Uncategorized Uncategorized

VRA Election Results

I am pleased to report the outcomes of the recent VRA election, held November 1-30, 2017.Please join me in congratulating and welcoming our incoming Executive Board members, who will take office at the Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 in Philadelphia.

  • Vice President for Conference Arrangements: Lael Ensor-Bennett, Johns Hopkins University
  • Public Relations and Communications Officer: Amy McKenna, Williams College
  • Treasurer: Andreas Knab, vrcHost, LLC

On behalf of the Executive Board, I would like to warmly thank Jen Kniesch, along with all of our candidates, for being willing to serve the Association in leadership roles. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Nominating Committee: Steven Kowalik (Chair), Allan Kohl, Cindy Abel Morris, and Elaine Paul, with special thanks to Allan Kohl and Cindy Abel Morris for serving as election tellers.Many thanks to the membership for voting on these important Association matters.Best wishes,Jen Green

Read More
Travel Awards Travel Awards

Travel Awards 2018

Dear Colleagues,We are delighted to announce that VRA Travel Awards are available for attendance at the 2018 VRA conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 27-March 30th, 2018.  The deadline for receipt of applications will be Monday, November 13, 12pm EST.  The list of recipients will be announced on the VRA listserv the week commencing December 18, 2018.Before you apply, PLEASE READ “Travel Award Rules, Guidelines and Tips” for VRA Travel Awards Applicants, and “Types of Travel Awards.”HERE’S THE LINK TO THE APPLICATIONYou do not need to be a member of the VRA to apply for a travel award, but please note that upon winning an award an applicant who is not a member of VRA must purchase a membership.Please also note that award checks are distributed at the conference and as such, recipients will not have access to those funds ahead of the conference to set against travel expenses.In order to allow funding to go further, Tansey awards will be distributed according to financial need i.e. full awards (up to $850) may be given to some, whilst lower amounts may be awarded to others with partial institutional/ other support. Travel Awards are intended to provide partial support for an individual’s conference attendance, and typically supplement support from one’s employer and/or personal resources.For 2018, we are fortunate to have generous financial support from sponsors and funds provided by the membership including:

  • Two New Horizons awards of $850 each.  These awards are aimed at members in the following categories: solo VR professionals, part-time VR professionals, geographically isolated VR professionals, VR professionals in smaller institutions, and/or first-time attendees
  • A New Horizons student award of $300, for a full-time student enrolled in an accredited degree program and considering a career in visual resources
  • Kathe Hicks Albrecht award of $850
  • Tansey fund awards ranging from $250 to $850 each

Please email if you have any questions not answered by the documents noted above.So don’t delay – apply today!We look forward to receiving your applications,Marcia Focht & Allan KohlCo-Chairs, VRA Travel Awards Committee

Read More
Intellectual Property ... Intellectual Property ...

