Session I: Latin American/Art Deco Architecture
April 28, 1996
The first session of the Miami conference, was "Latin American/ArtDeco Architecture," moderated by Ted Goodman, editor of the Avery Indexto Architectural Periodicals, and sponsored by the Architecture Section.The speakers were Randall C. Robinson, Jr., historic preservation directorof the Miami Design Preservation League, Enrique Madia, of Florida InternationalUniversity, and Jean-Francois Lejeune, of the School of Architecture atthe University of Miami.
Robinson began with a brief history of the Miami Design Preservation League,which was founded in 1976 to identify and preserve Miami's design heritage.The group was able to target a neglected and marginalized area in MiamiBeach with unique design characteristics, what has since become known asthe Art Deco District, and to make it the first 20th-century site on theNational Register. Support and publicity for the project came in the formof the "Art Deco Weekend," held annually the second week of Januarysince the late 1970s, which celebrates the Machine Age with lectures, streetfairs, flea markets, and vintage cars.
In 1995 Latin America was the theme chosen for Art Deco Weekend. Robinsonshifted his discussion to the Art Deco-styled air terminals in Latin Americaand the role Pan American World Airways, headquartered in South Floridain the 1920s and '30s, played in the spread of this style.
Design influences can often be eclectic, and in the case of Pan Am, itspresident in the late 1920s, Juan Trippe, was a stylistic asset. He promotedexotic routes from Key West, the location of Pan Am's first office, to citiesaccessible by sea plane such as Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, theBahamas, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. In the early years, the passengerterminals displayed nuances of the Art Deco style, which were visible firstin the lettering and company logo, and later incorporated into the designsof the buildings themselves, such as Delano and Aldrich's terminal in Rio.Robinson provided a pictorial survey of Pan Am terminals throughout LatinAmerica from the company's archives.
Following his presentation Professor Enrique Madia asked--and successfullydemonstrated--how Art Deco came into South America along with the ModernMovement, by citing such influences as ocean liners and Le Corbusier, anddescribed and illustrated early 20th-century modern architecture in Uruguay,Argentina, and Peru. Outstanding stylistic forms shown included La Ramblain Montevideo (ramblas are an important "Latino" form of publicand open space); the Deco police stations in the International Style, alsoin that city; Pre-Columbian design elements in many Peruvian buildings ofthe period on parapets, door surrounds, steps, etc.; and the soaring, vertical,shaft-like pilastered "rationalist" examples of Buenos Aires.Madia did much to reveal the many currents blending early 20th century modernismwith indigenous forms in the architecture of these countries.
Belgian architectural and urban historian Jean-Francois Lejeune presentedthe final talk: "Cities of Paper: the Grid and the Plaza in Latin America,"with an astonishing and very beautiful collection of historic maps and townplans illustrating the Hispanic settlements of Latin America, chosen fromthe Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain. Lejeune made the importantpoint that the age of conquest in Latin America was also the period of theRenaissance in Europe, defined spatially by the study and representationof perspective views in painting and the laying out of plazas in the Christiancities of the Mediterranean. Ideal cities were to be implemented in thenew lands.
Although urbanization was a slow process in Latin America between the 16thand 19th centuries, the use of the grid plan--straight lines, courtyardhouses, blocks, an axis, and most importantly, a central plaza--as appliedto existing Inca, Aztec and other indigenous settlements or imposed on newterritories, yielding a consistent urban form to most Latin American citiesfrom Mexico to Argentina, regardless of their pre- or post-Columbian origin.The images of the original plans used to illustrate these settlements areexceptionally beautiful, so that viewers could agree with the speaker thatthey are "masterpieces of urban cartography of the Americas."Lejeune is currently writing an eagerly-awaited history of Havana that willshow many of that city's previously unpublished maps and plans.
Barbara Sykes-Austin, Columbia University
Session II: Cataloging Visual Materials: What Is the Problem?
April 28, 1996
While they did not engage in an out and out boxing match, the members ofthis session presented very different points of view concerning the problemof cataloging visual material. Sara Jane Pearman approached the subjectfrom the position of the slide librarian and professor. She emphasized localcontrol in a library of visual surrogates that deals with the day to dayneeds of curators, students, and faculty. Elizabeth A. Robinson as a catalogerexplained the intricacies of describing a collection of Spanish Civil Warposters, which are original visual materials. Maria Oldal reviewed a numberof problems that currently exist in cataloging visual materials in MARCformat, and posed a number of questions to Harriet Harrison, the Libraryof Congress (LC) representative. Harrison responded to Oldal's questionsin a paper read in her absence by the session moderator, and described howLC deals with its own visual collections.
Sara Jane Pearman began her presentation by noting that while her colleagueswould be speaking about fields and their content, she would present an overallvision (or nightmare) of what image catalogers do. She listed a number ofdifferences between image and book cataloging. Image catalogers catalogthe image NOT in hand. There is no title page and no chief source of information.No single authority like LC, with its authorities, rules, codes and leadership,exists for images. Traditionally, cataloging images meant creating a labeland a physical place in a drawer--what book librarians call classification.An image database depends very much on the subject expertise of the cataloger,rather than systems expertise. Even so there are no absolutes: attributionschange constantly, (cf. the New York Michelangelo) and even museum objectnumbers can change. What is needed is not uniform standards but a uniformapproach. Pearman outlined her approach for cataloging images. Call an objectwhat it is, rather than how it might be used. Consistency is essential:slides from all cultures should be approached in the same manner. (A proceduremanual is a must.) Authority work should be worthy of trust.
Computer databases and subject cataloging will help solve the problem ofmultiple access points. Without the overriding authority of LC, it willbe difficult for image catalogers to come to an agreement on methodology.New technologies for searching and the availability of more and more imagesand object information on the Web demand a more standardized approach. ButMARC may not be the solution. Ultimately, new computers, search enginesand methods of information transfer may provide alternatives to MARC. Whicheverformat is used, consistency is the key to access for images.
Elizabeth A. Robinson prefaced her discussion of cataloging a collectionof Spanish Civil War posters with the remark that her background as a bookcataloger had led her to approach the discussion from the system ratherthan from the subject specialist point of view; accordingly she would beshowing examples of MARC cataloging and describing the problems she hadencountered field by field. She chose to use Graphic Materials: Rulesfor Describing Original Items and Historical Collections (GIHC), compiledby Elisabeth Betz, as the description convention; a subfield $egihc in the040 field indicates the cataloging code used.
