VRA LA 2019: Let's Eat!
In a city with an overwhelming range of food choices, we wanted to provide some top picks to help you navigate your conference culinary experiences. The Little Tokyo neighborhood has a plethora of sushi, ramen, tempura, dumplings, and sake to keep you satisfied. Likewise, the Arts District, Civic Center, Chinatown, Olvera Street and other surrounding neighborhoods all have great places to eat. Below is a list of recommendations, which will also be included on our VRA LA 2019 map. All are walking distance from the hotel. Any walk >15 minutes, has a rideshare travel time included. Find more reviews on Jonathan Gold’s 101, Yelp, The Infatuation, Eater LA, and LA Taco.
Fine Dining
Here are some top rated fine dining experiences, if celebrity chefs and home-cured charcuterie are your thing. Plan to secure a reservation ahead of time for these restaurants:
- Redbird (New American $$) 114 E 2nd St redbird.la,
2 min walk
- Sushi Gen (Japanese $$$) 422 E 2nd St sushigen-dtla.com,
5 min walk
- Majordōmo (Californian $$$) 1725 Naud St, majordomo.la,
25 min walk / 10 min rideshare
- Church and State (French Bistro $$$) 1850 Industrial Street, No. 100 https://churchandstatebistro.com/,
25 min walk / 10 min rideshare
- Bestia (Italian $$$) 2121 E 7th Pl Bestiala.com,
30 min walk / 10 min rideshare
- Border Grill (Modern Mexican $$) 445 S. Figueroa Street http://www.bordergrill.com/,
24 min walk / 10 min rideshare
Good Value
These hot spots will keep you under budget without missing out on the flavors of LA:
- Suehiro Cafe (Japanese $) 337 E 1st St https://www.suehirocafe.net/ ,
5 min walk
- Mitsuru Cafe (Japanese $) 117 Japanese Village Plaza Mall mitsuru.top-cafes.com,
5 min walk
- Chado Tea Room (Tea House) 369 E 1st St (inside JANM) chadotearoom.com,
7 min walk
- Grand Central Market (Food Hall $-$$) 317 S Broadway https://www.grandcentralmarket.com/vendors,
10 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- LUNCH À LA PARK Food Trucks (various $) Grand Park 200 North Grand Avenue https://grandparkla.org/event/lunchtime-food-trucks,
12 min walk
- Lemonade at MOCA (cafe, lunch $-$$) 250 South Grand Ave,
15 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Guisados DTLA (Mexican $) 541 S Spring St #101 guisados.co,
15 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Guerilla Tacos (Mexican $$) 2000 E. 7th Street http://www.guerrillatacos.com/,
25 min walk / 10 min rideshare
- Ocean Seafood (Dim Sum $-$$) 750 North Hill St. https://www.oceanseafoodchinatown.com/,
25 min walk / 10 min rideshare
Plant Based & Allergy Friendly
Lots of healthy options and vegetarian friendly food around, here some safe bets:
- Mr Ramen (Ramen $$) 341 E 1st St mrramen.menutoeat.com,
5 min walk
- Spitz (Mediterranean $$) 371 E 2nd St http://www.eatatspitz.com/,
5 min walk
- Shojin (Japanese Macrobiotic $$$) 333 S Alameda St Suite 310 http://www.theshojin.com/dtla.htm,
10 min walk
- P.Y.T. (Vegetarian $$) 400 S Main St pytlosangeles.com,
10 min walk
- Cafe Gratitude (Vegan $$) 300 S Santa Fe Ave cafegratitude.com,
15 min walk / 5 min rideshare
Libations
Head out for a drink with friends new and true:
- Wolf & Crane Bar (Whiskey Bar $$) 366 E 2nd St wolfandcranebar.com,
5 min walk
- Far Bar (Gastropub $$) 347 E 1st St farbarla.com ,
7 min walk
- Angel City Brewery (Brewery $) 216 S Alameda St angelcitybrewery.com,
10 min walk
- Arts District Brewing Company (Brewpub $$) 828 Traction Ave artsdistrictbrewing.com,
12 min walk
- Boomtown Brewery (Brewery $$) 700 Jackson St boomtownbrew.com,
16 min walk / 5 min rideshare
Historic Buildings
Each one of these historic gems has a story to tell:
- Grand Central Market (Food Hall $-$$) 317 S Broadway https://www.grandcentralmarket.com/vendors,
10 min walk
- Imperial Western Beer Company (Brewpub $$) Union Station, 800 N Alameda St imperialwestern.com,
15 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Philippe The Original (110 Years of French Dip $) 1001 N. Alameda Street https://www.philippes.com/,
18 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Cole’s the Originator of the French Dip & Speakeasy (since 1908) (American $$) 118 E. 6th St.,
[no website] 14 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Clifton’s (Bar, Multi-cuisine $$) 648 S Broadway https://www.cliftonsla.com/,
18 min walk / 8 min rideshare
- Terroni (Italian $$-$$$) 802 S. Spring Street http://www.terroni.com/terroni-los-angeles/terroni-downtown-la/,
20 min walk / 7 min rideshare
Sweet Tooth
Satisfy your sweet tooth with Japanese mochi, French macarons, and vegan donuts, oh my:
- Mikawaya (Japanese Mochi ice cream $) 118 Japanese Village Plaza Mall ,
5 min walk
- Midori Matcha Cafe (Tea Room, Bakery $) 123 Astronaut Ellison Onizuka St, Ste 101- C midorimatchatea.com,
3 min walk
- Bae (Ice cream $) 369 E 2nd St,
4 min walk
- DŌNATSU, (Donuts, Vegan $) 330 E 2nd St #C ,
3 min walk
- The Pie Hole (American Cafe $$) 714 Traction Ave thepieholela.com,
10 min walk
- Mr. Churro, (Churros, $) E-12 Olvera St C https://m.facebook.com/mrchurroLA/ ,
15 min walk / 5 min rideshare
- Bottega Louie (Bakery, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$) 700 South Grand Ave https://www.bottegalouie.com/,
23 min walk / 10 min rideshare
Contributors:
Krystal Boehlert
Local Planning Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
Visual Resources Specialist, University of California Riverside
Maureen Burns
Development and Tour Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
IMAGinED Consulting and Archivision
Jackie Spafford
Local Planning Committee Member, VRA LA 2019
Image Resources Curator, History of Art and Architecture, University of California/Santa Barbara
VRA LA 2019: Save $100 off Conference Registration
Register by Friday, February 15 to save. Take advantage of early bird rates to save $100 on your conference registration for members and non-members or $50 for student, retired, and unemployed rates.