IPR Committee Brief: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act

Welcome to IPR Briefs, an occasional series in which members of the VRA’s Intellectual Property Rights Committee cover rights issues of interest to the visual resources community. In today’s Brief, Amy Lazet gives an overview of H.R. 1695, the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017. Amy is Visual Resources Specialist at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Her article “The Unexplored Ethics of Copywork Image Manipulation” appeared in the October 2016 VRA Bulletin.In April 2017, bill H.R. 1695: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (LINK), which proposes moving the position of Register of Copyright to a presidential appointment followed by a Senate confirmation hearing, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Reactions to the bill have been vehement; those supporting it say it will serve to modernize the Copyright Office (which should be distinct from the Library of Congress, given the Library’s mission to disseminate information freely) while those who oppose it argue that the bill is designed to serve the interests of those in the entertainment industry (namely Hollywood) and a presidential appointment will unnecessarily politicize the position.This bill is the culmination of a process that started as a “comprehensive review of U.S. copyright law” on April 24, 2013. (It is worth noting that H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act [SOPA] was introduced in 2011 and would have allowed for, among other things, companies behind websites hosting user content [think YouTube] to be held accountable for any copyright infringement by users on their sites; the bill died that same year LINK). Twenty hearings with testimony from 100 witnesses were held and a tour of Nashville, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles allowed “creators, innovators, technology professionals, and users of copyrighted works” to give input over the next several years. Finally, comments were accepted online through January 31, 2017 (1).This information was taken into consideration by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, chaired by Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) (list of Committee members LINK), which released a statement in December 2016 urging reform of the Copyright Office in order to “update the Office for the future.” According to the statement, “The 20th Century statutory framework for the U.S. Copyright Office is not sufficient to meet the needs of a modern 21st Century copyright system. To update the Office for the future, a significant investment of funds and changes to how the Office operates are required...Currently, the Register is not subject to the same nomination and consent process as other senior government officials. To ensure that the American people have an opportunity to provide input into the selection of future Registers of Copyright through their elected officials, the next Register and all that follow should be subject to a nomination and consent process with a 10-year term limit, subject to potential re-nomination” (2).In keeping with this statement, the bipartisan bill H.R. 1695 (LINK) was proposed by Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich) on March 23, 2017 and passed the House on April 26, 2017 by a measure of 378 to 48, with four people not voting (both Goodlatte and Conyers were co-sponsors of SOPA) (3). Of the 378 votes for the bill, 233 were Republican and 145 were Democrat. Only two Republicans voted no, while 46 Democrats did likewise; two Republicans and two Democrats abstained from voting (4).Prior to its passage, an amendment (H.Amdt. 109) was introduced by Theodore Deutch (D-Fl) that allows the Register to identify and supervise a Chief Information Officer responsible for managing information technology systems; the amendment passed by 410 to 14, with six abstaining (5). Should this bill pass the Senate and be approved by the President of the United States, it will modify Section 701 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code (text of Section 701 LINK).Currently, the Register of Copyrights is appointed by the Librarian of Congress. H.R. 1695 would change this to a presidentially-appointed position, with confirmation by the senate (a process the Librarian of Congress currently undergoes). The bill proposes the formation of a selection panel, comprising Members of Congress and the Librarian of Congress, who would submit a list of recommended individuals to the President. The President would then select a person from the list who would undergo a confirmation hearing in the Senate. The appointment would last 10 years and could be renewed by another confirmation hearing; the Register would only be able to be removed for cause (6).According to GovTrack.us, one reason for the bill is due to “court challenges to the Copyright Office's authority to issue regulations because the Copyright Office is within the Library of Congress which is a legislative branch agency and not an executive branch agency.” H.R. 1695 would resolve this issue by making the Office into an executive branch agency (7). This bill, then, “identifies important reforms to help ensure the Copyright Office keeps pace in the digital age,” according to the Judiciary Committee website (8).Many institutions have expressed their approval of the bill; support is particularly strong within the entertainment industry but proponents also include the Artist Rights Society and the Copyright Clearance Center, among many others (list of supporters of the bill LINK). The Copyright Alliance states that, “...the Register of Copyrights position is essential to the U.S. economy, creativity and culture, a status that should be acknowledged by making the role a presidential appointee subject to Senate confirmation. Making the Register a presidential appointee as provided in H.R. 1695 will not only ensure that the selection process is more neutral, balanced, and transparent but it’s also critical to the continued modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office” (9).However, many associations of libraries/librarians and academic institutions have voiced their opposition to the bill, including the American Library Association (ALA), the Consortium of College and University Media Centers, and the Library Copyright Alliance which consists of the ALA, the ALA’s Association of Research Libraries, and the ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries. The ALA states, “As this bill moves to the Senate, ALA urges all senators to take special note of what the bill isn’t. Despite the arguments of its proponents, it isn’t related to modernization of the Copyright Office, which it will impede. It isn’t about protecting or advancing the long-term interests of all Copyright Office stakeholders, just its most powerful ones” (10). The statement released by the Library Copyright Alliance suggests that, “It's also difficult to understand how the public or Congress itself would benefit from politicization of the Register of Copyrights' position by making it subject to presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, as this legislation proposes. Such politicization of the position necessarily would result in a Register more actively engaged in policy development than in competent management and modernization” (11).One of the main concerns driving the creation and passage of this bill is that, currently, the Register is appointed by and serves under the Librarian of Congress, which is seen by some of the bill’s supporters as a negative due to libraries’ mandate to make information readily accessible. Proponents point out that the ALA is in opposition to the bill and the current Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, is a past president of the ALA and therefore (presumably) likely to concur with at least some of the sentiments expressed by the ALA in their statement on the topic (12).Christopher Chambers, professor of media studies at Georgetown University told NBC BLK, “Big money is at stake and the [entertainment] industry wants someone who will see its side rather than the public interest in what the Constitution says is the ‘promotion of useful Arts.’ It is no secret that the industry lobbies and donates hard, regarding Democrats and Republicans alike...This [bill] basically surrenders congressional power over intellectual property right there in the Constitution, to the Executive Branch, hence President Trump” (13).Finally, Mike Masnick, founder of Techdirt.com, points out that copyright is a moving target; historically, each time the copyright terms change within the U.S., protection is expanded. In 1976, the Copyright Act served to make copyright registration automatic (upon ideas being fixed in a medium) and extended the copyright to life plus 50 years. Prior to 1976, copyright protection only existed for 28 years after registration, with the option of a 28 year renewal. As Masnick states, “And when that term of copyright [established in 1976: life plus 50 years, for a maximum of 75 years] threatened to expire and move Mickey Mouse into the public domain, Congress rushed to Disney’s rescue and added another 20 years to make the term life plus 70 years. And it may do so again soon” (14). (No published, copyrighted works entered the public domain in the U.S. in 2017, nor will any become public domain in 2018; it is not until 2019 that the public domain in the U.S. will see new works) (15).Masnick continues, “...the Copyright Office, historically, has not welcomed of the rise of the internet. Much of the leadership of the Copyright Office over the past few decades has come out of legacy industries — publishing, recorded music, movies — that had viewed copyright as a tool to serve a few big industries. The office has been accused of systemic bias from the revolving door of industry executives and lawyers going into the office, or leaving the office to go back to those same industries. Over the past few decades, the Copyright Office has continued to expand its own role, beyond just registering and managing copyrights, to getting deeply involved in various policy debates around copyright. For example, the last register, Maria Pallante, testified to Congress in support of SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act] while another, previous register, Ralph Oman, literally argued to an appeals court that no new content delivery technologies should be allowed without first being approved by Congress if they might, in any way, upset the copyright industries” (16).H.R. 1695 “...would effectively remove the Copyright Office from the library and remove the public interest mission of the library as a counterbalancing force on the Copyright Office and its recent one-sided focus on the law,” says Masnick. “The copyright-centric industries — who have always had an uneasy relationship with the internet — recognize one of the best ways to protect their interests is to have much more control over who will be in charge of the Copyright Office. The new bill gives the copyright industry the means to do that...The [entertainment industry] ha[s] tried to argue that by making the new Register of Copyright an office approved by the Senate, that will make it more democratic, where anyone can weigh in on the appointment and influence the Senate’s confirmation process. That would be great for the [industry] and their historic lobbying power over Congress, which is massive” (17).Because H.R. 1695 has not passed the Senate, it is not yet known how this bill will affect industries dealing with copyrighted materials, including libraries, nor how it would advance the proposed modernization of the Copyright Office. At this time, the Office is no longer accepting comments, and the passage of the bill is now in the hands of the Senators and their (potentially vocal) constituents. Even if the bill passes the Senate, the wait to ascertain how U.S. copyright would be affected by it could be long, given the process for committee nomination, appointment, and confirmation.Sources:“LINK:”Text of H.R. 1695: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1695/textText of H.R. 3261: https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/3261Judiciary Committee Members: https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/115th-House-Judiciary-Committee-Updated-21517.pdfCitations:1, 9. Judiciary Committee “Copyright Review” website:https://judiciary.house.gov/issue/us-copyright-law-review/2. Judiciary Committee statement on “Reform of Copyright Office:”https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Copyright-Reform.pdf3. H.R. 3261 (SOPA): https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/32614-7. H.R. 1695 (Register of Copyrights): https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1695/text8. Copyright Alliance statement: http://copyrightalliance.org/news-events/copyright-news-newsletters/compilation-register-copyrights-accountability/10. American Library Association statement:http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/04/ala-urges-senate-reject-bill-make-register-copyrights-presidential-appointee11. Library Copyright Alliance statement: http://www.districtdispatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FINAL-DRAFT-LCA-Statement-re-Register-Appointment-Bill-032317PM.pdf12. Blog on “The Hill” in support of H.R. 1695: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/328189-enough-with-the-back-and-forth-hr-1695-is-a-no-brainer-get-it13. Christopher Chambers statement: http://www.lawattstimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4244:house-votes-to-limit-powers-of-first-black-librarian-of-congress&catid=11&Itemid=12614, 16-17. Mike Masnick statement: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/3/15161522/mpaa-riaa-copyright-office-library-of-congress-dmca-infringement15. Resources entering the public domain in 2017:https://law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2017/pre-1976/

