Tuesday, March 27
8:00am-6:00 pm
Registration Desk
Pavilion Five
VRA History Display
Pavilion Foyer
8:30-10:30 am
Opening Session
Session I: "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" The VRA at 25: Understanding Our Past & Framing a Future
Salon ll and lll
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Visual Resources Association comes at a time of rapid change within the profession. Once dedicated almost exclusively to providing slide images to specific departments for purposes of instruction, managers of visual content have expanded their role to include the development of image collections for entire institutions, have become active creators, arbitrators and advocates for the creation of standardized metadata and have been leaders in the implementation and use of technologies to fully exploit the potential of image materials. This session intends to inform us of our history and to give some consideration of new directions our profession should be taking. Featured speakers will provide a history of the Visual Resources Association, address issues of identity and unique skill sets within the visual resources profession, discuss technological strides made within the visual resources community and introduce potential new frameworks for the profession.
| Organizer: | Elizabeth M. Gushee, University of Virginia |
| Moderator: | Elizabeth M. Gushee, University of Virginia |
| Speakers: | Benjamin R. Kessler Marcia Focht, Binghamton University Virginia Kerr, Northwestern University Ann Baird Whiteside, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
11 am-5:00 pm
VRAffle
Pavilion Six
11 am-12:30 pm
Session 2: Melting Pot or Bouillabaisse: The Aggregation Dilemma
Salon ll
Because of differing local needs and community standards and practices, descriptive information for electronic resources varies greatly in its structure, vocabulary, and key access points. As a result, organizations aggregating collections from disparate sources face unique challenges. Our speakers will talk about strategies, both algorithmic and manual, they have used for increasing coherence and aiding discovery across collections. This session will focus on techniques for improving descriptive metadata, searching, and browsing in an aggregated setting.
| Organizer: | Barbara Rockenbach, ARTstor |
| Moderator: | Emerson Morgan, ARTstor |
| Speakers: | Christine Kuan, Grove Art Online / The Dictionary of Art Martha Mahard, Simmons College MacKenzie Smith, SIMILE Project, MIT Dustin Wees, ARTstor |
Session 3: When Servers Crash: Disaster Planning in the Digital Age
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This session will revisit and update VRA Special Bulletin 7: Disaster Planning for Visual Resources Collections, published in 1994. The experiences of visual resources curators who have been through recent disasters will be examined, focusing on how their disaster plans did or did not facilitate recovery. The session will also address preparing a disaster plan in the digital age as analog collections depend more on digital media, how can a robust disaster plan prepare for both the analog and digital collection? The participants hope to present a diverse and practical discussion about disaster planning.
| Organizer: | Heather Seneff, University of Washington |
| Moderator: | Lisa Hawkos, Arizona State University |
| Speakers: | Heather Cleary, Otis College of Art and Design Meghan Dougherty/Heather Seneff, University of Washington, Francine Stock, Tulane University |
12:30-2 pm Lunch
Meeting: Membership Committee
Conference Suite 141
Meeting: DIAG (Digital Initiatives Advisory Group)
Pavilion Two
Meeting: Texas Chapter
Pavilion Three
Ask the Experts
Howard Brainen
Howard will advise on digitization best practices, strategies for large scale digitization, optimization of digital workflows, and digital copystand
Birds-of-a-Feather Network Luncheon:
Oak Room
The Future of the VR Field
Rebecca Moss, University of Minnesota (VP for Conference Arrangements)
Trudy Jacoby, Princeton University
The Visual Resources field has changed dramatically during the VRA's first 25 years. What does the future look like for VR professionals? How can we manage the change as we manage our daily work? Positioning ourselves for the future is extremely important in this fast-paced world and this Lunch will provide a forum for discussion of how we can help shape that future.