"Just think it’s like getting 2 or 3 workshops or tours for free."
Workshops:
Perhaps you want to learn how to manage a large digital humanities project centered on mapping, streamline your embedded metadata workflows, or deliver active learning experiences that empower students to understand copyright and take advantage of fair use. We have workshops to teach you all of these skills and many more. See our full listing of workshops that range in price from $30-$80.
Act Fast:
Monday’s workshop The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself: Public Speaking for Introverts and Other Reluctant Presenters only has one slot left!
Tours:
How about taking a break from the hotel and learning out and about in this amazing city? The local committee has crafted some excellent tours to experience with your fellow conference attendees. Do you want to go behind-the-scenes at the Library and Archives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and tour 3D: Double Vision, visit the Imaging Lab at the Huntington Library while enjoying their art galleries and botanical gardens, take a walking tour organized by the Los Angeles Conservancy of glamorous art deco architecture, or take a curator-led tour of Oscar-nominated costumes and designers at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM)? The list goes on and on! See our full listing of tours that range in price from $10-$25.
Act Fast:
Thursday’s Behind the Scenes Tour of the Japanese American National Museum only has one slot left! The same tour is also available on Wednesday.
P.S. Don’t forget to book your room. Special room rates are still available at the DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown.
Contributor:
Amy McKenna
Public Relations and Communications Officer, VRA Executive Board
VRA LA 2019: Car-free Los Angeles
Like a lot of big cities, Los Angeles can seem daunting, especially if this is your first visit. But we want to reassure you that this is a city you can safely navigate with ease.
Little Tokyo, our conference hotel neighborhood, is approximately one square mile of restaurants, cafes, bars and quick-bite stops; shops of all varieties; banks and other services; and museums and other cultural highlights. It is lively, even very late at night, and populated with locals and visitors alike.
Surrounding neighborhoods are also accessible on foot. Many iconic sites are an easy 5-10 minute walk, such as the Bradbury Building, Central Market, and the grand old movie houses on Broadway.
A 10-15 minute walk northwest will get you to the Broad Museum, LA MOCA, Disney Hall, and the Music Center.
In 20 minutes you can walk to the wonderful LA Central Library (and be sure to cut through the Biltmore Hotel across the street for a peek – it was home to the first Academy Awards and there’s a terrific photo of the event in the lobby).
The Arts District covers many blocks, and there are numerous galleriesand murals 5 to 30 minutes from our conference hotel.
Of course as you walk around downtown you will want to stop for a bite or drink – and you will not be disappointed in the variety of options! (More emails to come on this topic!)
If you’re up for venturing further, Chinatown is about 25-30 minutes on foot, and you can visit the beautiful Union Station and historic Olvera Street en route.
To the south is the Fashion District, home to hundreds of fabric stores, vendors selling knock-offs, and the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing Museum. [Note that it is on the other side of Skid Row, an area you may not be comfortable walking through – but if you take Main Street you can avoid this area.]
There are also many great self-guided walking tours of the city (in addition to the terrific VRA-organized tours on offer), such as this onegeared to photographers.
And when you are going farther than walking distance, or it’s late and you’re tired, we have a comprehensive list of transportation options for you: public transit trains and buses, ride-shares and taxis, and for the truly adventurous, bike or scooter shares! This link to the Metro public transportation system, for example, will help you calculate the best method to get anywhere. (And if you do decide to rent a car to go further afield, it’s not as bad as you think – your phone’s GPS (Google Maps or Waze) is your friend to help you find the most efficient route, and there are always parking lots nearby.)
We hope you all venture out and explore this exciting, rich city, and please ask any of the VRA LA locals for advice, suggestions or directions!
Contributor:
Jackie Spafford
Local Planning Committee Member, VRA LA 2019
Image Resources Curator, History of Art and Architecture, University of California/Santa Barbara
VRA LA 2019: Announcing Convocation Speaker Dan Goods
The VRA Executive Board is pleased to announce that our VRA LA 2019 Annual Conference Convocation speaker is Dan Goods.
Dan Goods is an independent artist and the Visual Strategist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. During the day he runs The Studio at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, leading a team developing creative ways of communicating and working to transform complex concepts into compelling stories that can be universally understood. In his leadership role there, Goods uses his artistic talents and passion for creating experiences where people are reminded of the gift and privilege of being alive. After hours, he works on a wide range of personal creative projects. Currently he is collaborating with others on new public art pieces in San Diego and San Francisco and is developing the “Museum of Awe,” an experience of art, science, theater and surprise, with David Delgado and Ivan Amato. Goods won an International Design Excellence Award for his work on the eCLOUD, a 110-foot-long digital sculpture at the San Jose International Airport. He has worked on other large-scale art projects at the Atlanta International Airport, at SIAS International University in China and for BMW in Paris, and has shown his work in museums around the world.
Goods was named “One of the Most Interesting People in Los Angeles” by LA Weekly and has been profiled in The Los Angeles Times, Leonardo magazine and the National Endowment for the Arts Magazine. He is also on the board of the Caltech Management Association and ITACCUS (International Astronautical Federation’s Technical Activities Committee for the Cultural Utilization of Space), and is an advisor to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art and Technology program.
Dan Goods was born in Palmer, Alaska and was raised in Salem, Oregon. In 2002 he graduated valedictorian from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Goods explains his life and career in one sentence: “After doing the dishes, reading bedtime stories to my kids, and spending time with my wife, I work on other creative problem solving projects around the world.” He lives in Altadena, CA with his wife and three children.
We hope that you will join us at the Convocation on Wednesday, March 27th, to hear Dan Goods speak about his unusual journey and how he has found that innovation, passion, and creativity can be unleashed to understand what it means to be you and what it means to be human. His talk will follow the 2019 VRA Awards ceremony, with a reception afterwards.