Read More
Uncategorized Uncategorized

Call for Proposals: Visual Resources Association 2018 in Philadelphia

Dear colleagues,The Visual Resources Association’s 36th Annual Conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Tuesday, March 27th, through Friday, March 30, 2018, in the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The theme for the Philadelphia conference is VRA 2018: Workshop of the World. Please mark your calendars.Proposals for case studies, papers, sessions, special interest/user groups, and workshops are now being solicited for the 2018 program. All proposals are welcome.Click here to access the conference proposal form. It is available in PDF form if you would like the view the entire form before submitting.

  • A session is a maximum 90-minute moderated session with 3 to 4 speakers at 15 to 20 minutes each followed by a facilitated brief question and answer period.
  • A workshop is a 2, 3, or 4-hour workshop to develop skills and experience in the field of visual resources, preferably with hands-on activities.
  • A paper is an individual idea submission, which will be reviewed for possible grouping into a session. Your ideas, whether they come to us alone or in a group, are equally valued in the Board's proposal and selection process.
  • A special interest/user group is a 60-minute to 90-minute informal facilitated group discussion on topics related to a specific community within VRA.
  • A case study is detailed information about an individual, small group, or project, generally including the accounts of subjects themselves. Moderators are encouraged to submit proposals. Individual case study proposals will be reviewed for possible groupings similar to the session format.

The quality of conference content depends upon YOUR ideas and contributions, so let those creative juices flow. Perusing some of the past conference schedules will show you the range of topics presented in previous years and may inspire your proposal. Use suggested topics compiled from post-conference survey responses (see below) or your imagination to propose ideas which expand our outlook. If there is an area of concern or interest that you feel has not been adequately addressed, participate in this process by submitting a proposal. Moderators may put out calls for presenters within a proposed topic before or after the submission of a proposal. The VRA Executive Board will be looking for articulate and concise submissions with lists of presenters, but single submissions without presenter lists are encouraged as well.Suggested topics:AccessibilityChanging roles and functions of Visual Resource CollectionsCoding (PHP, SQL, HTML5, etc.)Corporate Visual Resources careersDAM basicsData migrationDigital collections platformsDigital Humanities theoryDigital preservationDigital tools in the classroomsEngaging K-12Ethics in Visual ResourcesExcel tips and tricksImplementation case studies (Omeka, Shared Shelf, Luna)Information architectureInstitutional repository managementLibrary instructionMarketingMetadata and standardsNew technologyNon-art related topics (archives and libraries)Non-Western artPublishing and scholarly communicationSupervisory rolesTHATcamp/unConferenceQuestions about the proposal process and the various presentation formats included in the VRA Conference program can be directed to me at jeesselstrom@wisc.edu.The proposal deadline is Friday, July 28th, 2017. I look forward to hearing from you!Jacob EsselstromVice President for Conference ProgramVisual Resources Association

