Meet the 2021 Executive Board Candidates: Brian Shelburne, Candidate for Vice President for Conference Arrangements
About the Candidate
Brian Shelburne is Head of the Digital Scholarship Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked in the Visual Resources field in a variety of positions and at several institutions for nearly 30 years. He has worked in Visual Resources Departments at Bryn Mawr College, the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (now Philadelphia University), Virginia Tech, and UMass Amherst. He holds a graduate degree in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology form Bryn Mawr College and an MLIS from the University of South Carolina. His academic background is in Classical archaeology, and he has 10 seasons of field experience working with excavations in Greece, Italy, and Cyprus.
Brian has served the VRA in a variety of ways. He was Vice President for Conference Arrangements from 2008-2012, overseeing the transition from a 5 day conference model to a 3 day model as well as serving as the VRA’s conference planner for the second joint VRA ARLIS/NA conference in Minneapolis. He is currently serving in that same position, having been elected in 2019. He has served on a variety of committees and task forces in the organization, most recently on the VRA Identity Task Force. He was New England chapter chair from 2016-2018. He served on the VRA Foundation Board of Directors from 2012-2015. He has presented regularly at the VRA Conference and is currently the organizer of the Digital Humanities/Digital Scholarship SIG.
Currently Brian’s role is working with what some might consider the next generation of visual resources technologies. His office works with aspects of digital scholarship such as online exhibitions, digital publishing, and data visualization, though traditional image work is still a large part of his regular work.
Goals
The past couple of years has been an interesting time to be involved in conference planning efforts. The next few years also promise to be quite interesting as the forced introduction of remote and hybrid meetings into our lives have opened up the possibilities for how we approach VRA events. In a potentially highly transformative time for the conference model, I’m happy to be a candidate for Vice President for Conference Arrangements. The ripple effects of the COVID pandemic are likely to continue, and while they do we will likely explore different models for networking and for sharing our work, research, and ideas. I hope to continue the work that has begun during the last two years and help ensure that the events of the organization are on secure footing regardless of format or location.
ArLiSNAP and VREPS: 2021 Fall Virtual Conference
Art Library Students and New ARLIS/NA Professionals (ArLiSNAP) and Visual Resources Association's Emerging Professionals And Students Group (VREPS) invite you to save the date for our 2021 Fall Virtual Conference.
This conference is open to all, but focuses on the needs of students and new professionals. Attendees interested in art librarianship or visual resource management will have the opportunity to learn from peers and celebrate each other's work through virtual posters and presentations. Via this conference, we're seeking to foster a sense of belonging and growth in our community, and we invite all interested students and new professionals to participate.
Our calls for students and new professionals to present in different sessions are outlined below. If you have any questions in the meantime, please send an email to ArLiSNAP: arlisnap.na@gmail.com.
SAVE THE DATE
The virtual conference will take place on Saturday, November 13th. The full program and registration information will be released on the ArLiSNAP blog and VREPS blog. To stay up-to-date, subscribe to the ArLiSNAP listserv, follow ArLiSNAP on Twitter / Instagram, and check the VREPS blog.
TIMELINE
-
Wednesday, 10/20: Deadline for all callsPlease submit a form for each session category in which you are interested.
-
Friday, 10/22: All applicants will be informed of the conference team’s decision for each submission
-
Friday, 10/29: Deadline for selected submissions to accept participation in the conference
-
Week of11/08: Technology Check Session
-
Tuesday, 11/09: Deadline for materials (virtual posters and presentation slides)
-
Saturday, 11/13: Conference date
SUBMISSION FORM
You are welcome to submit for more than one of the categories below. Please submit a form for each session category in which you are interested.https://forms.gle/KaLhwP1c6htRNm1SA
CALL FOR VIRTUAL POSTER PRESENTATIONS:
ArLiSNAP and VREPS welcome proposals from students and new professionals with an interest in art librarianship or visual resources management to share newly completed or in-progress projects, be they research or outcomes from an internship/practicum, at the virtual poster presentation at our 2021 Virtual Conference. This is an opportunity for emerging professionals to share their work in a supportive and engaging space while connecting with other students and early career information professionals. Proposals are open to individual presenters and co-presenters. Virtual posters will be available for asynchronous browsing by attendees, with a live Q&A for all presenters during the conference followed by a social hour. Formatting details will be sent if selected.
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS:
Fresh Eyes: Celebrating Our Successes as New Professionals
Are you a student or emerging professional who solved a problem for your school or institution? Did you complete a huge project during an internship, suggest a new workflow that helped speed up digitization or researcher requests, or start an amazing new program for community members? We want to hear from you!
Students and emerging professionals have the opportunity to bring "fresh eyes" to an institution. These "fresh eyes" can often add valuable perspectives, allowing for opportunities to ask questions, make suggestions, and create new approaches to work that's been done "the way we've always done it." In the session, speakers will present via lightning talks case studies detailing how they experienced a workflow or problem, and how their suggestions and perspectives as students and emerging professionals helped create a better process or environment. This is a space for us to celebrate the valuable contributions students and emerging professionals can bring to an institution.
This session will feature virtual lightning talks of five to seven minutes from five to six presenters, followed by live Q&A.