You can learn more about Dan Goods and his work at his website: http://www.directedplay.com/
We look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles March 26th-29th! For more information about the conference program, travel logistics, accommodations, etc., please visit the VRA 2019 Annual Conference website. As always, if you have any questions please email me.
Contributor:
Jacob Esselstrom
Vice President for Conference Program, VRA Executive Board
VRA Business Meeting at CAA in NYC: Tools & Trends in Visual Resources
The Visual Resources Association is using a scheduled business meeting at the annual College Art Association conference to share information about some of the tools that curators are using to enhance and manage digital image collections and discuss new trends in the field of visual resources and art librarianship.
Three speakers will be presenting their work in these areas:
Cataloging at Artstor: A New Look at Tried and True (and some AI) Strategies
Lisa Gavell, Senior Manager of Image Content at Artstor
Maximizing Metadata: VRA Embedded Metadata Tools
Marcia Focht, Curator of Visual Resources at Binghamton University
Images as Research Data
Jasmine Burns, Visual Resources Metadata Librarian at Cornell University and Chair of the Upstate New York Chapter of VRA.
Please join us for provocative presentations with time for questions and discussion on Friday, February 15th, 2019, in the Morgan Suite at the New York Hilton Midtown, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
This event is free and open to the public, so you do not need to be a CAA member or to register for the conference to attend this VRA business meeting. If you wish to attend regular sessions, the book and trade fair, or other CAA conference activities, you must register. Advance registration for the full conference ends on Jan 30th, 2019 (only 3 days left), but single time slot and day passes may be purchased onsite (not available in advance).
For questions or additional information, please contact:
Maureen Burns, IMAGinED Consulting & VRA CAA Affiliate Representative
VRA Bulletin Call for Content: Spring 2019 Open Access Issue!
The VRA Bulletin is recruiting content for its first ever Open Access issue due out in Spring 2019!
In addition to being openly accessible, the Bulletin now offers a hybrid peer-review model in which authors can select whether or not to have a submission peer-reviewed.
If you’re interested in serving as a reviewer, please reach out to the Content Editor, Hannah Marshall.
In light of the Bulletin’s expanded access and peer-review option, this call is open to a wide variety of article types including but not limited to:
- Scholarly articles
- Case studies
- Editorials
- Reviews of books and other resources
- Project updates
- Reports from working groups and professional organizations
Examples of timely topics that we’d welcome articles on (and which you may already be thinking about and working on...):
- Spring conference presentations (the VRAB editorial team is happy to work with presenters to adapt papers, posters, and talks into articles!)
- Art + Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thons
- DPLA
- Visual resources in institutional repositories
- Digitization projects - whether in-house, grant-funded, outsourced, collaborative, etc.
- Others!
Articles should be submitted using the online system by Friday, March 1st.
The editors are available to discuss and advise on topic ideas prior to submission, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Sincerely,
Hannah Marshall, Content Editor
Amy Lazet, Production Editor
2019 VRA Foundation Professional Development Grant: Call for Applications
The Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF) is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for the VRAF Professional Development Grant program. This program offers two $1000 grants yearly. This grant can be used to support conference participation, enroll in a workshop, for an online education opportunity, or for research activities. For consideration, please submit your application by Friday, February 22, 2019, 11:59pm Pacific Time. If you have any questions about the VRAF Professional Development Grant or the application process, and to submit your application go here: https://goo.gl/forms/mLrZCo7VdQrup3nf2 or please contact the VRAF Board of Directors at vrafoundation@gmail.com. To obtain further details about the VRAF, the VRAF Professional Development Grant, and other VRAF programs, please visit vrafoundation.com. The recipient of the 2019 VRAF Professional Development grant will be announced by Friday, March 1, 2019, and must be used before March 1, 2020.
Purpose:
The purpose of the VRAF Professional Development grant is to support professional development in the field of visual resources and cultural heritage information management. The grant can be used to participate in a professional development opportunity of the grantee’s choosing (such as a conference, symposium, workshop, online education), or to enroll in relevant research activities (such as hands-on field work or a site visit for scholarly purposes). Priority will be given to applications that include participation at a conference (giving a paper, teaching a workshop, chairing a committee, etc.); research that shows promise to lead to publication or contributes to the visual resources and cultural heritage information management community; or to applications that can demonstrate that the receiving the opportunity will have a broader benefit to an institution or region. Please note that recipients of the award are required to submit a report outlining how the award contributed to his or her professional development within 30 days following the event.
Eligibility:
- Applicants should have a professional interest in visual resources and cultural heritage information management, and may include retirees, the currently unemployed, or students seeking educational and training opportunities in support of broad access to cultural information.
- Membership in the Visual Resources Association is not required.
- Statements of financial need will be strongly considered.
Acceptable Uses of Award Money:
- Transportation costs to and from the event venue
- Registration fees or tuition
- Required course materials (e.g., work books, DVDs)
- Lodging
- Meals – including meals in transit to and from the educational event
- Research expenses
Grant monies may not be used to cover indirect costs (a percentage of grant money taken by the grantee’s institution to cover perceived overhead)
Application Criteria:
- A goals statement outlining the opportunity, how it will benefit your work, and any potential contributions this opportunity may allow you to make beyond your own professional development.
- A comprehensive budget and breakdown of your proposed travel, lodging, meal, and other expenses. When costs are estimated, please explain (e.g., “roundtrip airfare on United as determined via Expedia search”; my lodging costs reflect an estimate for a shared room). If your institution requires you to use a specific airline, or has set a corporate airfare rate, please note this in the comments section. Be as clear and complete as possible about other funding support you will receive or are applying for, such as from your home institution, or other grants and awards.
- Your resume/curriculum vitae
Application:
Please submit an online application to be considered for a VRAF Professional Development Grant.