The obscurity of the artists created problems in setting up name headingsin the 100 (author) field. The names on the posters usually appeared assurname alone or surname and initial. Reference sources were used to determinethe full name, but with little success, hence the headings generally readas they appear on the posters. The 245 (title) field was a bigger question.The choice of title was not always straightforward because of placementand/or typography. In deciding how to complete the 260 (imprint) field,she found that few items carried a single date, so she opted to use thewar dates as a range. Robinson was pleased to note that the GIHC offersmuch greater specificity in the physical description area, the 300 (physicaldescription) field, than does AACR2. She reviewed a number of notes (5XXfield) that were useful in cataloging this collection. Subjects of two typeswere assigned, thematic, based on the Subject Cataloging Manual (SCM) H1250for single works of art, and genre, based on SCM H1945.5 for posters. Genreand physical characteristic headings (fields 655) were included selectivelyusing terms from the Rare Books and Manuscripts thesaurus and the DescriptiveTerms for Graphic Materials (GMGPC), another LC tool used by the Libraryof Congress' Prints and Photographs Division. Added entries are used tocollocate (online) items from the same subject/donor collection.
Robinson concluded that learning about the war itself was useful in catalogingthe pieces , however, finding references which would supplement the informationon the items themselves was very difficult. Finding a balance between LCand other thesauri is important in cataloging visual images.
Oldal showed slides of some of the "hidden treasures" (e.g. manuscripts,cylinder seals) at the Pierpont Morgan Library. She refers to them as suchbecause information on these objects is for the most part limited to in-housefiles and not generally accessible. Oldal reiterated Pearman's point thatno institution in the art world has the hegemony that the Library of Congresshas in the book world. She wondered how LC handles the problems they encounterwhen cataloging visual items, and directed a number of questions to Harrison,as the representative of the Library of Congress, noting where changes toor clarifications of existing LC practice would be helpful.
Since Oldal's questions and Harrison's responses will be published in fullin a future issue of Art Documentation, what follows is a brief listingof the major questions posed.
May a NACO (Name Authority Cooperative Project) contributor submit a recordfor a name without submitting a bibliographic record for the work? Secondly,would it be possible to allows the first 670 (source of name) field to consistof a reference to local file data, such as a slide library database, andjustify the name form with reference sources cited in subsequent 670's?The Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP) has produced its UnionList of Artists' Names, some 1000 of which have been formatted to AACR2and entered into LCNAF (Library of Congress Name Authority File. Oldal wonderedif LC is considering increased cooperation with AHIP and whether all ULANrecords might be accessible through LCNAF. Oldal discussed the difficultiesin determining the uniform title for works of art, titled or untitled, notingthat the Morgan includes the repository name and the inventory number aspart of the title to insure that each record identifies a unique item. Shelauded the decision by LC to move titles of works of art from the subjectto the name authority file; this will give individual catalogers more freedomto create headings as needed.
Linking records for a whole item such as a manuscript to records for illustrationswithin that item (e.g. individual miniatures, marginalia, historiated initials)is another challenge. Searching linked entries becomes cumbersome when anRLIN record for a manuscript appears in the AMC (Archives and ManuscriptCollection) file, descriptions of the major illuminations are in the VIM(Visual Materials) file, and the facsimile is cataloged in the Books file.She noted the importance of considering how local systems might handle theselinks and asked for LC's take on whole/part access.
Standardized vocabularies were another topic. Oldal asked if LC catalogershave lists of relator terms such as "workshop of," "pupilof"? Where do they record information on attribution? Should this becomemore standardized? Subject headings could be made more useful for catalogingvisual materials if LC distinguished between subject and genre terms, andgave catalogers more freedom to divide headings by century. A distinctionbetween subject matter and iconographic content would also be useful: wouldLC consider designing a subdivision to denote a term used iconographically,or would there be the possibility of using a special field for iconographicterms? How can catalogers contribute suggestions for new subject headingsto LCSH, and how hospitable is LC to these suggestions? How does LC worktogether with other thesaurus makers and is it considering using other thesaurisuch as AAT for its special collections? Finally she inquired whether LCwas considering making the GMD (General Material Designation) or SMD (SpecialMaterial Designation) lists into growing files with contributions, amongothers, from visual material catalogers and asked how LC deals with classifyingits own visual materials?
Since Harrison was unable to attend the conference, Elizabeth O'Keefe readher paper, which dealt with cataloging policies and practices in the Printsand Photographs Division, name authorities/NACO participation, and intellectualaccess/ACO participation.
Library of Congress cataloging activities for still pictorial materialsare centered in its Prints and Photographs Division. A blend of archivaland bibliographic techniques is used; none emphasizes art history or visualresource collection approaches. They are now combining group and item levelrecords in a single retrieval system, following basic cataloging standards.Helena Zinkham, head of the P&P; Processing Section commented that LC likedhaving GMDs broad enough so that general audience can understand the terms.
Harrison responded to a number of Oldal's questions about name authoritywork. NACO does accept records for name authorities without requiring bibliographicrecords in OCLC or RLIN. The form of the name (in AACR2 format) may be basedon reference sources, as the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRIs)permit. Getty (ULAN) has been a NACO participant, and, as such, can contributeany name it desires. There is a special subgroup for uniform titles setup by ARLIS/NA's Cataloging Advisory Committee (CAC), chaired by ShermanClarke, that is currently working on guidelines for uniform titles for worksof art.
In response to the stated desire for a list of relator terms such as "pupilof," "workshop of," etc. , Harrison suggested that this mightalso be a task that ARLIS would wish to undertake. Information about submittingsubject authorities to LC is available on LC MARVEL. LC catalogers do consultappropriate subject thesauri, when establishing new headings. They alsouses thesauri other than LSCH, but only for special format materials. Inregard to form/ genre distinctions, the library participated in the WorkingGroup on Form and Genre Vocabularies and with the implementation of 6XXsubfield "v" for form subdivisions, the library is now studyingthese issues within the subject access area. A special task force has beenestablished to investigate the wider use of 655 fields as well as the implementationof subfield $v. The group hopes to submit its report by the end of the year.
"Iconography" is a rare aspect of LC's subject cataloging. Chronologicalsubdivisions are not "free-floating" so each new usage must beseparately authorized and established in the subject authority files. Field773 is used for linking parent and child bibliographic records and field856 s used for linking between bibliographic records and digital image files.The 773 is not hot-linked at present however, the LC Web has examples ofthe 856 field linking directly to digital image files, triggering automaticdisplays of requested images.
The session resulted in an excellent overview of the various problems andapproaches to the task of cataloging visual images and opened up possibilitiesfor further dialog among those participating in this fast growing and stillchanging area.