Read More
Uncategorized Uncategorized

VRAF Professional Development Grant Recipients

The Visual Resources Association Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the spring 2017 VRAF Professional Development Grants.  Due to the considerable number of commendable grant applications received, the VRAF Board of Directors decided to provide professional development funding to two qualified individuals this spring.  Congratulations go to Chris Strasbaugh and Sali Underwood, who will each receive an award of $850 to pursue the professional development goals described in their applications.  Both recipients demonstrate a strong commitment to the field of visual resources within cultural heritage and natural history information management respectively, while serving as adroit ambassadors for the visual resource community:

  • Chris Strasbaugh, Ohio State University, will use VRAF funding to attend the May 2017 "2 + 3D Photography -- Practice and Prophecies" conference to be held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where he has been invited to present his paper "Hacking Technology to Document Difficult Spaces" describing a creative use of technology in the digitization and preservation of student work.
  • Sali Underwood, Nevada State Museum, will use VRAF funding to attend the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections this June in Denver, where she will present on her digitization project on "Nevada's Neglected Lepidoptera Herbarium" collection of over 2500 specimens and its importance to understanding the life cycle of Nevada’s butterflies.

Steven Kowalik,VRAF Board of Directors

Read More
Uncategorized Uncategorized

VRA Executive Board Statement on US President's FY2018 Budget Proposal

Dear VRA Community,The Visual Resources Association stands in solidarity with our colleagues across national cultural heritage organizations (CAA, DLF, ARLIS/NA, ALA and more) in opposition to the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services from the federal budget.Our work as Visual Resources professionals within academic, museum, and cultural heritage institutions has been long intertwined with the work of our colleagues within CAA, DLF, and ARLIS/NA, and we have demonstrated the importance of our affiliated work through collaborative projects, open communication, and shared support of those that we serve across our cultural and scholarly communities.  Now, more so than in recent history, it is important for us to stand together, maintain strong relationships, and act as a unit. Like our affiliated Associations, the VRA Board is concerned about the debilitating impact that defunding culture and creativity will have on this country and the creative and scholarly endeavors that we support through our work. Art, culture, and creativity are critical ingredients in exploration, discovery,  and innovation, and they are essential components to a strong, vibrant, and informed nation. Now is a perfect example of how members of our affiliated associations can leverage the relationships and connections we’ve developed across our associations and act upon our concerns as a unit. Please refer to the Arts and Humanities Advocacy Toolkit , which CAA shared with us yesterday, and contact your representatives in Congress. We, as members of the VRA Board will do that, and we know that our collective voices can make a difference.VRA is committed to supporting the needs of our members as we anticipate the final outcomes of these proposed budget changes. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other Board members if you have thoughts or concerns about how we can do more to support you.Sincerely,The VRA Executive BoardRyan Brubacher, Vice President for Conference ArrangementsJasmine Burns, SecretaryMelanie Clark, Public Relations and Communications OfficerJen Green, PresidentJeannine Keefer, TreasurerChris Strasbaugh, Vice President for Conference Program

Read More
Uncategorized Uncategorized

Cross-Pollinator Fellowship to AIC: Deadline March 1

A quick reminder: Kress + DLF are offering members of the DLF community the chance to attend the American Institute for Conservation and Artistic Works (AIC) annual meeting. One GLAM Cross-Pollinator fellowship will be awarded, and will include conference registration as well as a $1000 travel stipend. AIC has some amazing sessions and fun tours lined up (check out the ‘Electronic Media’ track, for diglib-related sessions).Also, if you happen to be on a break from work, you should definitely read this session description, summarizing conservation completed on the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. What a nail-biter, I mean. Poor Eeyore!!For information on how to apply to the fellowship, visit this page + be sure to submit by March 1.Becca QuonProgram Associate – The Digital Library Federation1707 L Street Ste 650, Washington, D.C. 20036diglib.org | clir.org

Read More
Intellectual Property ... Intellectual Property ...