On behalf of the VRA Board of Directors
vrafoundation@gmail.com
vrafoundation.com
https://twitter.com/vrafoundationhttps://www.facebook.com/visrafoundation/
VRA LA 2019: Tour LA Like a Local and Elevate Your Conference Experience
With so much to see and do in the LA area, the SoCal local planners have organized several tours so you can see the best highlights while attending the VRA conference. The tours are scheduled on every day of the conference (mint chip green in SCHED) and are a great value-- costs kept at a minimum, bang-for-your-buck at the maximum! By location, they range from just down the block to the city center and further afield--the local planners will help to coordinate any necessary ride sharing or walking groups. So, make sure to find the tours that fit your interests and schedule, including some great ones before and after the conference--there is something for everybody! For more information, see SCHED
ART TOURS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Behind the Scenes Tour
Tuesday, March 26th, 9:00am-1:00pm - We’re headed to LACMA, for a Behind the Scenes Tour of the museum’s Balch Art Research Library & Archives. Then we’ll be treated to a curator led tour of the 3D: Double Vision exhibition and some free-range gallery time. LACMA is about a 30 minute drive from the hotel, a tour organizer will help coordinate ride shares to and from the museum.
Hauser & Wirth, Exhibitions Tour
Tuesday, March 26th, 12:30pm-1:45pm – Hauser & Wirth is a gallery specializing in contemporary and modern art. Residing in a former flour mill, the architecture is designed for communal gathering space and community arts programming throughout the year. We’ll get a guided tour of current exhibitions and be back in time for the afternoon sessions. A tour organizer will lead the 12 minute walk from the hotel, down Little Tokyo’s vibrant 2nd street, to the gallery.
Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens Tour
Friday, March 29th, 10:00 am-12:00 pm – A guided tour of the Huntington Library, a world class art collection also known for rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and maps. A visit to the Imaging Lab will give a behind the scenes look at historic equipment and new technologies. Attendees can linger to see the botanical gardens and other exhibitions, or return to the hotel. The Huntington is about a 30 minute drive from the hotel, a tour organizer will help coordinate ride shares to and from the museum.
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
Thursday, March 28th, 12:00 pm-2:30 pm & Friday, March 29th, 9:30 am-12:00 pm –
If your artistic interests lean toward the performing arts and fashion, don’t miss out on one of these FIDM tours, the first of which is a curatorial led tour of one of the nation’s finest costume collections and the annual exhibit of the “Art of Motion Picture Costume Design.” The second tour, led by the library director and her staff, provides a broader view of the campus, its innovative materials collection, and the library with one of the country’s largest specialized fashion collections. There will be time at the end to also view the exhibit of movie costumes. Local planners will provide guidance on walking (30 minutes) or transport options (Metro or ride share) for those who want to cross town together.
Broad Museum Facade with Oculus (Burns photo 2018)
PRE-BOOK SELF-GUIDED ART OPTIONS
If you plan to visit contemporary art museum The Broad, a 12 minute walk from the hotel, you’ll need to reserve your free tickets in advance. Tickets for the month of March are released on February 1st: https://ticketing.thebroad.org/events/84185978-8137-44a7-9774-356133b9997d
Advance tickets are also required for the Marciano Art Foundation. A 30 minute drive from the hotel, this private collection showcases contemporary art in a renovated Masonic temple. Tickets for the month of March are released on February 1st: https://tickets.marcianoartfoundation.org/events/88fc459a-0839-ff18-ac02-2eb72aed5788
Stay tuned for more information on self-guided museum information & gallery hopping!
HISTORY & CULTURAL TOURS
Japanese American National Museum
When in Little Tokyo, visiting JANM is a must! That is why we scheduled tours midday for every day of the conference. A 7 minute walk from the conference hotel, you have a choice of a behind-the-scenes tour with the curator or a tour of the permanent & special photography exhibitions that tell the story of Japanese immigration to the U.S., incarceration during WWII, and the Redress Movement. No shepherd required, you can’t miss the contemporary JANM building just down the block.
Spiritual Journey by Nancy Uyemura, 1996 (Burns photo 2018)
Los Angeles Conservancy
The best architectural tours in town are provided by the LAC, the organization that works to preserve the architectural heritage of Los Angeles. Avoid being jet-lagged at the conference and come a day early to experience the docent-led “Art Deco” or “Historic Downtown” tours on Monday afternoon. This is a great way to get your bearings and see some of LA’s oldest buildings, like the famous Bradbury. Or, stay through Friday to experience the 1939 Spanish Colonial Union Station (Amtrak & Metro) and learn how the “Past Meets Present” by exploring the ways that historic buildings are being revitalized to meet the changing downtown demographic, like in the Last Bookstore. Tuesday morning provides the only other opportunity to enjoy guided architectural tours, when there is a repeat of “Historic Downtown” (it’s that good!) and add the “Modern Skyline.” These tours are in-depth and comprehensive, each taking 2 ½ hours. A minimum of 12 people is needed for each tour to take place, if tours don’t fill, cancellations may be necessary. Tours have different starting locations, so the local planners will provide options for traveling as a group to the starting point. The tours also involve walking a few miles, with varying degrees of difficulty, lots of standing, and no breaks, but they are so worth it (they are wheelchair accessible, if needed, please notify a conference planner).
Stay tuned for more information about self-guided walking tours.
Downtown LA Skyline (Burns photo 2015)
COMPLETE LIST OF TOURS
Registration for tours is made in the order they are received. Early registration is strongly recommended as tours fill quickly. Detailed descriptions of tours can be found in the conference program:https://vra2019.sched.com/overview/type/Tour. Tickets for paid tours will be included in registration packets.
Contributors:
Krystal Boehlert
Local Planning Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
Visual Resources Specialist, University of California Riverside
Maureen Burns
Development and Tour Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
IMAGinED Consulting and Archivision
VRA LA 2019: Spotlight on Friday Workshops
Dear colleagues,
Continuing on the theme of last week’s email, I’m writing again to give you some details on the workshops available to you on Friday at the VRA 2019 Annual Conference in Los Angeles. The final day of the conference features three technology-focused workshops designed to teach you new skills that you can take home and apply to your work. Again, participation in these workshops is limited, so don’t wait to register and take advantage of the great opportunities listed below.