Barbara Mathé, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Session III: Recruiting, Promoting, Managing Diversity
April 28, 1996
Hugh Wilburn reviewed the Cultural Diversity Committee's accomplishmentsover the past year and introduced the first speaker, Jeffrey L. Horrell,Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, who spoke on "The Americanswith Disabilities Act: The Law and How We Manage." Horrell first notedthe extent and variety of persons with disabilities in the U.S. (an estimatedfifty million people) and the high rate of unemployment among members ofthis group--more than three times that of non-disabled. He then describedthe 1990 federal legislation (Titles 1-5) and ADA definitions of impairment,protection, and reasonable accommodation. Protections are specified forthose with a physical or mental impairment which curtails a major life activity;and reasonable accommodation provides that the employee must be able tofulfill the core functions of the position.
Next, he stressed the importance of making facilities accessible and otherstrategies organizations may pursue, such as modified work schedules orpart-time work, restructuring of positions, and transfer of non-essentialduties to another. Critical to these strategies is involving the employeein the process and consultation with organizations related to the disability.Horrell stressed that the individual is responsible for requesting any accommodation;however, the employer is not expected to know that a need exists.
Horrell next detailed the elements of a good position description, whichshould indicate essential and non-essential requirements of the job, bothphysical and intellectual; he stressed that no preliminary inquiry regardingdisabilities can be made, and recommended that hiring should be based onthe individual's ability to perform the essential functions of the job.
Horrell discussed the interview process and the importance of avoiding languagelike handicap, of speaking to the person rather than an interpreter (inthe case of hearing-impaired), as well as other interviewing sensitivities.The employer should also ask how a particular task would be performed withor without an accommodation, and whether any particular equipment or environmentalenhancements would be necessary (telephones, attendant noise, fire alarms,strobe lights, etc.). He concluded his presentation by stressing the importanceof disability awareness/sensitivity training for other staff.
The next speaker, Jeannette Dixon, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presentedMinority Interns in the Art Museum Library, focusing on efforts to bringminorities into the mentor/ internship program. All museum departments wereasked to participate, but at first the library seemed to be at the bottomof the list in terms of applicants-- development and curatorial departmentswere more in demand--a situation that has now improved. As the program developedprocedures were streamlined and now the Education Department screens applicants,of which there are many, representing many different ethnic groups. Someinterns have been moved into permanent positions, an indication of the highquality of the applicants and their internships. Dixon noted that the museumpostings now must exclude the word minority.
After Dixon's talk, members of the audience spoke about other institutionswith internship or other programs: the University of Delaware has a two-yearminority intern program (now called a named internship, although minoritystudent groups are targets for recruitment) and the University of Arizonaposts position announcements with minority organizations. Also at Arizona,the PIC (Peer Information Counselor) program, in which students go throughbasic reference training, is open to all students (not limited to minorities).At Columbia University, the Double Discovery summer program brings highschool students into different departments, and the Metropolitan Museumof Art offers high school apprenticeships.
The next speaker on the panel was Ray Anne Lockard, a founding member ofGLIRT, who spoke on "The Personal is Political AND Professional: Lesbiansand Gay Men at Work." Lockard focused her remarks on the complicationsof working as a manager and chairing the library system's gay-inclusiveDiversity Committee after she came out at work. She pointed out that embracingand celebrating the diversity within our institutions is vitally importantbecause, according to Workforce 2000 (by the Hudson Institute in 1987 forthe U. S. Department of Labor), the American work force is becoming increasinglydiverse racially, ethnically and educationally. Valuing this diversity andmanaging it creatively is a major human resources objective. Lockard remarkedthat we must take advantage of our greatest resource: all the people, gayand straight, who work for us. Many managers lack knowledge about the impactof sexual orientation on workplace performance. The primary reason is that,while most managers want to do right by their lesbian and gay employees,most heterosexuals fail to deal with the issue because they lack the skillsand resources they require to cope with it.
Lockard offered some tips on how to manage a gay-inclusive workplace whilealso minimizing controversy. Some of the tips included: have a gay-inclusivediversity committee, demonstrate high-level support for the policy, standfirm in the face of criticism, take time to understand what it means fora person to come out and the process by which the organization itself comesout, review personnel policies and procedures to remove any heterosexistreferences, let interviewees know that your organization is all-inclusive,attend and support attendance at conference or workshops that deal withsexual orientation in the workplace, sanction and subsidize educationalprograms that promote better understanding and tolerance, do not assumethat employees or patrons are heterosexual, and develop a mentoring systemin which competent and open lesbian/gay people can be role models for employeeswho are interested in coming out.
Lockard closed with these words: Ideally we managers should view a lesbian/gayperson's disclosure as the GIFT that it is. It is a landmark in the yourcolleague's personal and professional growth, as well as a gift to you,the gift of trust and rapport. Sexual orientation in the workplace is aunique opportunity for us managers to take charge as advocates for change,working both to resolve and prevent conflicts, and to ensure compliancewith nondiscrimination requirements. Value the bravery it takes a lesbian/gayperson to make such disclosure. It is one that heterosexuals do not haveto make.
Angela Giral, Columbia University, spoke on "Complexity and Contradiction:Reflections on a Life of Diversity." Giral, who was born in Spain,recounted her dramatic childhood journey from Algiers to France to Havana,then Mexico, as the child of parents fleeing Franco's Spain. She remarkedon the fact that people who speak a common language can still encounterdifficulties: working at the Avery Library, she suddenly was categorizedas Hispanic under affirmative action, and mentored a Hispanic student. Affirmativeaction has been a challenge for her as a manager as well, as acting headof human resources at Columbia University Libraries. Waiting for affirmativeaction decisions is a reality, and one must be vigilantly aware of the challengesto diversity and affirmative action. A tenet of democracy, Giral stated,is the protection of minorities, and she ended by quoting from Benito Juarez:"Peace is the respect of the rights of others."
Following the speakers' presentations, the floor was open for discussion.Nancy Allen mentioned the importance of the connections with library schoolsfor establishing internships; Mimi Hernandez noted that ALA is restructuringits accreditation standards, eliminating some requirements, and Giral statedthat the definitions of minority are being reinvented. Someone mentionedthe importance of incorporating diversity in bibliographic instruction,collections and exhibitions. Allen felt that museums may be behind the timesin areas such as domestic partner benefits and hoped for a summary of thestate of such benefits in academe, and someone mentioned the American Associationof Museum's G/L group and its newsletter Queer Muse. Peter Blank mentionedthe manifestation of cultural diversity in the new art history as time,unfortunately, ran out.
Patricia Thompson, Michigan State University
Session IV: The Dictionary of Art: The Concept, the Challenges, and the Achievement
April 28, 1996
The large number of people in attendance at this session attests to thefact that art librarians are eagerly anticipating the publication of thislandmark reference set. On the eve of the printing of the monumental work,moderator Loanne Snavely, Reference and Information Services Section, assembledthe Dictionary's publisher, editor, and one of the contributing areaadvisors, to provide a preview.