The Intellectual Property Powder Keg: Fair Use and Contemporary Art Museums

Employing fair use at a contemporary art museum can feel like navigating a minefield where one lives in fear not of explosions, but cease and desist letters from angry rights holders. Despite the dearth of public domain materials, there is no need for a proverbial metal detector when publishing in-copyright images, just a healthy understanding of the four factors. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where I am the Rights and Images Manager, we utilize fair use in three public-facing ways:Online Collection—This online display of our 3,000-piece permanent collection is a unique record of the MCA’s collecting history, and includes exhibition and publishing material related to each object. It is a significant educational and scholarly resource that presents the MCA’s holdings to a broad online audience. Images are non-downloadable and fully attributed with tombstone and credit information.Exhibition History—Installation photography of the MCA’s past exhibitions are also hosted on the museum’s website. The images visually describe the MCA’s exhibition history dating from 1967 to the present and are low resolution, captioned, and non-downloadable. The images focus on no one object, rather they depict broad installation views for greater understanding of the exhibitions.MCA Blog: MCA DNA—The MCA’s blog is another online educational tool for visitors, which features entries by MCA staff, visiting artists, and scholars. Images on the blog help guide readers through the text. They pose no commercial threat to the objects they depict and are low resolution.Assessing fair use is challenging in the contemporary arena because one must consider relationships with living artists and contractual obligations when determining whether a use falls within the boundaries of the law. Thankfully, understanding United States Code carries considerably fewer risks than bomb detection—even when dealing with today’s most incendiary art. As institutional fair use standards continue to be tested (and uncontested), museums should begin to feel comfortable publishing past didactic materials and online collections. Today a blog post, tomorrow a banner, one day, an exhibition catalogue.1_MCA_Collection_SiteFig. 1: Home page for the MCA’s collection site. 2_MCA_ExhibitionFig. 2: Exhibition page for the MCA’s 1967 show Fantastic Drawings in Chicago Collections. 3_MCA_Blog_2Fig. 3: MCA DNA blog post about one of the MCA’s earliest commissioned pieces, Concrete Traffic (1970) by Wolf Vostell.Bonnie RosenbergMuseum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Read More
Intellectual Property ... Intellectual Property ...

Fair Use Week: Fair Use and Copyright in the Academic Environment

Fair Use Week 2017United States Copyright Law is a fascinating and complex topic. It protects creators AND those who teach. US copyright features a section called "Fair Use," which allows for the use of copyrighted material in the academic environment (among other things).Reams of information have been written about copyright, and a number of important court cases have further defined copyright. An equal volume has written about Fair Use, as well, especially as it pertains to teaching and research. Some useful publications about Fair Use in the Academic Environment include:

The resources on the Fair Use Week website are also extremely interesting and informative. One of those resources is a video produced for Fair Use Week 2016, featuring Gerald Beasley, Vice Provost and Chief Librarian, who explains both Fair Use and Fair Dealing (the Canadian equivalent of Fair Use), and encourages academics to exercise their fair use of copyrighted materials.The VRA’s statement on Fair Use draws attention to the impact of Fair Use in the classroom (the use of color in the texts below is the authors).

Images are essential pedagogical and scholarly materials. They are unique objects whose meaning cannot be adequately conveyed through words or other media. Images may themselves be the object of commentary or critique. In other instances, images are used to facilitate the study of and communication about the objects they depict or document. In many cases, images serve as the only or best means by which to depict an object, providing the context or documentary evidence by which those objects can be understood. In still other instances, images are essential for comparison or contrast of multiple objects, or for other evaluative purposes.

CAA’s Code of Best Practices was developed after a 2014 Issues Report designed to assess the academic community’s practices in respect to Fair Use and copyright.The Issues Report, which was based on their interviews with 100 visual arts professionals and a survey of CAA members, reported that the practices of many professionals in the visual arts are constrained due to the pervasive perception that permissions to use third-party materials are required even where a confident exercise of fair use would be appropriate. Most commonly the decision not to rely on fair use is made by visual arts professionals themselves. Although members of the community may rely on fair use in some instances, they may self-censor in others, due to confusion, doubt, and misinformation about fair use, leading them to over-rely on permissions…. Doing so jeopardizes their ability to realize their own full potential, as well as that of the visual arts community as a whole.FairUseImageRBGThe Code of Best Practices also points out the difference between Fair Use and plagiarism. Sources for material used under the guidelines of Fair Use must always be cited, attributed, or identified “as is customary in the field” (p. 10). It also encourages seeking permissions when necessary—for example, in the case of a sole source controlling access to an image (p. 7).Gerald Beasley’s video and the statements by VRA and CAA underscore that arts professionals must advocate for and exercise Fair Use in their academic environments—teaching about, researching, or creating Art. Fair Use is a first amendment right and is necessary to the academic environment.Heather Seneff, MA, MLSDirector of the Visual Media CenterSchool of Art and Art HistoryUniversity of Denverhseneff@du.eduhttp://www.du.edu/ahss/art/vmc.htmlhttp://dusaahvmc.blogspot.com/

Read More
Intellectual Property ... Intellectual Property ...