- Advanced Embedded Metadata Export-Import in Adobe Bridge
This workshop will introduce attendees to advanced use of the VRA Bridge export-import tool and Excel to streamline embedded metadata workflows. The export-import tool has several user controlled options including the ability to create custom field mappings. Combining these with strategies for text manipulation in Excel, users can reduce the time it takes to move metadata between media files and local databases. Topics covered:
-Bridge Export-import tool options and custom field mapping
-Preparing metadata for import in Excel (converting to and from text formats, batch transformations)
-Troubleshooting Bridge export-import errors
-User’s tips and tricks – tell us how you use it - Mapping an Archive: Data, Data, Data
As more faculty and students turn to visual representations and presentations of their research, whether it be for a class or a larger research project, we are tasked with interpreting and setting forth a path to help them carry their vision to reality. We are often left feeling overwhelmed and asking “How do I start such a large digital humanities project?” This workshop endeavors to present a case study in which a patron presents you with an archive of documents they would like to visualize on a map to answer one or more research questions. You will be guided through questions you should ask, best practices for setting up your data collection, models for employing student labor, and various mapping products that can display your data to a variety of ends (including pure visualization and narrative). Attendees will be expected to bring a laptop. We will focus on platform neutral online mapping programs, but will also discuss open source and desktop client software that is available. Although many tools are available, we will focus on selecting the right one for the project at hand, which includes budget, license, and skill level
. - Practical Coding for Visual Resources: Python & Version Control
Learn to code in Python! Building off the excitement of last year’s Python workshop, we’re hosting another. Basic program design, version control, data management and task automation with tutorials and live coding exercises. This hands-on live coding workshop will help data managers learn Python and version control. Participants are required to bring their own laptop with a Windows, Mac, or Linux operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they are able to install software on. Instructions for setup will be sent to registrants prior to the workshop.
This workshop will take place from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, including a one hour break for lunch.
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in a couple of months! As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Contributor:
Jacob Esselstrom
Vice President for Conference Program, VRA Executive Board
Summer Educational Institute Registration is OPEN!
Registration for SEI 2019 is now open! We are very excited about this year's curriculum, and hope to see many of you at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, June 4-7, 2019.
SEI is a fantastic learning and networking opportunity for professionals interested in creating and maintaining sustainable digital collections of cultural heritage materials, including librarians, archivists, museum curators, visual resources librarians, and graduate (and recent graduate) students. The workshop offers participants the chance to meet colleagues from various institutions who are facing similar challenges. Faculty and students share ideas and solutions to these challenges and make lasting professional connections. This intensive workshop has a limited number of seats and fills up fast, so be sure to register soon!
Don't forget that six Kress Scholarships are available to help with the costs of attending. The deadline for applications is February 8.
If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact SEI Co-Chairs Lesley Chapman and/or Courtney Baron.
VRA LA 2019: Spotlight on Tuesday Workshops
Hello everyone!
We are now a little more than two months away from the start of VRA 2019 in Los Angeles. As part of the countdown to the conference I wanted to share the details of the three great workshops that are on the schedule for the morning of Tuesday, March 26th.
- Clean, Transform and Enhance Your Data – Getting Started with OpenRefine
Spend less time editing more records while improving the quality of your data using OpenRefine (http://openrefine.org/), an open source program that offers a practical approach to efficiently clean and transform data. Data comes from multiple sources and is messy. Cleaning data takes time, and is challenging when staffing and resources are limited. In this workshop, you will be given an overview of the program, learn how to analyze your data, and transform it with text faceting, filtering, clustering, and using GREL (General Refine Expression Language) expressions that will allow you to write code to further manipulate data.
One of OpenRefine's most advanced features is the reconciliation service which allows you to connect to Linked Open Data (LOD) on the Web and enrich your data with additional information (Wikidata, Getty vocabularies, LCSH and LCNAF, VIAF, and more). Use of the built-in Wikidata reconciliation service will be demonstrated in a pre-recorded video by Samantha Norling (Digital Collections Manager, Newfields).
Participants will need to bring a laptop to follow along with the exercises. Instructions on how to download and install OpenRefine, data sets, and additional documentation, will be emailed to you prior to the workshop. - Lesson Planning for Fair Use and Visual Literacy
The open access e-book Fair Use in the Visual Arts: Lesson Plans for Librarians (ARLIS/NA Occasional Paper No. 17, 2018) builds off of the CAA Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Artsto guide art information professionals in designing and delivering active learning experiences that empower students to understand copyright and take advantage of fair use in their art, design, and academic practices. This workshop, featuring instructor Dani Brecher Cook (Director of Teaching & Learning, Library, University of California, Riverside), will introduce art information professionals to frameworks and best practices for user instruction and equip them with tools and strategies to teach fair use in their own institutions. The workshop will give attendees an understanding of fair use and other visual literacy issues and how to integrate them into library instruction. - The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself: Public Speaking for Introverts and Other Reluctant Presenters
Many of us have a fear of public speaking that prevents us from sharing our great ideas and experience, and even those who speak frequently admit that getting up in front of a room can still induce trembling hands and sweaty palms. While useless tips like imagining your audience in their underwear to banish nerves abound, in truth simple steps can be taken to help you survive and even thrive before a crowd. Betha Whitlow, in a highly supportive and interactive environment, will lead workshop participants in an exploration of the causes (and even potential benefits!) of stage fright, and discuss how to mitigate it through mindfulness and other stress reduction techniques, the fear minimizing power of a well-crafted talk, and cover other techniques for public speaking. After taking this workshop, you may still not actively court the limelight. But you will have the tools--and ideally newfound confidence--to transition from perpetual audience member to speaker on the stage.
These workshops only have a limited amount of seats available, so register for the conference soon! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Contributor:
Jacob Esselstrom
Vice President for Conference Program, VRA Executive Board
Public Domain 2019 Round-Up
January 1, 2019 marked the first time in over twenty years that works entered the public domain in the United States. In 1998, an embargo was placed on expanding the public domain due to concerns in the entertainment industry that the contemporaneous copyright term was too short. As previously stated in the VRA “IPR Committee Brief,” “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’” (1).
Still from Safety Last! Now in the public domain.
