementing the new logo colors for the existing design, the pointillist eye. The logo colors as implemented on the Spring 03 cover proved that further adjustments were needed to make the now duotone cover more successful. Adjustments were made to the intensity of the colors, the number of color plates used in the printing process, and the matte paper was changed to a coated paper, resulting in a much improved appearance for the cover of the Fall 03 issue.
The cover as it appeared on the Fall 03 issue will continue to be used for Vol. 23, 2004. Nevertheless, further discussion is needed if a new cover design is to be pursued. The editorial team is not convinced that revising the proposed new grid design will be successful. The bulk of the $1,000 set aside for revision would be for copyright permissions, and it may be more worthwhile to seek an entirely new design that did not require the use of copyrighted images.
Vol. 22, #1 Spring 03: 2.5 pages paid advertisements; .75 page unpaid advertisements for arlis/na publications
Vol. 22, #2 Fall 03: 3.5 pages paid advertisements; 1.75 pages unpaid advertisements (3): arlis/na publications., NY conference., & arlis/na members exhibition (assuming the arlis/na members exhibition advertisement is also unpaid).
New Initiatives
The editors have begun to keep statistics on the contents of each issue, (word counts per article, number of pages, ill., etc.) in order to attempt better control of the cost of each issue. For example, until the contents of an issue is at the proof stage, it is difficult to estimate the number of pages required, which, in combination with the number of ill., largely determines the cost of each issue.
1/ On the agenda for discussion in New York is the possibility/necessity for some sort of electronic publishing vehicle for the Society.
2/ The editorial team may discuss, again, the desirability of establishing a policy to review the AD cover design approximately every five years (ten issues), and the necessity to plan for associated design costs at least a year in advance.
3/ Another issue that needs discussion is the creation of a formal policy concerning the review of ARLIS/NA publications (specifically Occasional Papers) in the Review Section of AD. The question was raised this year with the request for a review of OP #14, The Library and the Accreditation Process in Design Disciplines: Best Practices. Since some members of the Editorial Team felt there was a conflict of interest with this practice, a broader discussion and formal policy are needed.
After discussion among Publications Committee members and a survey of the ARLIS/NA membership, it was decided that the annual index would no longer be a part of AD, beginning with the Spring 2004 issue. With the reduction to a semi-annual publication schedule and the availability of indexing in various commercial services, it was determined that the annual print index served a limited purpose. However, the Editorial Team does recommend the exploration of options for a Web-based retrospective index to provide improved access to current and past articles to better serve the publication’s readers.