SESSIONS

Let's Get Together: tools and strategies for sharing data and aggregating collections
Sponsored by the VRA Digital Initiatives Advisory Group (DIAG).

Organizer and moderator: Virginia Kerr, Northwestern University

As the prospect for sharing image cataloging and digital surrogates comes closer to reality, collection managers want to gain more familiarity with the tools and options which can help make it happen.  This session includes definitions of data -sharing scenarios, including distributed and federated searches.  We will hear from an expert on the OAI (Open Archives Initiative) protocol about its potential uses in harvesting VRA Core metadata.   We also will learn how the RLG Cultural Materials database (like other efforts to integrate collections)  is handling variations in descriptive metadata, and how a proposed common-currency standard could reach out to many communities.  Respondents will frame these themes in the context of early workplace efforts at collaboration, as well as the broad picture of how schema choices can impact data exchange and resource discovery

Presenters:
1. Sarah L. Shreeves, IMLS Digital Collections and Content Project, University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign.  Opportunities for Sharing Metadata Using Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)

2. Günter Waibel, RLG. Where the rubber hits the road: Integrating collections from museums, libraries, and archives

Respondents:
1. Margaret Webster, Cornell University
2. Ann Baird Whiteside, University of Virginia

Session 2
Sunday March 6th, 3:30 pm-5:00 pm

1st Annual Image Cataloger's Roundtable

Co-Organizers and moderators: Barbara Furbush, Getty Research Institute and Eileen Fry, Indiana University

The release of the Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO), the first true guidelines for the cataloging of objects and their surrogates at the item level, necessitates the creation of an open annual forum where issues of CCO interpretation and application can be raised and discussed, a consensus reached, and proposals for action or recommendation formulated. We will begin the session by establishing the goals and structure for an ongoing Image Cataloger’s Roundtable.

Proposed discussion topics for the 1st Roundtable include general issues such as:

• Where should the value lists for our databases come from and how should variants be reconciled?
• Do the “authorities” meet the needs of CCO image catalogers?
• How can we agree on, archive, and begin to share our authority work?

Specific issues for discussion will be focused on the CCO categories of CULTURE and STYLE/PERIOD.

• Are terms like "Byzantine" CULTURES, STYLES, or PERIODS?
• Does CULTURE of the object require knowing where it was made?
• Is it appropriate to call all terms, (like “Carolingian” and “Georgian”) which pertain to reigns from any culture, "dynasties"?
• Are "isms" and "ists" movements or styles? Should both be included?

Participants can send us their own questions and problems related to CULTURE and STYLE/PERIOD in advance so that we can add them to the agenda. Contact Eileen Fry FRYP@indiana.edu or Barbara Furbush Bfurbush@getty.edu

Session 3
Monday March 7th, 9:00 am-10:30 am

Fresh Work: new ideas on the old problem of image indexing and retrieval

Organizer: Marie Kennedy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Moderator : Trish Rose, University of California San Diego

In an effort to peel back the curtain and talk to the wizard behind the machine this panel presents results from research projects designed to make image indexing and retrieval less “magic” and more “real-world.”  We will discuss fresh approaches to these concepts, such as: do color images have a different vocabulary than black & white images?; does natural language or the Art and Architecture Thesaurus provide better retrieval results; does your expert status affect the search results you’re getting?; and do visual resource curators play a role in the classroom through the information they offer in their image catalog?

Presenters:
1. Tammy Wells-Angerer, UNC-Chapel Hill
2. Marie Kennedy, UNC-Chapel Hill
3. J.J. Bauer, UNC-Chapel Hill
4. Sarah Falls, University of Richmond

Session 4
Monday March 7th, 2:00 am-3:30 am

Creating Multilingual Access to Art Information

Organizer and Moderator : Murtha Baca, Getty Vocabulary Program

This panel will include an overview of issues in creating multilingual access to art information, and two presentations on thesaurus projects currently taking place in Latin America and Spain. The three presentations will be 15 minutes each, to allow ample time for live demonstrations of the thesauri, as well as questions and answers.