Unexpectedly, as January 1, 2019 approached, lobbyists for the entertainment industry did not pursue further legislation that would increase the terms of copyright, stating, "We are not aware of any such efforts, and it's not something we are pursuing,” according to a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America (2). As ArsTechnica points out, however, simply because a work was created in 1923 does not necessarily mean that its unrestricted usage will be permitted; trademark protections will still be in place, and legislation such as the Music Modernization Act can complicate the matter for non-textual objects (3). For more in-depth discussion of facets surrounding the public domain in 2019, see the following sites:
Brief overview of the public domain:
- Fleishman, Glenn. “For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain.” Smithsonian Magazine.
- Emerson, Sarah. “A Massive Number of Iconic Works Will Enter the Public Domain on New Year’s Eve.” Motherboard.
In-depth overview of the public domain:
- Fleishman, Glenn. “A Landslide of Classic Art Is About to Enter the Public Domain.” The Atlantic.
History of the public domain and lists of works that entered the public domain in 2019:
- “Public Domain Day 2019,” Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Duke Law.
- “Class of 2019.” Public Domain Review.
Public domain’s intersection with trademark law:
- Lee, Timothy B. “Mickey Mouse will be in the public domain soon - here’s what that means.” ArsTechnica.
Amy Lazet, Visual Resources Specialist, College for Creative Studies
Sources:
- IPR Committee Brief: httpS://vraweb.org/ipr-committee-brief-register-of-copyrights-selection-and-accountability-act/
- Copyright extension: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/01/hollywood-says-its-not-planning-another-copyright-extension-push/
- Music Modernization Act article: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/09/new-music-modernization-act-has-major-fix-older-recordings-will-belong-public
VRA LA 2019: Stay at the Conference Hotel in the Historic District of Little Tokyo
Don’t forget to register for VRA LA 2019 at early bird rates!
Next, make your hotel reservations at the Doubletree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown in LA’s Little Tokyo. Staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.
The VRA LA 2019 conference will be taking place in one of the historic districts of downtown Los Angeles called Little Tokyo (established as such in 1986). As early as 1908, a number of Japanese businesses could be found along a two-block stretch of 1st Street near Los Angeles Street. Some of the original Little Tokyo buildings and restaurants can still be found there. Little Tokyo became the cultural, religious, commercial, and social nucleus for Japanese American communities in the LA region, and it still is, since LA has the largest Japanese American population in North America. At its peak in the 1940s, about 30,000 Japanese Americans lived in Little Tokyo alone, but the WWII incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry caused a diaspora. The conference hotel was part of a later urban renewal, built in 1977 as part of the New Otani chain, it has always been known for its rooftop Japanese garden with remarkable views of the downtown skyline. Many of the rooms also have views as well as traditional Japanese bathtubs and microwaves to reheat the ramen you couldn’t finish at the restaurants nearby. Little Tokyo’s churches, temples, shops, restaurants, and cultural centers create the impression of a small, international town right in the middle of downtown LA.
Art and culture, food and shopping, tend to draw the crowds to Little Tokyo—all walkable from the conference hotel. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center has exhibitions, theatrical performances, and festivals in their facilities and plaza, the latter of which was designed by an Angeleno, Isamu Noguchi. There is public art of interest in the neighborhood, from Noguchi’s “To the Issei” (1982-1984) to the Go for Broke monument (1999) commemorating the Japanese Americans who served in the U.S.Army during WWII (among them, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which is the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history).
The Japanese American National Museum is a short walk down historic 1st Street with the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist temple close by. Opened in 1999, JANM is an affiliate of the Smithsonian with permanent and changing exhibitions documenting 130 years of Japanese American history. Several tours are offered in the conference schedule, including behind the scenes.
There are many specialized restaurants serving various types of Japanese cuisine in the neighborhood—from donburi to shabu shabu to ramen to yakitori—and sushi’s California roll was born in Little Tokyo at Tokyo Kaikan. The Japanese Village Plaza and other shops scattered around Little Tokyo carry everything from traditional Japanese sweets (wagashi) to Hello Kitty. Go Little Tokyo and Culture Trip are fun websites to explore for more information.
Among the other LA must-sees near Little Tokyo are the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen facility, the Arts District, City Hall, and Grand Park as well as MOCA itself, the Broad Museum, the Music Center, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels a little further out.
All providing many reasons for you to bring your chopsticks and come to VRA LA 2019 in Little Tokyo!
Contributor:
Maureen Burns
Development and Tour Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
IMAGinED Consulting and Archivision
2018 VRA Election & Constitution and Bylaws Vote Results
Dear VRA Members,
I am pleased to announce the names of the newly elected VRA Executive Board Officers. Congratulations to:
Jeannine Keefer (Visual Resources Librarian and Art and Art History Liaison in Boatwright Memorial Library at the University of Richmond) was elected to the office of President-Elect.
Marsha Taichman (Visual Resources & Public Services Librarian at Cornell University) was elected to the office of Secretary.
Sara Schumacher (Architecture Image Librarian at Texas Tech University) was elected to the office of Vice President for Conference Program.
New officers will begin their terms on March 27, 2019, at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting during the VRA Conference in Los Angeles. We are looking forward to working with these terrific new VRA Board members.
On behalf of the Executive Board and the VRA membership, I sincerely thank these dedicated and active members who are contributing their time and energy in service to the Association in a leadership role where they will participate in shaping its future.
Please join me in congratulating Jeannine, Marsha, and Sara!
Results of the ballot question (recommended by the VRA Constitution and Bylaws Task Force with Executive Board endorsement):
Adoption of the proposed revisions to the VRA Constitution and Bylaws:
116 votes Aye; 2 votes Nay; 4 no selection – PASSED
Total ballots returned was 122.
I would like to thank Allan T. Kohl and the members of the Nominating Committee, who developed this year’s slate of excellent candidates, along with Krystal Boehlert and Elaine Paul, who served so efficiently as the election tellers. Also, please join me again in thanking the members of the VRA Constitution and Bylaws Task Force, for their thoughtful and thorough review of the VRA Constitution and Bylaws. Chaired by Allan Kohl and Stephen Patton the members of the Task Force were Marcia Focht, Heidi Rempel, Lael Ensor-Bennett.