Publisher Ian Jacobs spoke first about the genesis of the fourteen-yearproject. Editor Jane Turner discussed both the organization of the projectand its intellectual challenges. Dan Ehnbom, the University of Virginia,was an area advisor for India for the Dictionary's, and he spokeof the Dictionary's global coverage and the role of contributingscholars. The objective of the project was simple: to produce an illustrated,multi-volume reference that provided "comprehensive coverage of thehistory of all the visual arts worldwide, from prehistory to the present."The mechanics of achieving that objective, have been far from simple. Thefinished work reflects the contributions of 6,700 scholars and experts frommore than 120 countries. The editorial process--reviewing, commenting, fact-checking,translating, transliterating, etc.--was complex, and after hearing the speakers'presentations, one wonders how they were able to bring everything togetherin a mere fourteen years.
The speakers demonstrated that the Dictionary's will be extremelyuseful for both the scholar and the general reader. Certainly, users willbe able to find answers to specific questions about artists, art of a particularculture, techniques, and materials. But, the work has been carefully configuredto encourage readers on a journey of intellectual discovery, via the extensivecross-referencing and indexing and substantive bibliographies. Those librariesthat have ordered the title can expect shipment of the thirty-four volumesin fall 1996. Since the latest technologies were used during the productionprocess, Publisher Jacobs and Editor Turner will next turn their attentionto electronic products related to the Dictionary's. The Dictionaryof Art certain to be an indispensable resource in our libraries andthe session succeeded in generating a great deal of enthusiasm and excitementfor this publication, for which we have waited so many years.
Joan Stahl, National Museum of American Art
Session V: FloridaDecorative Arts to Mid-Century
April 29, 1996
The Decorative Arts Round Table sponsored the session , "Florida DecorativeArts to Mid-Century." Alison Pinsler served as recorder. David Blackard,curator of collections and exhibitions at Florida's new Ah-Tha-Thi-Ki Museum,the first speaker, discussed the body of literature on Seminole art andculture and illustrated his talk with a stunning slide presentation of recentand historic Seminole textiles. A significant aspect of Blackard's presentationwas his caveat concerning the historical inaccuracies that continue to appearin the literature about the Seminoles. He also addressed the developmentof his own landmark publication, Patchwork and Palmettos: Seminole/MiccosukeeFolk Art since 1820. The book was the result of an exhibition sponsoredby the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society in 1990. Blackard closed by providinga bibliography of other works on the subject of Seminole arts.
Diane Camber, executive director of the Bass Museum and director of theexhibit, All That Glitters, was scheduled to speak, but was unableto attend. Wanda Texon, curator of education for the Bass spoke in her stead.Texon's discussion focused on the museum's 1994-95 exhibition, which displayedcostume jewelry and its relation to fashion in the context of social history.Social and technological developments that contributed to the developmentof and fashion for costume jewelry include: the advent of bakelite and theproduction of cultured pearls; the two world wars (and the scarcity of preciousmetals), fluctuations in the marketplace, and the changing role of women.Texon's presentation was a delight to the eye and a treat to the ear. Shepresented a fascinating talk and renewed our acquaintance with the old friendswe remember from mom's jewelry box, all beautifully chosen and delightfullynostalgic.
The third speaker was Marianne Lamonaca, associate curator of the Wolfsonian.Her presentation was based on the museum's inaugural exhibition, TheArts of Reform and Persuasion, 1885-1945. The exhibition consisted of250 objects representing the period 1885 to World War I, and the periodbetween the wars. They were divided thematically: "Confronting Modernity,""Celebrating Modernity," and "Manipulating Modernity: PoliticalPersuasions." Her focus was design as an agent of modernity, a keyelement in reform movements, and a vehicle for propaganda. Her presentationwas most timely--the morning after the gala reception at the museum. Afterthe drama of the Wolfsonian's main hall, with its Art Deco gate at the endof a long corridor, the audience was ready for more and Lamonica's presentationwas very welcome.
The final speaker was Kenneth Treister, an artist, architect, architecturalhistorian and frequent lecturer on the subject of art and architecture inFlorida. His talk focused on two of Florida's most historic sites: the Spanishcolonial city of St. Augustine and Coral Gables. He spoke eloquently ofSt. Augustine's 19th-century Beaux Arts influences, and Bernard Maybeck'slandmark designs for the Ponce de Leon and Alcazar hotels there, and CoralGables, the City Beautiful, with its Mediterranean revival houses built,like their Spanish and Italian models, around a courtyard, surrounded byantique gateways, waterways, arches, fountains and reflecting pools. Treister'stalk was enhanced by his evident enthusiasm for his subject and his ownconvictions on the impact of architectural style on those who live surroundedby it. All of this was underscored by exquisite slides and carefully-chosenmusical accompaniment.
Jean Hines, New York School of Interior Design
Session VI: Award Winning Publishing: The Old & New World of Art Books: In Celebrationof the George Wittenborn Book Award
April 29, 1996 Co-moderatorDaniel Starr opened the session by noting the three goals attained by the1995 Wittenborn Award Committee. They are the new design of the award logo;compiled lists of previous winners from 1974-1995 and of books submittedfor the 1995 award; and sponsorship of a session to highlight the purposeand recognition of the Wittenborn Award.
Four speakers addressed the past,present, and future worlds of art publishing. The first speaker was FaithPleasanton, librarian of Christie's Auction House. Her topic was "GeorgeWittenborn: a Bookseller-Publisher's Odyssey, from Berlin to New York, 1930-1970."A former colleague of George Wittenborn, Pleasanton told the fascinatingstory of his life and career, following his early life in Berlin and Paris,on through his emigration to New York, where he became a well-known bookdealer and publisher. His shop on Madison Avenue, where Pleasanton worked,was a popular meeting place for artists and writers associated with theNew York art scene. The store's "One-Wall Gallery" displayed thenewest works by regulars. His dedication to the promotion of twentieth-century publication activities in this area were unique at the time. Theclosing of his shop in 1992 marked the end of an era where bookstores werean integral part of the art world.
The second speaker was Paul Gottlieb,president, publisher, and editor-in-chief of the Harry N. Abrams, New York.His topic was "Art Books Forever." After giving a brief accountof the history of art book publishing, he focused his discussion on theproblems and difficulties of the current publishing industry. The increasingoverhead costs of publishing have rendered the publication of art booksfor other than a wide audience impossible or difficult. The problem is partlybecause of the increasing copyright costs, reproduction fees, and taxesimposed by agents or corporations such as museums and governments. As eachcountry begins to impose fees, foreign-language editions are becoming lesseconomically viable. Finally, Gottlieb suggested that ARLIS members whoare connected to those copyright agents should convey this problem and encouragerevision of their image permission policies.