Panelist 1. Murtha Baca, Getty Vocabulary Program. Creating Multilingual Access to Art Information: An Overview This presentation will focus on the basic elements and issues for creating multilingual tools for art information, with examples from the Getty vocabularies ( AAT, ULAN, TGN ).

Panelist 2. Lina Nagel, Centro de Documentación de Bienes Patrimoniales, Chile. The Spanish-Language Version of the Art & Architecture Thesaurus: History, Current Status, Implementation, and Dissemination This presentation will focus on the project developed by the Centro de Documentación de Bienes Patrimoniales, Chile: the Tesauro de Arte & Arquitectura, the Spanish-language version of the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT ). The Tesauro de Arte & Arquitectura enables Spanish-language users to have bilingual access to specialized terminology for documenting art, architecture, and material culture. The access in Spanish or the original English-language descriptors provided by this tool offers museum professionals, curators, librarians, and scholars a wide range of possibilities for research and translation. In addition, this project will contribute to the standardization and improvement of information on the cultural heritage of Spanish-speaking countries.

Panelist 3. Nuria Rodríguez Ortega, Art History Department, University of Málaga, Spain. The Terminological/Conceptual Thesaurus (TTC): Polivalency and Multidimensionality in a Tool for Organizing and Accessing Art- Historical Information

The objective of this presentation is the description of a new prototype thesaurus, innovative in its structure and conception, currently being developed in a project sponsored by the University of Málaga. This tool, primarily conceived to assist in the terminological and conceptual research involved in the theoretical and critical analysis of artistic texts, can also be used for systematizing, arranging, and retrieving artistic information in all its diverse dimensions: terminology and concepts, visual resources, and textual material. Since the TTC is a new model of thesaurus, it provides new features that can be applied in documentation and cataloguing as well. To illustrate these multiple usages, the presentation will focus on several significant examples of how the TTC is able to complement the processes of cataloguing, indexing, and retrieving art information.

Session 5
Tuesday March 8th, 11:00 am-12:30 pm

Metadata: a view from the trenches

Organizer: Barbara Rockenbach, ARTstor
Moderator : Dustin Wees, ARTstor

This session looks at digital repositories of cultural materials whose descriptive information has been reconciled across heterogeneous collections. Two rather distinct issues are explored: the challenges in building federated databases, and the emerging standards in content and formatting guidelines. The speakers will address community practices as well as institution-specific data structure and content issues. These include common data standards, data mapping and transformation techniques, and tools for the human cataloger. The usefulness of a large digital repository is largely dependent on how consistently cataloging has been performed by the contributor. This session will explore where the mapping and ingesting of multiple collections meets the nitty-gritty of diverse kinds of data and strategies for overcoming inconsistencies.

Presenters:
1. Ardys Kozbial, Union Catalog of Art Images
2. Emerson Morgan, VRA Data Standards Committee
3. Lena Zentall, CDL
4. Ricky Erway, RLG

Session 6
Tuesday March 8th, 2:00 pm-3:30 pm

Sustaining Digitization Programs in the Post New Economy: a re-examination of e-commerce and electronic distribution

Organizer/Moderator : Rina Elster Pantalony, Canadian Heritage Information Network /Canadian Heritage