Fair Use Week: Image Sources

Copyright law is a protection for an author’s creative works, which grants rights that belong only to the creator. Fair use is an exception in that law, and an important one, enabling others to use that creative work, and making it accessible for the continued creation and dissemination of knowledge and culture.The subjective nature of weighing the four factors of copyright make it flexible; it can also be confusing when trying to decide if some use is fair or not. The visual arts community has attempted to create consensus as to how fair use might be reliably applied in practice, without creating overly restrictive guidelines that are inflexible with evolving cultural uses. Both of the recent guidelines by the College Art Association “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts” and the Visual Resources Associate: “Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study” seek to reflect the longstanding practices of educational and cultural institutions in using copyrighted still images.The CAA guideline is a consensus of CAA members and other invited visual arts professionals. http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/fair-use/best-practices-fair-use-visual-arts.pdf.Section 2 addresses Teaching about Art. For teachers of art history, visual culture, and studio practices, in all settings, the use of images is central to the fulfillment of their mission. (Their students also need images for scholarship from reliable sources with good metadata.) In these contexts, fair use of copyrighted materials can be invoked within limitations: when the image clearly supports the pedagogical objective, the access to images is restricted, the image accurately represents the work depicted, and the size does not exceed what is needed for display. When displayed, an image should have an attribution, and metadata available.Where can one get good images for teaching? Licensing images from vendors, institutional subscriptions, and image database resources, are great if you are with an educational institution providing these, but if not, apart from doing original photograph or scanning from books there are many quality online sources of free copyrighted images. Museums with large collections are good places to look. The artwork will be well represented and the metadata will be accurate and complete. Museums will often allow non-commercial reuse, provided the source and author are acknowledged and will often have a “terms of use page” to consult. For example, from the J. Paul Getty Museum “For records with images, a combination of copyright status and available image quality determines the final image display size on the collection website. The Museum publishes thumbnail-size images of copyrighted works for which it does not have a license to reproduce under fair use. All available images include embedded metadata, accessible under file properties or file information.” http://bit.ly/2krgAMlgetty downloadTime is one limitation in the copyright law. A work will lose copyright protection after a certain length of time and then go into the public domain where it is free to be used by everyone. The CAA code is not needed for images in the Public Domain because they are no longer protected by copyright and may be used without regard for it. A number of museums in the 21st century are choosing (CC0) Creative Commons Zero (Public Domain Dedication) to govern the use and reuse of images in their collection making public domain artworks available for free and unrestricted use worldwide. This move away from tiered pricing for high quality images enables museums to realize a core goal: to get the collection out and known to a new audience.The Metropolitan Museum of Art just announced that more than 375,000 images of artworks are available for free and unrestricted use under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) http://bit.ly/2looZgaThe Rijksmuseum chose (CC0) Public Domain Dedication for sharing its high quality true-color digital images and metadata about the works in its collection. They actively seek to have people reuse images of artwork in their collection through their annual Rijksstudio competition, where members of the public are invited to collect, download images and create their own artwork. http://bit.ly/1aHqdfz Check out the top 75 entries from 2015 http://bit.ly/2lMID9nCreative Commons licenses are not all the same. They are legal tools that let creators and rights holders offer certain rights while reserving others. When museums grant these CC licenses you need to be aware of any restrictions place on your usage of the image through any of the six main licenses https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/ Always look at the terms of use page for any museum whose artworks you seek to use.Several sites using Creative Commons licenses to share images:

Here are some museums and libraries with free downloadable images. Note differences in Creative Commons licenses used.

Many contemporary and artists early in their careers do not have museum representation, so finding images and videos to use in teaching requires looking in other places. Try the artist’s own website (not a fan’s web site). Here are some other good places to start.

  • Art21 the companion website to the Art21 TV show on PBS, promotes artists of the 21st century by chronicling the artists at work through video, interviews and exploration of new artistic ideas.
  • Art Babble website that displays high quality art-related video content from more than 50 cultural institutions from around the world.
  • ArtNet Founded in 1989, and online since 1995, artnet is the leading resource for the international art market, and the principal platform for art auctions on the Internet. We offer a wide range of art market resources, providing a place for people in the art world to buy, sell, and research Fine Art, Design, and Decorative Art.  ArtNet News frequently does lists of who to watch. For example Millennial Artists to Watch in 2016 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/millennial-artists-to-watch-2016-644570
  • ArtSlant You can narrow down to a specific city or look at worldwide listings. They have an artists A-Z list too
  • Artsy  features the world’s leading galleries, museum collections, foundations, artist estates, art fairs, and benefit auctions, all in one place. A growing database of 300,000 images of art, architecture, and design by 40,000 artists spans historical, modern, and contemporary works, and includes the largest online database of contemporary art.
  • E-Flux Journal  is a publishing platform and archive, artist project, curatorial platform, and enterprise, which was founded in 1998. Its news digest, events, exhibitions, schools, journal, books, and the art projects produced and/or disseminated by e-flux describe strains of critical discourse surrounding contemporary art, culture, and theory internationally.
  • Hyperallergic Archives Sensitive to Art and its Discontents “Hyperallergic is a forum for playful, serious, and radical perspectives on art and culture in the world today.”
  • UBS Planet Art (free app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/planet-art-your-source-for/id937737095?mt=8 ) “The world’s definitive source of art news and information. Planet Art is your personal guide to the contemporary art world, bringing news from a range of leading publications, institutions, and influencers together in one convenient, beautiful app. Better understanding of the art world is just a tap away."
  • Bomb magazine: “BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981. BOMB's founders—New York City based artists and writers—created BOMB because they saw a disparity between the way artists talked about their work among themselves and the way critics described it.”
  • Universes in Universe: Worlds of Art  A global online resource

Kathy EvansPurdue University

Read More
Intellectual Property ... Intellectual Property ...