The third speaker was JesseFeiler, software director of the Philmont Software Mill. His topic was "CD-ROMs:Are They Worth the Paper They're Not Printed On?" Feiler first pointedout that CD-ROMs provide an interactive multimedia experience that bookscan never attain. Problems of many CD-ROM publications today are more aproduct of poor design than the fault of the medium per se. Feiler suggestedthat librarians should evaluate CD-ROM titles in the same skilled way thatthey evaluate books. The three main criteria of evaluation are the technicalaspects of the CD-ROMs, the contents, and the approaches to the contentpresentation. Feiler elaborated on the last aspect, pointing out the shortcomingsand pitfalls of the "book-metaphor" and custom interfaces. Hesuggests that the computer interface should be the most effective approachto the content presentation as library users are becoming more familiarto the standard computer interface. He further discussed the bandwidth ofassistance and the navigation tools of CD-ROM products, and expects a futurestate where technology will be less intrusive, allowing librarians to focusonce again on the content.
The fourth speaker was Wendy Kaplan, curatorof the Wolfsonian Foundation and editor of the 1995 Wittenborn Award recipientbook Designing Modernity. Kaplan is a two-time winner of the WittenbornAward. Her first award-winning book was The Art That is Life, publishedin 1987. She explained the process involved in developing this outstandingexhibition and its catalog. Through the collaborative effort of Wolfsoniancurators and many internationally renowned scholars, essay topics were selectedfor presenting the strengths of the Wolfsonian's collection. Images fromother collections were also selected for highlighting and comparing thosein the exhibition. In late March, 1993, the story line of the exhibitionwas formed and the theme was "Design in the Age of Modernity from 1885to 1945." One of the interesting aspects of the exhibition was thediscussion of the use of design for forging a cultural identity in thatperiod. Design was thus more than an aesthetic concern and was closely relatedto the human and social aspects of our societies.
Billy Kwan, MetropolitanMuseum of Art
Session VII: Latin American Women Artists: Their Contribution to 20th-Century Art
April 29, 1996
Moderator Liesel Nolan opened the session sponsored bythe Women and Art Round Table (WAART) by welcoming the audience and panelistsand inviting them to participate in a celebration of "Latin AmericanWomen Artists: Their Contributions to 20th-Century Art." Panelistswere Susan Nurse, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester; MarthaZamora, author of Frida, el pincel de la angustia (1987); Carol Damian,Florida International University, author of The Virgin of the Andes (1995);and Maria Brito, a well-known artist of Cuban descent. A visual overview,by Nolan, of the traveling exhibition, "Latin American Women Artists, 1915-1995,"curated by Geraldine Biller (Milwaukee Art Museum), who was unable to attendthe conference, preceded the panelists presentations.. The Milwaukee ArtMuseum, under the sponsorship of the Philip Morris Co., organized the exhibitionand published its bilingual catalog. The exhibition's focus on the artworkof thirty-five women artists from ten Latin American countries set the parametersfor this year's papers and provided a background against which to view thecontributions of the artists whose works the speakers highlighted.
BothSusan Nurse and Martha Zamora focused on Frida Kahlo's contributions toLatin American and modern art, but explored those contributions from differentperspectives. Nurse's paper addressed the Mexicanidad of Frida Kahlo andreviewed her innovative work in the context of Mexico's socio-politicalclimate in the earlier 20th century. She traced iconographic motifs in Kahlo'sart to their dual origins in European and indigenous Latin American traditions.She demonstrated how the artists consciously incorporated these motifs inher self-portraits, her costume and jewelry, and how these motifs helpedthe complex cult persona so admired today. To take one example among many,Nurse showed a Jaina sculpture of a male nobleman with braided hair andcompared it to Kahlo's Self-portrait with Braid (1941).
Zamora's presentation,"Frida Kahlo--Golden Oil," presented other aspects of Kahlo'swork and life. Zamora emphasized Kahlo's independence of societal normsat a time when Mexican concepts of decorum expected on ornamental assetsof women. Her particular focus, however, was the vicissitudes of the LatinAmerican art market, the traffic in Kahlo's paintings, and the astronomicalprices her self-portraits have fetched in recent years at Sotheby's NewYork auctions. In 1990, her minute self-portrait, Diego and I (1949) soldfor $1.3 million, which Zamora called an honor for the artists, for allMexico, and for the continent. But the sale of her Self-portrait with Monkeyand Parrot 1942) in May 1995 for $3,192,500 topped all expectations. Zamoraconcluded her presentation by stating the Frida Kahlo's main contributionto 20th-century art stems from her capacity to attract the attention ofa wide public. . .Frida has become a symbol of Mexico and of Mexicanismand it here to stay... Her image sells. Carol Damians paper, "WomenArtists on Modern Art History: The Miami/Latin American Connection,"presented the art historian's fascination with the pioneering efforts ofselected artists from the exhibition Latin American Women Artists 19195-1995.
Damian emphasized the truly revolutionary contributions to modern art byAnita Malfatti and Tarsila do Amaral (Brazil), Maria Izquierdo (Mexico),Tilsa Tschushiya (Peru), Raquel Forner (Argentina), and Cuban artists AmeliaPelaez and Antonia Eiriz. Damian demonstrated how Eiriz's expressionistpainting, The Annunciation (1963/64) demonstrates her power to employ religiousiconography as a political tool.
Maria Brito, an internationally-known artist,was the last--and powerful--speaker. Born in Cuba and transplanted to Miamiin 1961 under Operation Peter Pan, Brito was educated in the U.S. and earnedan MFA in Ceramics in 1979 from the University of Miami. Brito offered theaudience the rare privilege of a mediated tour of her work. Her mixed mediasculptures and installations were surprising in their magnetic power, theirmonumentality, and their, at times, monastic severity. Her art reflectsa continuing concern with the mystical power of childhood memories and thecreative mind's spiritual resources. Her Merely a Player (1994), a labyrinthinestructure and Meanderings (1985) a mixed-media installation, express theseconcerns. Brito said that she views her work as a means of communicationwith others, as a stage that is part of the theater of life in which theviewer can become the player, taking on a number of different roles. Shederives a distinct iconographic vocabulary which is at once derived fromher multiple identities-- woman, mother, Catholic, exiled Cuban, naturalizedAmerican--and reminiscent, formally and thematically, on the Renaissancevocabulary of Mantegna and others. The panelists' papers enhanced the audience'sunderstanding of Latin American art and contributions of Latin Americanwomen. It was clear that the discussion had just begun.