Since 1997, the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) has considered the possibility of assisting member museums through an initiative to license their digital content to commercial markets. Ongoing discussions with CHIN's advisory panel resulted in a market study (published in 1999 as Like Light Through a Prism ) that identified five key market segments for museums to target in commercially developing their holdings. The subsequent popularity of CHIN's Virtual Museum of Canada, and its allied Investment Program, reinforced the possibility of developing sustainable funding for museums. Thus, in concert with its 2004 study of the next generation of The Virtual Museum of Canada, CHIN has returned to the commercial licensing project, aided by the robust growth of online commercial transactions and the rapid maturing of technologies that make those transactions efficient and secure. Late in 2003, CHIN commissioned a report to reassess the commercial opportunities for museums, survey their readiness for such a service, enumerate the perceived risks of distributing high-resolution images online and evaluate the state of digital rights management technologies that could make the service possible and secure. In a two-part paper presentation, Rina Elster Pantalony and David Green will discuss the reasons for CHIN embarking on this undertaking and the recommendations of the report. Key elements of the presentation include: the role of digital asset and rights management in the integration and automation of museum management of intellectual property; the level of risk determined acceptable to the Canadian museum community and the continuing CHIN strategy of building capacity and infrastructure within the museum community.

Presenters:
1. Rina Elster Pantalony, Canadian Heritage Information Network/Canadian Heritage
2. David Green, Knowledge Culture

Paper Available

A discussion paper is now available for Conference Session Number 6 (Tues March 8, 2pm):  "Sustaining Digitization Programs in the Post New Economy - An Examination of Ecommerce, Digital Rights Management, and Electronic
Distribution."

The paper is based on a report commissioned by CHIN to reassess the potential and requirements of an ecommerce system that might assist museums sustain digitization programs. The paper covers digital rights management and its role in integrating and automating the management of museum intellectual property, the levels of risk determined acceptable by museums, and the continuing CHIN strategy of building capacity and infrastructure within the museum community. A key component of such an initiative would be the relationship between such commercial development  and the continued free provision of images to the public and educational institutions. Prior to publishing this paper, CHIN is interested in a broad discussion of the issues raised and inclusion of different perspectives and is hopeful that this session will provide such feedback.

Session 7
Tuesday March 8th, 4:00 pm-5:30 pm

The William Randolph Hearst Archives: a medieval Cistercian monastery in North Miami

Organizer/Moderator : Catherine Larkin, Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus

The removal of the Spanish Cistercian Monastery, founded by Alfonso VII, King of Castile in 1141 from its sacred site was first reported in 1926. The ancient monastery, originally erected in Segovia, Spain, and named in honor of Our Lady Queen of Angels, was purchased by William Randolph Hearst who intended to have the structure disassembled and carefully cataloged and marked for reassembly at his San Simeon, California estate. Predicated by a number of unfortunate incidents, Hearst's original plans were never realized. The stones, in their final state of disarray, were warehoused in Brooklyn, NY until the mid-1950s, when they were purchased by Raymond Moss and William Edgemon and shipped to northern Miami-Dade County. Known as the oldest structure in North America, it was first reconstructed for use as a tourist attraction. After the venture failed, the monastery regained its place as a spiritual refuge. Now known as "The Ancient Spanish Monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux," it functions under the Episcopial Diocese of South Florida. Thirty-two archival photographs of architectural details of the original monastery in situ survive among the 125 albums of the William Randolph Hearst Collection Archives housed at Long Island University's B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library. The session will include art historical information about the original structure, an overview of the Hearst archives and their importance as a historical reference, input from local historians and a possible visit to the present location of the monastery.

Presenters:
1. Catherine Larkin, Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus
2. Donna Marciano, University/C.W. Post Campus
3. Liz Hartman, University/C.W. Post Campus
4. Conrad Schoeffling, University/C.W. Post Campus
5. Ricardo Barredo, Cinematographer, Local Historian

Session 8
Wednesday March 9th, 9:00 am-10:30 am

Beyond the Slide Show: new tools for teaching and learning with images

Organizer : Virginia M.G. (Macie) Hall, Johns Hopkins University
Moderator : Elisa Lanzi, Smith College

With the expanded use of digital images and the development of new technologies, tools are being conceived for use in research and instruction which allow us to expand the pedagogical impact of images beyond the digital slide show and on-line image review. A number of institutions have put together image-rich projects, tools and resources which utilize technology to improve the critical thinking of students, increase the effectiveness of teaching, and enable the close examination of specific subjects and/or fields of study. Often the development of these projects, tools and resources requires the knowledge and expertise of visual resources curators working collaboratively with faculty and technology staff. This session will demonstrate new ways in which images are being used in academic settings. The format will be show and tell with panelists presenting projects from their institutions, and discussing the issues that led to the conception of the project, as well as the aspects of collaboration and funding models.