Warm regards,
Stephen Patton
VRA Executive Board President
SAVE THE DATE!
We are delighted to announce the dates for the 2019 Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources & Image Management.
SEI 2019 will be held at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque from June 4-7, 2019. Registration will open on January 14, 2019.
This intensive three and a half-day series of workshops features a curriculum taught by expert instructors who will cover:
- Intellectual Property Rights
- Reformatting
- Metadata and Cataloging
- Project Management
- Digital Curation
- Digital Repositories
- Digital Asset Management
- Instructional Design & Outreach
This year’s faculty includes:
- Greta Bahnemann, Metadata Librarian, Minnesota Digital Library, University of Minnesota
- Courtney Baron, Teaching & Learning Librarian, Oxford College Library, Emory University
- Nicole Finzer, Digital Curation Librarian, Northwestern University
- Jesse Henderson, Digital Services Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Julie Rudder, Repository Program Librarian, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- Nancy Sims, Copyright Program Librarian, University of Minnesota
SEI is a fantastic learning and networking opportunity for professionals interested in creating and maintaining sustainable digital collections of cultural heritage materials, including librarians, archivists, museum curators, visual resources librarians, and graduate students. The workshop offers participants the chance to meet colleagues from various institutions who are facing similar challenges. Faculty and students share ideas and solutions to these challenges and make lasting professional connections.
For more information on SEI 2019, visit our website: seiworkshop.org
Have questions? Please feel free to contact one of our co-chairs:
Lesley Chapman (lchapman@colgate.edu)
Courtney Baron (courtney.baron@emory.edu)
Follow SEI on Facebook and Twitter: @seiworkshop
UPDATE: IPR Committee Brief: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act
On May 2, 2018, S.1010 - Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 (LINK) was introduced in the U.S. Senate. After being read twice, it was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration which held hearings on September 26th on the proposed bill. The Committee was to meet on December 4, 2018 to discuss and vote on S.1010; that hearing was subsequently “postponed until further notice” (1). Should the bill pass the Committee, it will go before the whole Senate for a vote. Those concerned that the proposed bill would unnecessarily politicize the role of Register of Copyrights are urging individuals to contact their Senators, telling them to vote “no” on S.1010 (2).
As a reminder, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of the bill: H.R.1695: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (LINK). This bill proposed moving the position of Register of Copyrights to a presidential appointment followed by a Senate confirmation hearing, and the House voted to approve this on April 26, 2018. Many within the library community have expressed strong concerns that this bill seeks to make the position of Register of Copyrights overtly political when the position should be serving both the rights of copyright holders and the good of the public concurrently. Numerous organizations, including the American Library Association (LINK), have expressed concern that if the position were politicized in this way, copyright terms could be unduly influenced by business and special interest groups, namely the entertainment industry. For an in-depth look at H.R.1695 as well as an analysis of the arguments both for and against the bill, please see the previous “IPR Committee Brief: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act” (LINK).
Amy Lazet, Visual Resources Specialist, College for Creative Studies
Sources:
“LINK:”
Text of S.1010: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1010?r=45
Text of H.R.1695: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1695?r=3
American Library Association Statement: http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/04/ala-urges-senate-reject-bill-make-register-copyrights-presidential-appointee
IPR Committee Brief: httpS://vraweb.org/ipr-committee-brief-register-of-copyrights-selection-and-accountability-act/
Citations:
- United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration: https://www.rules.senate.gov/hearings/s-1010
- Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Tell the Senate Not to Put the Register of Copyrights in the Hands of the President:” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/12/tell-senate-not-put-register-copyrights-hands-president
Reasons to Renew Your VRA Membership
Dear VRA Members,
As the end of the year approaches, I want to remind current VRA members of some benefits received from the organization. The VRA has undergone some exciting changes over the last year, including preparing to transition the VRA Bulletin to an open access journal at the start of 2019. While all articles will be readily available to anyone with an internet connection (in keeping with the movement in many sectors towards information accessibility), VRA members will continue to be able to publish free of charge (non-members will pay a fee prior to publication).
Another benefit of membership which is probably on everyone’s mind is the steeply discounted registration rate for the VRA Annual Conference to be held March 26-29, 2019 in sunny Los Angeles, California. Some highlights of the program include sessions on visual literacy, digital humanities, and multiple sessions on intellectual property rights (x2).
VRA membership also provides numerous opportunities for monetary awards for: professional development; attending the VRA Annual Conference; and participating in the Summer Educational Institute, sponsored by both the national organization as well as chapters.
Finally, one of the benefits that I personally appreciate the most is the ability to network with others in similar positions. The conference provides the opportunity to connect in person with professionals in the field, as do local chapter meetings. There is also a strong online community as demonstrated by the VRA Listserv; another example is the Slack Channel established by and for VREPS that is devoted to sharing resources for professional development, websites with downloadable images and information, and good old camaraderie and discussion.
The Membership Committee strives to advance the VRA’s mission to provide a forum for issues of concern in the field by strengthening membership retention and enrollment. As you reflect on the past year, please take moment to share a positive VRA membership experience via this Google Form. Your testimonial will be used for facilitating outreach to prospective members and marketing.
Thank you for all your participation in and support of the organization. I hope you choose to renew your membership with the Visual Resources Association!
Sincerely,
Amy Lazet
Membership Committee Chair
Point A to Point B: Transportation to and around Los Angeles
First, don’t forget to register for VRA LA 2019 at early bird rates! Second, time to arrange your transportation… Here’s everything you need to know from Krystal Boehlert, Local Planning Coordinator, VRA LA 2019.
Travel to Los Angeles is available by plane, train, bus, or automobile. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the largest airport and has direct flights to most major cities. Hollywood Burbank and Long Beach Airports are also options. There are several ways to get to the Little Tokyo neighborhood in downtown where the hotel is located.
GETTING TO LOS ANGELES
By Air:
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Distance from hotel: 19 miles
Drive time to hotel: 30 minutes off peak
Hollywood Burbank Airport/Bob Hope Airport (BUR)
Distance from hotel: 15 miles
Drive time to hotel: 25 minutes off peak
Long Beach Airport (LGB)
Distance from hotel: 25 miles
Drive time to hotel: 30 minutes off peak
Airports to Hotel:
(Sorted by Price Descending)
Taxi & Ride Share
Traditional Taxis & Ride Share Estimates. Many taxis have a flat rate from LAX to downtown.