Liesel Nolan, Universityof Colorado, Boulder
Session VIII: Pretty in Pink? The Design and Redesign of your Library
April 30, 1996
The session "Pretty in Pink?," sponsored bythe Architecture Section, focused on library interiors, renovation and theuse of color in the design process. The moderator, Kitty Chibnick from theAvery Library, Columbia University, came up with the idea as a result of her own library's dilemmawith regard to a hundred orange chairs from 1978, which were falling apart,but which were no longer manufactured and they couldn't afford to replaceall at once. Could they gradually move toward 1990 colors? She didn't knowwhen planning the session that color in design, and specifically paint,would become very chic. Newsweek (January 1996) made reference to "paintfetishism" and "paint envy, in addition to offering help for the"chromatically challenged!
But, why Pretty in PINK? The title not onlyrefers to Miami's colors, but also to the John Hughes movie of the sametitle (theme: a redhead CAN wear pink, be beautiful, and be true to herself).The first speaker was Bernardo Fort Brescia, principal of the Miami Beach-basedarchitectural firm Arquitectonica. The primary focus of his talk, "Conceptand color," was the idea of using color to emphasize and clarify theconcept of a building. One must first understand the essence of a buildingbefore one can decide on color (either paint or materials). He used examplesof his own work, characterized by simple geometric forms sculpturally connectedwith bright patterns and colors, because they most dramatically illustratehis theme. The first example, a pink house in Miami, was designed as a seriesof walls meant to be penetrated on the way to the ocean. Intense pink, usedon the perpendicular, fades as you get closer to the water, emphasizingthe depth of the house, Other examples included a condo on the waterfront,a city on its side with a grid of streets and a void to evoke the city square.Blue was used on the grid to make it stand out in front of the glass walland transform the scale of the building. Bright colors were used insidethe void to highlight and emphasize the difference in function. Occasionallycolor is used as a decorative element. Security demanded that the shapeof the American Embassy building in Lima, Peru not be varied, so he transformedthe facade into a huge painting relating to the history of Peru. And, finally,Fort Brescia's design for the redevelopment of Times Square involved slicingone building in half by inserting a slot of light and changing the directionand color of glass paneling, creating the effect of two buildings. The colorbronze was used on the lower volume to express earthiness, while a steel-likecolor rises toward the sky, further illustrating the connection betweenconcept and color in architecture.
The second speaker, Christine Sala, referencelibrarian and indexer at Avery Library, and former architect, gave a briefhistory of the development of library interiors entitled "Inside Stories:Library Interiors and Renovation." At first rooms had to be designedto accommodate clay tablets and, later, large books chained to walls andopening onto shelves. An increase in the number of smaller books led togreater use of height of the building for stacks and ultimately the spaciousnessand grand reading rooms of libraries such as those at Oxford, Cambridge,and the British Museum. Up until World War II, the general style of librarybuildings was monumental, with little concern for the needs and convenienceof users. Sala then highlighted some contemporary renovations and newlybuilt library spaces. Her examples included the soft yet rich colors ofSan Juan Capistrano Library (designed by Michael Graves 1984), the comfortablecurve of the addition to Uris Library at Cornell (designed by H.H. Richardson,1891; added to by Gunnar Birkerts, 1985), the successful weaving of historicfabric with modern sensibility in the addition of an enclosed garden courtto the Morgan Library (designed by McKim Mead and White, 1906; added toby Voorsanger and Associates in the 1980s) and the bold use of color inSan Antonio Library (designed by Legorreta Architects, 1995).
The thirdspeaker was Sherry Carillo, assistant director for reader services at FloridaInternational University. Her presentation, entitled "Books, Peopleand Jackhammers can Co-Exist, described the University Park library buildingproject, a project begun last year to expand the library building on oneof the two university campuses. Working with architects, in collaborationwith TAC of Cambridge who were responsible for the entire university layout,they developed a three-phase plan to add twelve stories to the originalthree-story building. Although they had initially expected disruption tobe minimal, this was not exactly the case! One major problem was that thelibrary had to continue normal functioning. Carillo emphasized the importanceof bringing the entire staff into the planning process, so that they wouldfeel that they were part of the project rather than just affected by it.Although there were some morale problems, most were avoided by this typeof communication. They're now in the middle of Phases 1 and 2 (which werecombined to speed up the process), which they expect to be finished in February1997 when they will move into the new part while the three existing floorsare renovated and brought up to code standards. So far, it has been a majorlearning experience. They've learned that such a process is very time-consuming,that staff have widely different levels of comfort, that no matter how muchyou plan you always forget something, and that there's always a new crisis.The most recent crisis involved a deluge of Florida rain that soaked allthe carpets, followed by problems with the chemicals used to clean and sanitizethem. On the positive side, they have had very good working relationshipswith the architects and construction manager. And ultimately they will improvelibrary services and resources for everyone.
The last, speaker was SusanWyngaard, head of the Fine Arts Library at Wexner Center for the VisualArts, Ohio State University. Her talk, "Living in Peter Eisenman'sLibrary: Managing the Mundane in Lost-Modern Paradise" focused on thedesign of the center, which opened in 1989, and particularly the library,which opened a year later. The Ohio State University campus, laid out byFrederick Law Olmsted, was shifted off the grid of the city by 12 1/4 degrees.Eisenman's winning design placed the arts center precisely at the intersectionof the city grid and the university grid, with the greenspace known as "theoval" serving as the front yard. Thus the center defines and symbolizesan intersection of arts with community and becomes an event in itself. Allspaces are defined by the grid- landscaped terraces, or plinths, providepassage from the city to the university and define the shape of the roomsbelow.
Wyngaard discussed this design as it related to and influenced thefunction of the library. She described the challenge of explaining to thearchitect exactly what it is they do in an academic arts library (or, "explainingthe mundane," as she put it). Apparently, they had two very differentideas about book storage and retrieval: the architects thought that booklibrary meant book museum and planned for enclosed small locked bookcases,with no reading rooms or study areas. After discussion, they now have twofloors of open stack areas. But, because of structural and decorative columnsthroughout the stacks, which were integral to the design pattern and nota point of compromise, they lost 840 feet of shelving. They were constantlyreminded that the building is an "architectural event"; if a searchis interrupted by a column the user is interacting with it.
The mathematicalproportion of the grid also affected the length and height of the shelving.As a result of these non-standard shelves, they had to install metal bracesand rewrite their definition of oversize books. The grid also led to a readingroom of irregular proportion, and furniture in unusual shapes with lessseating capacity. Lighting was also a hotly debated topic. The final resultwas beautiful and functional, maintaining the grid with alternating warmand cool tones while providing a wonderful feeling of daylight. But theuniversity, rather than maintaining it, replaced bulbs with the cheapestpossible substitutes in a wide variety of tones.