Presenters:
1. Miranda Haddock, Western Michigan University, Teaching Through the Windows and the Walls: A guided tour and case study from the Canterbury Cathedral Project at Western Michigan University

2. Alex Martinez and Diane Kotowski, University of Denver, Visual Art Gallery Application @ University of Denver

3. Kathleen Cohen, San Jose State University, Teamwork: teaching what you don't know

4. Janet Temos, Princeton University, The Digital Magic Lantern: visualizing the virtual

5. Virginia M.G. (Macie) Hall, Johns Hopkins University, An Interactive Map of Florence 1285-1500

Session 9
Wednesday March 9th, 9:00 am-10:30 am

Navigating the Troubled Waters of Discontent with Digital Imaging Technology: a voyage of discovery

Organizer/Moderator : Maureen Burns, University of California/Irvine

Why were the art history faculty not on the first ship out of port to discover the potential of using digital images for research and instruction? Why do intensive image users persist in remaining on the analog terra firma, reluctant to navigate digital waters with licensed databases and image services? Is the journey too long, the support inadequate, the search too challenging, or the reward insufficient? The goal of this session is to delve deeply into these practical, theoretical, methodological, and metaphysical matters to better understand this curious phenomenon. The panel will discuss obstacles, tactics, experiences, and trends useful for anticipating image user’s needs, experimenting with new imaging technology, and making adjustments to professional roles in order to sail with the changing tides. Can visual resources curators navigate and chart these newly discovered areas?

Presenters:
1. Henry Pisciotta, Pennsylvania State University
2. Barbara Rockenbach, JSTOR
3. Susan Jane Williams, Freelance Consultant
4. Eileen Fry, Indiana University

Session 10
Wednesday March 9th, 11:00 am-12:30 pm

Sustainable digital collections: a collaborative model

Organizer/Moderator: Lorrie McAllister, The Ohio State University.

With off-the-shelf software like FileMaker Pro and Extensis Portfolio, many visual resources groups have been able to digitize their collections and make them available through the web. This is a fantastic starting point, one that many VRA members have experienced firsthand. But are these single-department digital collections sustainable? Can they take advantage of opportunities to grow beyond their immediate audiences? Are they robust enough to be viewed as 99% reliable, secure, and protected? In our opinion, a collaborative approach is the most effective way to ensure your digital collections will be accessible for years to come. The Web Media Collective at The Ohio State University formed when six disparate groups from the College of Arts, College of Engineering, and the College of Humanities, made a commitment to work together to solve common problems inherent in digital asset management. We now share network infrastructure, programming, security, processes, policy decision-making, budget strategies, grant proposal writing, and goal-setting for the group, yet each collection maintains its own identity, content management, and look and feel. We believe our collaborative approach could benefit other organizations. The focus of this presentation will be the Web Media Collective's collaborative model. Hand-outs, checklists and other planning tools will be distributed during the presentation.

Session outline:
Introduction:
We will begin by answering the following questions:

• What were the problems that brought us together?
• What common goals and issues did we have?
• How did we form a collaboration?

The collaborative model:
In this section we will address the following:

• Our best-case scenario approach to project management.
• Tools that may be helpful to others when preparing to begin a digital asset management project.
• Types of collections common to academic institutions (formal and informal collections).
• How we approached the development of the collections --should you make it or buy it?
• If you make it, what do you make?
• Suggestions that may help any organization or institution better manage their collections.
• An account of how we minimized duplication of effort and maximized our project budgets while working across a large institution.
• How we have planned for robust, sustainable collections --lessons learned and suggestions for others.
• What worked and what didn’t work? What would we do again?
• Our strong recommendations for how to invest your staff/time with respect to your budget.
• Suggestions for what we believe are smart investments of time and money.