1:00 pm-4:00 pm
Tour - The Best of Everything (More information)
Depart from Ballroom Level
2:30-5 pm
Workshop 1: Educating the Educators: Teaching Faculty to Teach with Digital Images
Salon ll
This workshop will focus on various methods and techniques for teaching the patrons of visual resources collections how to use digital image technologies, in particular presentation software, in the classroom. As we continue the transition from analog to digital technologies, the presentation component may be both the most useful, and the most daunting, to our patrons. Strategies for interesting patrons in new technologies, providing users with the information they need to consider, what works best for their pedagogical purposes, and how the most popular softwares accomplish particular teaching goals will be addressed through this classroom-style learning experience. Among the tools to be discussed are Microsoft's PowerPoint, ARTstor's Offline Image Viewer, Luna Imaging's Insight presentation environment, and the MDID from James Madison University. Issues of interoperability, and how each tool works in both PC and Mac environments, will be discussed.
| Organizer: | Jenni Rodda, New York University |
| Instructors: | Jenni Rodda, New York University Maureen Burns, University of California/Irvine Sarah Cheverton, James Madison University Eileen Fry, Indiana University/Bloomington Trudy Buxton Jacoby, Princeton University |
| Sponsored by the VRA Education Committee | |
2-3:30 pm
Seminar 1: The VRA 2006 Professional Status Survey: The planning process and preliminary data report
Salon lll
By the time VRA meets in Kansas City, 2007, the 2006 VRA Professional Status Survey will have been completed and raw data will be available. The Professional Status Survey would like to take the opportunity of the 25th anniversary conference to present the preliminary raw data and lead a discussion about the planning of the survey and its possible ramifications for the profession. We are looking forward to giving conference attendees a first look at the snapshot of the VR profession in 2007.
| Organizer: | Christine Hilker, University of Arkansas |
| Moderator: | Margaret Webster, Cornell University |
| Speakers: | Jeanne Keefe, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Margo Ballantyne, Lewis & Clark College Andrew Gessner, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Susan Jane Williams, Saskia, Ltd./Scholars Resource, Inc. Hildegard Lindschinger, Wilfrid Laurier University |
4-5:30 pm
Special User’s Group 1: Museum Special Interest Group
Conference Suite 141
The Museum Visual Resources Special Interest Group provides an opportunity for museum professionals to address issues that are particular to museums. The informal discussions provide the chance to ask questions and discover trends within the museum environment. The discussions will revolve around our changing roles and responsibilities. Specific attention will be paid to our role in the creation, cataloging and management of digital images, either within a museum's digital asset management system or in an independent system.
| Organizer: | Jane Ferger, Indianapolis Museum of Art |
Special User’s Group 2: Getty Vocabularies: Training for Contributions
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Learn how to contribute to the Getty Vocabularies via the online Web form. Hear detailed instructions about how to fill in the form. Learn how to apply the editorial rules for required fields. Bring your questions and ask the expert. The AAT, ULAN, and TGN grow through contributions from the user community. Do you need new AAT terms for your cataloging? Is an artist that you need missing from the ULAN? Do you want to add a new place name to the TGN? A Vocabulary Expert will be on hand to give instructions and answer your questions.
| Organizer/Moderator: | Patricia Harpring, Getty Vocabulary Program |
5:30-6:30 am
Meeting: ARLIS-NA/VRA Joint Task Force on Collaboration
Conference Suite 141
5:30-7 pm
Meeting: Foundation Task Force
Pavilion Two
Meeting: Southeast Chapter
Pavilion Three
Meeting: Publications Program Group
Conference Suite 341
Jeanne Keefe, Professional Status
Have you hit the glass slide ceiling? Do you feel underutilized, unappreciated, and/or just plain invisible? Looking for ways to change your professional status? Lets talk about what you can do to improve your situation and expand your options at this "Ask the Experts' session.
By Prior Reservation Only. Contact Marcia Focht, mfocht@binghamton.edu for more information
| Presenter: | Jeanne Keefe, Professional Status |
SEI Reunion
Oak Lounge