Color was another successfuldesign element. Although they worried that using only shades of gray, withwhite bookshelves, would be monotonous, it is in fact very peaceful andcalming. Since the only color comes from the bookbindings, the collectionbecomes the focus of attention.
From the viewpoint of security, they hadalso worried that the intersecting grid would lead to too many nook- and-crannyspaces that couldn't be monitored. But they have found that the clean andsleek environment has influenced their users' behavior, instilling a respectfor the collection.
Despite the challenges of librarians and architectsunderstanding each other's goals and priorities, the final result is a typeof library paradise: a dynamic sequence of beautiful and intellectuallychallenging spaces.
Linda Cucurrullo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session IX: WhoAre the Bravest in the Brave New World? Site Licensing Initiatives for Images
April 30, 1996
In her opening remarks for this session sponsoredjointly by the Academic Library Division and the Visual Resources Division,co-moderator Elizabeth O'Donnell, Dartmouth College, commented on some ofthe current concerns over site licensing of images. These concerns includethe issue of copyright and technology for scanning images and the attendantproblems with quality.
The first speaker was Kurt Wiedenhoeft of Saskia,Ltd. who spoke on Saskia's approach to licensing digital images. One ofthe goals of Saskia is to eliminate the concern of museums over copyrightof their images. Saskia achieves this by licensing images to institutionsfor networking with agreements that the network only be available to students,faculty and staff. Wiedenhoeft used Columbia University as an example ofa working site license. Art history courses taught in the traditional lectureformat have the course outline and accompanying images available on theWorld Wide Web but the university has implemented a security system whichonly allows the images to be displayed from on-campus locations; all outsideusers see a broken-up image. When students see the images, they see a noticewhich explains the copyright status of the images and the restrictions onwhat they can do with them. This technique satisfies the requirements ofthe Saskia license and is easy to implement. To date, twenty-five museumsand universities have signed the Saskia site license and obtained digitalimages either in sets or individually. Saskia has available close to 2,000images which correspond to the major monuments and works of art discussedin art history. The latest set of images corresponds to the latest edition(10th) of Gardner's Art through the Ages. Saskia's site license providesone means of responsible access to high resolution digital images. Theytake very seriously their commitment to be accurate transmitters of historicintentions to the teachers and students of today.
The second speaker wasMichel Bezy, program manager of the IBM Digital Library. Bezy began by posingthe question What is IBM doing here? IBM believes that the changes is inthis digital world will have a dramatic impact on museums and libraries,that rather than site licensing we should be talking about world-wide licensingof images. Today, IBM is moving to provide more access and better protectionof your intellectual property and that is a change in paradigm. He believesthat libraries and museums are in the business of preserving and providingaccess to the cultural heritage in the digital world. Bezy showed a circulardiagram showing the process of image digitizing. There were sections forcreation and capture; searching and access; and distribution. Two innercircles included rights management and storage. The key is to digitize onceand then produce anything: art books, CD-ROM, online, Internet, educationalmaterials, etc. At issue are the big fear that copyright is protected gettingrevenue. Intellectual property rights management has two means of protection.One is the watermark, the digitized picture consisting of individual pixelsbased on hue, saturation and brightness. The classical watermark is usuallyoverlaid, but this can destroy an image. Instead, IBM changed the brightnessof the color, creating a watermark for the Vatican. The same technologycan be used to authenticate images. The other technology for protectionis invisible marking which has no visible watermark, only one capable ofbeing seen by computer. Another development is superdistribution which willpermit the transmission of images on the network with the content encryptedso that without the key others could not access that image. He concludedthat technology is only part of a total rights management solution. IBMhas been working for seven years on these technologies and expects to bea part of that future.
Katie Keller, formerly at Avery Library, gave a briefintroductory history of the Museum Site Licensing Project (MESL) sponsoredby Getty AHIP which brought seven universities and seven museums togetherfor the purpose of making digital images of works of art available for studyand teaching on campus networks. One of the goals is to develop guidelinesfor academic use of these images. After listing participating institutions,Keller then introduced Walter Gilbert from the University of Maryland, CollegePark. Gilbert shared background on the university's environment for useof digital images. The university is a major internet hub with an outstandinginfrastructure with one consistent network including fifty classrooms withhigh-resolution imaging capabilities. He also reviewed other imaging initiativesat the university. MESL gave them approximately 5,000 images in variouslevels of resolution and format. The records also came with text includingcuratorial comments, ownership history, exhibition notes, etc. It createsan invaluable source, but also created difficulties presenting the data.Approximately seven studio and art history classes are collaborating onprojects designed around the images. He showed an image of a Bierstadt andthe manipulations made by students of that image such as flipping, etc.The university has created a database which allows searching and displayof artwork, title and thumbnail pictures. They made all images the samesize (700x700 pixels) which allowed two images on a computer screen. Facultycan click and drag images and place the image on either the right or leftside of the screen which is then projected in the classroom. Gilbert showedexamples of the image and text as it would be seen by a student. He concludedwith the observation that the university has created a homepage which givesinformation about the MESL project as well as other computer initiatives.
The fourth scheduled speaker was to have been Jennifer Trant, Getty AHIP,who was ill. In her place Jeanette Dixon, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,spoke about MESL from the museum perspective. The MESL project is a twoyear project and the museum needed to do a lot of preparation in order toparticipate. They had to get a slide scanner and take slides of some ofthe masterworks in the collection. Their first assignment was to deliver500 digitized images on CD-ROM to a central distribution place with textinformation that they could derive from their collections' management system.All participants sent their disks to the University of Michigan along withthe textual information. The standards were not very rigorous and allowedfor variation in size, differences in text information including format,delimiters and content. The museum will have contributed 1350 images bythe end of the project. She concluded with the hope that MESL will providea model for future efforts by museums and universities for collaboration,making access to the images easier and distributing them over the WorldWide Web. After the presentation, questions focused on the actual structureof the University of Maryland database, digital watermarking, competitionamong vendors to obtain content and cautions against quick solutions, trackingsystems for accessing images, and statistics in general.
Ted Goodman, ColumbiaUniversity
Session X: Moving Picture Archives
April 30, 1996 Sponsor: Filmand Video Round Table. Moderator:
Alison Pinsler, AGP Research and ConsultingServices.
Speakers: Steven Davidson, director, Louis Wolfson II Media
HistoryCenter, An Overviwe of Moving Picture Archives: From
Preservation to Access;Barry Sherman, director, Peabody Awards,
University of Georgia: Arts andCultural Programming in the Peabody
Collection; Helene Whitson, archivist,San Francisco State University,
Profile of the San Francisco Bay Area TelevisionArchive; Dan Den
Bleyker, archivist, Mississippi Department of Archivesand History,
New Film and Video Productions Utilizing Archival Moving
ImageMaterials.