Fair Use Week

The Intellectual Property Rights committee will be taking over the VRA's social media accounts during Fair Use Week February 20–24 to promote fair use resources and practices and to drum up support for fair use. Follow along with us  @VisResAssn  and https://www.facebook.com/VisualResourcesAssociation!If you'd like to get involved with the all the posting and liking, there's still room and time to participate! Please email Lael Ensor (lensor@jhu.edu) or Bridget Madden (bridgetm@uchicago.edu) for more information.

Read More
Conferences Conferences

VRA 2017: Volunteer Studio

Hello VRA members,Just a reminder that the VRA's 2017 Annual Conference is fast approaching (March 29-April 1), along with the early-bird rate deadline (February 28th). Here is a link to the program and here is a link to the registration page.If you haven't done so already, please remember to register for the VRA Volunteer Studio, which is FREE and the VRA Foundation is generously sponsoring. Everyone is welcome!The VRA Volunteer Studio will take place on Thursday, March 30th from 12:10 – 2:10pm and includes lunch!Lunch items will feature local favorites such as one of Louisville's more famous dishes, the hot brown. But, if you are not into open-faced sandwiches covered with turkey, bacon, and creamy sauce, there will be vegetarian options available as well.After lunch, the Studio facilitators (representing diverse aspects of the profession and the Association) will offer opportunities for attendees to engage in “real-life” issues/projects that are being addressed within the Association. I, for example, will be facilitating a discussion table that represents the VRA Executive Board, and would like to talk with anyone who is interested about our changing professional roles and the future of the VRA. So, if you've ever had questions about how your skills might align with the needs of the VRA in meaningful ways, the nitty-gritty of Association work, or the benefits our volunteers gain from active participating in the VRA--the Studio will be a place for you to explore those questions. Or--just come for lunch and observation. Either way, the Volunteer Studio will provide a multi-directional learning and conversation space for all.To helps us get a general sense of our catering needs for the Volunteer Studio, please remember to select it on your conference registration form as an event that you will be participating in.If you have already registered, and need to make that selection retrospectively, please email Jasmine Burns and she will make the adjustment on your behalf.Have a great weekend!Jen

Read More
Conferences Conferences

VRA 2017 Keynote Speaker: Brent Seales

This year’s convocation speaker, Dr. Brent Seales, paradoxically works with cutting-edge technology as well as some of the world’s earliest artifacts. Dr. Seales received his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Currently, our guest speaker is a professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and what’s more, the director of the Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments (VIS Center) at the University of Kentucky. Another notable period in his career trajectory occurred in 2012-2013, when he was a visiting scientist with Google in Paris.His work researching digital imaging in the fields of cultural heritage at the enviable VIS Center (basically a Visual Resources Center on steroids), is what makes Seales such an exciting and timely addition to this year’s program. The VIS website describes the Center as having produced fascinating research using advanced technologies that incorporate “computer vision and image processing, data acquisition, graphics, human-computer interaction, multimedia, and networking that are dedicated to research and development of computer-generated immersive environments, ambient environments, dynamic scene acquisition and preservation, advanced telepresence and telecommunications, and visualization applications in such areas as education and training, medicine, manufacturing, security, and daily life.”Receiving international acclaim, the VIS Center has partnered with such renowned institutions such as the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, The British Museum, IBM, FBI, Archivision, and a number of universities.One of his most compelling projects developed at the VIS Center is known as EDUCE (Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration). It aims to produce readable images of ancient texts too fragile to open by using a virtual unwrapping tool similar to X-ray technology. Fortunately, (spoiler alert) for one particularly damaged ancient scroll from Ein Gedi, which resembles a lump of coal, Seales and his research team achieved the seemingly impossible by developing a software that involves layering digital images over the primary source, then altering the documents color and resolution. Thanks to Dr. Brent Seales for having securely laid the groundwork, we can only hope that such emerging technologies become common-place in the future within our field of visual resources.Make sure to attend this engaging talk on Wednesday, March 29th from 5:00-6:30pm.

Read More
Travel Awards, Uncategorized Travel Awards, Uncategorized

VRA Travel Awards

The VRA Travel Awards Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of Travel Awards for the 2017 VRA conference in Louisville:Kathe Hicks Albrecht Award — Elliot McNally, Savannah College of Art & DesignNew Horizons Full Award — Joanne Lammers, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & SciencesNew Horizons Full Award — Jamie Zeffery, California State University, Los AngelesNew Horizons Student Award and Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award— Andrew Wang, Indiana UniversityLuraine Tansey/VRA Travel Awards:Kristin Britanik, The Andy Warhol MuseumSusan Jane Williams, Independent Cataloging and Consulting ServicesIan McDermott, LaGuardia Community College, CUNYSheryl Frisch, Cal Poly, San Luis ObispoKate Thornhill, Oregon Health & Science UniversityMeghan Musolff, University of Michigan LibraryZoe Waldron, New York Public LibraryCongratulations to the award recipients, and thank you to all applicants for their interest and excellent applications.Additional thanks go to contributors to the travel awards fund, our generous travel award sponsors, the VRA Executive Board and the Travel Awards Committee.We're looking forward to seeing all of you in Louisville,Marcia Focht and Michael DonovanCo-Chairs, Travel Awards Committee