Handouts:

• Checklist for determining if you are ready to begin a digital library project.
• Planning aids for: disaster recovery, annual budgeting, planning for sustainability, and project management.
• Workflow diagrams.
• Software comparison charts.

Presenters:
1. Diane Dagefoerde, The Ohio State University
2. George Abraham, The Ohio State University
3. Stephanie Bernhardt, The Ohio State University
4. Lorrie McAllister, The Ohio State University.

Session 11
Wednesday March 9th, 11:00 am-12:30 pm

Offering a Tempting Plate: teaching image research in the visual resources collection

Organizer and Moderator : Ann Baird Whiteside, University of Virginia.

As aggregations of image collections proliferate and we license images from vendors, our roles as Image Managers are changing. Where we used to be primarily collection builders, we are now moving toward being collection managers. The multiplicity of image databases available for our users means that we not only have to build and manage our current collections, but we also are the primary navigators and managers of the other sources of images. One way in which our roles are changing is that we are becoming the experts in the use of image resources other than our own collections. Our roles then are shifting toward teaching the use of image databases and other resources. And once users find the images they want, how do they use them? As we implement image delivery systems for our constituencies, it is clear that we are also the support system for users of the systems. We are taking on the role of instructor, for faculty and students alike. This session will explore instruction and the ways in which Image Managers are moving into teaching roles in their institutions. Panelists will discuss information literacy applied to image collections; teaching graduate students about locating and using images; and working with faculty to help them develop expertise in finding and using images.

Presenters:
1. Lucie Stylianopoulos, Information Services Librarian, Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library, University of Virginia. Teaching Images: finding the bigger picture in Information Literacy

2. Trudy Jacoby, Director, Visual Resources Collection, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University. Teaching Image Use-- a pilot program at Princeton

3. Carole Ann Fabian, Director, Educational Technology Center, University at Buffalo.
Teaching the teachers: expanding the pedagogical role of the VR professional.

Session 12
Thursday March 10th, 9:00 am-10:30 pm

Leaping the Fence: Cataloging Issues in Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, and Urban Design

Co-organizers and Co-moderators: Johanna Bauman, Bard Graduate Center and Rebecca Price, University of Michigan

Praising William Kent’s picturesque landscapes, Horace Walpole wrote that Kent "leaped the fence, and saw that all nature was a garden."* Kent had applied the painterly principles of perspective, light, and shade to manipulate nature as though it were a garden (or even a painting of a garden). The phrase leaping the fence provides us an analogous and cogent model for understanding the cataloging of landscape architecture, urban planning, and other environment-related images within the more traditional context of cataloging art and architecture.

Building on the session on cataloging architecture images at the conference in Portland, this session will explore issues of description and taxonomy in the cataloging of images depicting landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. We’ll also look at the definition of a work and the complex relationships between works. In addition, we'll discuss ways to apply the CCO guide in the context of the larger built environment. We expect and hope that the session will be useful to many curators, especially as the works and images we catalog expand into ever wider fields of study including the environment, and urban, suburban and rural contexts. Our discussions will also focus on the needs of the audience for this information (e.g., planners, designers, students and teachers), and how we can best serve them in the ways we describe and categorize these subjects.

Ample time will be left after the presentations for open discussion about the issues we all face when cataloging images of the landscape, urban design, and urban planning. Please bring questions and issues you face in your own collections.

*Walpole, Horace. The History of the Modern Taste in Gardening (1780) from Ursus Press edition, New York, 1995, ed. John Dixon Hunt.

Presenters:
1. Johanna Bauman, Bard Graduate Center, New York City. Down the Garden Path: Creating Access to Historic Garden and Landscape Images

2. Rebecca Price, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Cataloging Concepts in a Physical World

3. Jodie Walz, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Wandering in the Landscape