No report submitted.
Session XI: Current Issues in Art of Latin America and the Caribbean
April 30, 1996
When the Reference and Information Services Section proposed,at the Montreal conference, a session on Latin American and Caribbean artfor the Miami Beach conference, the brilliance, vibrancy, and currency ofthe Latin American art scene in Miami beckoned warmly. Co-Moderator AmandaBowen (then) of Smith College introduced Carol Damian, assistant professorof Art History, Florida International University, who presented an overview entitled, "The Latin American Art Scene and Miami as the Gateway City". Her presentation of Latin American masters included information on where to find their works and how they fit into the Miami milieu. Damian's survey of images included the well-known painters and sculptors, Rufino Tamayo, Fernando Botero, Roberto Matta, and others. The elusive figurative female figures of Nicaraguan, Armando Morales, and the large-scale provocative landscapes of Jose Gamarraa were also shown. Panamanian artists were noted,as was Argentine Guillermo Kuitca's Bed Series that incorporates mattresses and maps. Antonio Amaral of Brazil illustrates the demise of the Amazonian rainforest, polluted landscapes and the difficulties of life in Brazil.
Frederic B. Snitzer, whose gallery in Coral Gables bears his name, focused on the artistic production of three waves of Cuban emigres to the United States: following the revolution in 1959, during the 1980s, and during the past five years. While each artist expresses individual influences, there are many shared experiences and similar images found in their works, including self-portraits, boats adrift, and other seascapes along with reflections on the human condition. The theme of Cuban exile and displacement are treated in the work of Luis Cruz Azaceta, which includes many outlines and maps of Cuba. Julio Antonio Mella, who came to Miami in 1984 via Spain, includes rafts, sharks' teeth, and untrustworthy neighbors. Antonio's prints arei ncluded in a group collected by the Whitney Museum of American Art. His student, Florenzo Julibert, born under Castro, uses images of coffins, rafts, and blades in his work, some of which appeared in the commercial advertising campaign, Absolut Freedom. Carlos Jose Anfonzo and Ruben Torres Llorca are among recent emigres to incorporate images of the displacement and loss that are part of emigre life in their artistic production.
Beverly Joy-Karno of Howard Karno Books, brought a selection of publications illustrating the historic, cultural, and economic diversity of South American, Latin, and Caribbean artistic production. Publications in Spanish, Portuguese and English comprise an important component in learning about this diverse region. Exhibition catalogs, monographs, video catalogs, CD-ROMs, and biennial materials were shown. In many of these countries, the number and quality of these materials are increasing, although most are limited editions. They are also published by museums, both public and private, private and academic, national salons, friends groups, and corporations. Some are not available commercially. The Internet is another way to locate current information. One Web site to explore is a group of twenty Chilean women artists (http://www.dic.uchile. cl/~ plastica). Noteworthy periodic literature includes: Poliester, Pintura y no Pintura, a bilingual Mexican magazine devoted to art of the moment, Diseno from Chile, which highlights art and architecture, as well as graphic, industrial, and furniture design; and Art Nexus. Panelists answered questions and participated int. discussion that followed.
Naomi Niles, Metropolitan Museum of Art
April 30, 1996
Photographs, slides, CD-ROMs, digital images and other new image technologiesare integrating into the classroom, the museum, the library and visual resourcescollection. How are these materials used in the teaching and the researchof art and art history? If usage is considered, where should the materialsbe housed: in the library or the VR collection? Who does the collectiondevelopment? Who determines the criteria for quality and compatibility?Does use reflect which area of the library or VR collection it resides in?How are the different formats used in teaching and what have those usinga digital classroom learned?
Adina Lerner, the moderator of this session , which was sponsored by theVisual Resources Divisino raised all the above questions. It was also importantto insert the influence of the vendor into the equation. They, after all,need an audience receptive to their product. Who do they sell to? If theypublish a CD to accompany their book, do they sell to the library or theVR collection? If they are a traditional slide vendor beginning to sellCDs of images, complete with documentation, can they expand their marketto art libraries which control multimedia labs? How do they reach this audience?Can the vendor of a database traditionally aimed at libraries, but now includinga capability to deliver an image along with a record, now approach the VRlibrarian?
The first presenter was Susan Jurist, University of California San Diego.Her presentation was an excellent summary of multimedia CD-ROM evaluationcriteria as a way of looking at how different types of materials fit intodifferent niches. She went over consumer products, museum catalogs, art"books," the Web, photo CDs etc. She placed them in the contextof the audience for whom they were intended. She essentially "reviewed"the different types of products and determined where in the library/VR collectionthey might be useful. Quality was definitely an issue as are appropriatesearching, interface usage.
Andrea Pappas, University of Southern California spoke about her collaborativelearning model and changing the paradigm of teaching structure. She wasgiven a seven week development window to assemble a curriculum for an introductoryart history class to be taught via the Web. This was accomplished usingthe services of the library, slide library, electronic classrooms and thelecture hall. They decided to use Netscape because it was easy to use andallowing interaction between the instructor and students. The class Website was accessible from many locations including library, dorm rooms andthe students' homes. Part of her presentation was a demonstration of theteaching site. (http://www.usc.edu/dept/finearts/fa121/) Pappas pointedout the pedagogy of teaching of art history will change with this model.Interaction was necessary and the students were more engaged with the materials.Posting was a part of the requirements. The lecturer was always availablethrough e-mail and a class discussion in a chat area was required.
Ben Kessler, Princeton University was the final speaker. His title, "Ittakes a Village" is the metaphor for cooperation. This is essentialto getting it all done. Kessler asked if anyone really wanted complete custody.This is because all the new technology is different from everything else.It leads a different existence. Collaboration is key to getting the technologyand any digital images out to the students and faculty. The new systemsemerging and their organizational dynamics are changing and we must reconcilewith them. Project ownership is changing. It might be big (campus wide)or small (one faculty member). You can't lose track that the will to finishany project is essential to getting it done. Someone with vision is necessary,one who has custody is essential. Custody is shared today anyway. To geteverything to work, you have relationships with your computer support personnel,the faculty, the library, the visual resources collection and the vendor.It is up to librarians and VR professionals to ask vendors to have a digitalimage marketplace rather then doing it all themselves, replicating everyoneelse's work. Interdisciplinary work is bringing libraries and VR peopletogether. The most important thing about an image collection is CONTENT.He emphasized that the role of the VR professional is essential but theymust take an administrative role or they will be left out. Kessler feltthe role of the VR professional must move away from being curators to informationgatekeepers.
Adina Lerner, Walt Disney Archives