SuperShuttle
Shared van service from all airports.
LAX Flyaway
Bus service directly between Union Station & Los Angeles International Airport.
By Train and Bus:
Union Station (LAUS)
800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Distance from hotel: 0.7 miles
Drive time to hotel: 5 minutes off peak
Amtrak
National rail operator, connects America with regional and interstate routes.
Metro
Regional bus, light rail and subway.
Metrolink
Heavy rail service between five Southern California counties.
Megabus
Daily express bus service with trips to the bay area and Las Vegas.
Bolt Bus
Premium bus service with trips to the bay area and Las Vegas.
Union Station to Hotel:
Walking (0.6 mile, 15 min). Exit the main entrance of Union Station towards N. Alameda St. Cross the street towards El Pueblo Plaza. Turn left and follow Los Angeles St to the south to the DoubleTree at 2nd St. Google Maps
Taxi & Ride Share
Traditional Taxis & Ride Share Estimates.
Metro
Regional bus, light rail and subway.
LIttle Tokyo Gold Line Station to Hotel:
Walking: (0.4 mile, 10 min) Exit the station walking south towards 1st St. Turn right on 1st St. Turn left on San Pedro St. Turn Right on 2nd St. Google Maps
Taxi & Ride Share
Traditional Taxis & Ride Share Estimates.
Metro
Regional bus, light rail and subway.
By Automobile:
Navigate to:
DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown
120 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Parking is available at the hotel for a daily fee. You can look for other parking options in the area using: Parkopedia or SpotHero.
AROUND DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
Little Tokyo, Arts District, Historic Core and other Downtown neighborhoods are very walking and transit friendly. There are buses, light rail, subway, bike share, taxis, and ride share options available. Google Maps is an efficient way of finding the right bus routes and times, and Metro has an app (iPhone/Android) with real time arrival data.
Taxi & Ride Share
Traditional Taxis & Ride Share Estimates.
Metro
Regional bus, light rail and subway.
TAP cards can be purchased from Metro vending machines. Base Fare $1.75 includes transfers >2hrs.
Metro Bike Share
Rent bikes by the hour.
OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
There are many points of interest in surrounding neighborhoods and cities in the Greater LA area. Travelling during off-peak times can make a huge difference in travel times. LA’s rush hour usually means high traffic into downtown in the morning hours (7am-9am) and out of downtown in the evening (4:30pm-7pm). Please use Google Maps to estimate distance and time for your desired departure/arrival.
Pro-tip: Google Maps on your smartphone will provide real-time data and traffic conditions. Google Maps in a desktop browser will allow you to predict your journey in advance and choose an optimal time and route.
Contributor:
Krystal Boehlert
Local Planning Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
Visual Resources Specialist, University of California Riverside
Scholarships available for SEI 2019
The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF), along with the SEI 2019 Implementation Team, are pleased to announce the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Scholarships for the 2019 Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management (SEI), to be held June 4-7, 2019, at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation is once again generously funding six scholarships for SEI 2019. This intensive workshop is designed to serve a wide range of information professionals eager to learn about best practices and new technologies and/or update job skills in the realm of digital collections management, as well as to provide significant networking and professional development opportunities. The comprehensive curriculum seeks to address the requirements of today's cultural heritage information professional, including hands-on and lecture modules presented by expert instructors. SEI provides new professionals, current library school students, and mid-career professionals from a wide range of related fields the opportunity to stay current in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Museum professionals, archivists, visual resources professionals, digital librarians, art and architecture librarians, digital project managers, current and recent graduate students, and others in related fields are all encouraged to attend.
Details:
- The six Kress Scholarship recipients will each receive $833 towards the cost of SEI.
- Kress Scholarship applications are due by Friday, February 8, 2018.
- Recipients will be notified no later than Friday, March 8, 2018.
- Each Kress Scholarship recipient will be required to write a report detailing how they benefitted from SEI and the scholarship upon completion of SEI 2019.
Instructions:
- Submit a resume or curriculum vitae and a cover letter (no longer than two pages) describing the effect attending SEI would have on your studies and/or your career.
- All applications will be evaluated by three SEI co-chairs based on the criteria established for the award (including current or future career goals as well as financial need) and any additional directions from the Kress Foundation staff.
- Submit your application materials via e-mail in a single document (PDF preferred), using the following file naming convention: LAST NAME_FIRST NAME_KRESS2019 to SEI 2019 Senior Co-Chair Lesley Chapman at lchapman@colgate.edu.
SEI registration will open January 14, 2019.
Registration Open for VRAF Regional Workshop: Digital Mapping Technologies
The Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF) is pleased to announce registration is now live for “Something Mappy This Way Comes: An Introduction to Digital Mapping Technologies” hosted at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on January 25, 2019.
This workshop will be a crash course in Digital Humanities mapping and related technologies. Examples of digital platforms will be given, with discussion of strengths, weaknesses, and budgets. Participants will learn about current DH mapping projects from the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab and do a deep dive into what makes them successful and cutting edge. Discussions of data workflows and best practices will set the stage for learning about digital storytelling. Lastly, you will work with primary source data sets to create a digital mapping project that allows users to explore historical information with 21st century mapping technology.
The workshop will be taught by Justin Madron, the Digital Scholarship Lab’s GIS Project Manager & Analyst at the University of Richmond (VA). He is in charge of GIS related tasks and technologies required for the production and maintenance of American Panorama, a digital atlas of American history project. He has a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from West Virginia University and a Master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Environmental Studies with a focus on Geographical Information Systems and Technologies. His graduate research was on the historical and present reforestation of red spruce in the Appalachian Mountains.
To register or read the full workshop description, visit here. The workshop fee is $125. If you have questions about registration, contact Beth Haas, VRAF Director. For questions about the venue, contact Lori Birrell, Head of Special Collections. Please register by January 18, 2019.
The VRAF is grateful to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for their continued support of this exciting opportunity to partner with cultural heritage and educational institutions.