Read More
Announcements Announcements

Membership Recruiting Challenge

VRA Members,Our Membership renewal drive a little different this year, as I’m sure you’ve seen. One of the new incentives the Board is initiating this year is a Membership Referral Challenge! The New Member Form now includes a place to indicate whether an individual referred the new member to the organization. The members who refer both the highest number of individual new members and the highest number of institutional members will receive an upgrade to a concierge room at the 34th Annual VRA Conference in Lousiville. This room upgrade includes:

  • Concierge lounge access (open Monday-Friday, closed on weekends)
  • Complimentary food including continental breakfasts, midday snacks, hors d’oevres, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverages
  • An honor bar
  • Complimentary business services

The challenge will extend through February 28th 2017, the last day of Early-Bird Conference Registration. Let’s encourage our colleagues and students to consider the benefits that VRA membership offers.Melanie Clark

Read More
Announcements Announcements

2016 DLF Fellows

Dear all — this is just a quick line to share a public announcement about the first group of fellows in our Kress-funded program: https://www.diglib.org/archives/12750/This includes the four folks who will be attending the DLF Forum in Milwaukee and one DLFer headed to MCN.Many thanks to Becca for putting together such a nice round-up of statements and smiling faces!We’ll be promoting the ARLIS/NA, AIC, and VRA travel opportunities to DLF community members in good time — starting with ARLIS/NA (deadline November 1st!).All best,Bethany NowviskieDirector of the Digital Library Federation (DLF) at CLIRResearch Associate Professor of Digital Humanities, UVadiglib.org | clir.org | ndsa.org | nowviskie.org | she/her/hers

Read More
Conferences Conferences

VRA 2017 Conference Branding Winner

Please join me in congratulating Meghan Rubenstein, winner of the 2017 VRA Conference Branding Contest! Meghan’s winning logo design is below. It will be used on the 2017 VRA Conference website as well as other marketing and print materials for the conference.PrintWe would also like to thank each individual who put their creative talents into designs for this contest. Members using their creative ideas for such efforts is an important part of what allows our organization to thrive. I look forward to seeing you all in Louisville!Melanie ClarkPublic Relations and Communications Officer

Read More
Conferences Conferences

VRA 2017 Conference Call for Posters

The Visual Resources Association’s 34th Annual Conference will be held in Louisville, Kentucky from Wednesday, March 29th, through Saturday, April 1st, 2017, in the Louisville Marriott Downtown hotel.  The theme for the Louisville conference is unbridled opportunities. Please mark your calendars.Proposals are now being solicited for the 2017 posters.  All proposals are welcome.Deadline for submissions is October 1, 2016.Participants in the Poster Session present a professional topic both graphically and through direct interaction with conference attendees.  This format encourages one-on-one discussions and self-paced viewing. Posters depict workplace initiatives, research works in process, and other library/visual resource topics of contemporary interest.Submit your poster proposal via our online submission form.A poster consists of a visual display accompanied by pertinent handouts; The visual poster display can take any form or look, provided it is confined to the 30” x 42” area. Creating the opportunity for conversation is the main goal of the poster session.Beyond the display panels and certain basic mounting supplies, poster presenters will be required to bring all materials and mount their own display at the designated time. Full details will be provided in December, following selection and confirmation of poster presenters. Successful applicants will be notified by October 15, 2016.

Have a great day.

Chris Strasbaugh

Read More
Task Force News Task Force News

VRA 2015-2016 Report on Professional Status

Dear VRA colleagues,I am pleased to announce the completion and availability of the VRA 2015-2016 Professional Status Task Force Report on Professional Status.*  This report provides extremely valuable information about the landscape of our professions and the needs of members and non-members working within a variety of visual resource environments.  The Executive Board encourages you all to take some time to read the report, and we believe it will be of particular interest and use to our many committees, task forces, chapters, etc. Please don't hesitate to contact the VRA Board with questions about this information. We can be reached at board@vraweb.org.Please join me in thanking the members of the 2015 Professional Status Task Force for there dedication to their charge and for the thoughtful, creative, and collaborative time and energy they invested in the VRA over the past two years.

  • Virginia (Macie) Hall, Senior Instructional Designer, Center for Educational Resources, Johns Hopkins University, Co-chair
  • Ana Cox, Assistant Archivist, New York Public Radio Archives
  • Liz Gushee, Head, Digital Collections Services, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Amy McKenna, Assistant Visual Resources Curator, Art Department, Williams College
  • Rebecca Moss, Assistant Director, LATIS, University of Minnesota
  • Greg Reser, Metadata Analyst, University of California San Diego
  • Jen Green, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Scholarly Communication, Copyright, and Publishing Program, Dartmouth College, (Co-chair through March 2016)

*You may also access the report within Memberclicks (go to: Community > Info >Task Force and Advisory Group Reports). The Board will also be submitting the report to the VRA Bulletin for publication in a future issue.Kind regards,Jen Green

Read More