Building Belonging
ArLiSNAP and VREPS invites you to share current initiatives in the field of art information focusing on fostering a sense of belonging. Proposals can encompass ongoing, completed or in-progress projects that aim to reshape our art information spaces physically or virtually, for you, your colleagues, or patrons. This prompt is purposefully open-ended to encourage a variety of lenses on how we can rethink and reshape our field. Presentations from students and new professionals can be solo or collaborative.
This session will feature three 15-minute virtual presentations with a live Q&A. Please note we will confer with selected presenters if they wish to be recorded or not.
CALL FOR SKILL SHARE MINI WORKSHOPS:
We are committed to learning and a community that extends beyond our scheduled sessions and agenda. Do you have something you’re currently working on, passionate about, recently discovered, or a practice you find helpful or restorative? During our breaks between sessions, we are looking for volunteers to share their passions and skills with us. Some ideas include a guided breathing exercise, new pandemic hobby, self-care strategy, or in-progress project. These skill shares are meant to be casual and offer space to learn and share what we’re learning with each other.
We will have two breaks during which we want to highlight your knowledge, skills, and interests. If you would like to participate in our Skill Share, please tell us a little bit about what you would like to do and approximately how long you think it would take (3-10 minutes).
VRA 2022: Call for Proposals
Call for ProposalsBaltimore 2022The Visual Resources Association’s 2022 Annual Conference will include both an online Pre-Conference and an In-Person Conference. The In-Person Conference will be held in Baltimore, Maryland from Tuesday, March 29th through Friday, April 1st, 2022 at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore. Presenting at the VRA Conference provides you with the opportunity to see how your ideas, research, work, and passion connect to those of other dedicated professionals while building networks and friendships in an open, collaborative environment.The VRA Executive Board is soliciting proposals for papers, sessions, special interest/user groups, workshops, posters sessions, and committee meetings for the 2022 program until Friday, September 24th. All proposals are welcome, and if you have other conference ideas or suggestions that do not fit the conference proposal form, please reach out to the Vice President for Conference Program, Christopher Sawula. The conference proposal form also includes a section where you can specify whether you are only interested in presenting online, in person, or either. Please note a call for Lightning Round presenters will go out in the fall/winter, so that we can better accommodate recent innovations and activities, as well as students and emerging professionals.
- 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 session is a maximum 60-minute moderated panel, usually consisting of no more than 3 presenters each, speaking for 15 to 18 minutes, followed by a brief facilitated question and answer period. If you feel your session topic requires more time, consider dividing it into two sessions, consisting of a Part I and a Part II.
- A special interest/user group is a 60-minute informal, community-driven, facilitated group discussion on topics related to a specific segment of the VRA membership.
- A workshop is a 2-, 4-, or 8-hour workshop to develop skills and experience in the field of visual resources with hands-on activities.
- A poster session presents a topic both visually and through direct interaction with conference attendees. Posters can depict workplace initiatives, research in progress, and other topics of contemporary interest.
What should you propose?Past conference schedules can give you an idea of the range of topics presented in previous years; you may also wish to read through the list below of suggested topics compiled from the 2019 and 2021 post-conference survey responses to find inspiration. Please, do not be afraid to deviate and propose something new or highlight an area of concern that you feel has not been adequately addressed previously, as you may find new collaborators and colleagues. 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 submissions without presenter lists are encouraged as well.Click here to access the conference proposal form.Suggested topics:
- Coding (PHP, Python, SQL, etc.)
- Community outreach
- Copyright/Intellectual property
- Digital asset management, digital curation, digital preservation, etc.
- Digitization (workflows, digital capture and imaging technologies)
- Digital scholarship and digital humanities
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural competencies, social justice
- Project management (communication, grant writing, prioritization, leadership, etc.)
- Linked data
- Materials/Objects collections
- Metadata/Cataloging ethics (decolonizing vocabularies, radical cataloging)
- Storytelling and oral history
- Technologies (GIS and mapping, 3D imaging, etc.)
- Tools: open source, evolution, future trends
- Workplace cultures and professional transitions (academic departments, libraries, cultural heritage institutions, archives, corporate, etc.)
The Equitable Action Committee (EAC) will be available to assist in providing guidance for annual conference session organizers and all presenters. Accepted organizers and presenters will be invited to consult the EAC to incorporate equity and inclusion best practices. Depending on the extent of support requested, the EAC will be able to provide one-on-one consultations to evaluate and discuss specific aspects of organizers’ in-progress plans. Discussions can involve (but are not limited to): assessing inclusivity in panelists and perspectives; identifying gaps in accessibility; addressing concerns about contentious topics; and directing organizers, moderators, and speakers to additional resources. This initiative will help promote VRA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as create a more welcoming space for civil and critical engagement at the annual conference.Please contact the Vice President for Conference Program, Christopher Sawula at vpcp@vraweb.org with any questions or concerns.Again, the proposal deadline is Friday, September 24th, 2021. Click here to access the conference proposal form.We look forward to hearing your ideas!Christopher SawulaVice President for Conference ProgramVisual Resources Associationvpcp@vraweb.org
EAC & VREPS Community Hour: Cash Rules Everything Around Me
You asked and we listened! We are having a community hour based on our 2021 conference session, Cash Rules Everything Around Me! Join us on Wednesday, July 28, 11am PST / 12pm MST / 1pm CST / 2pm EST to discuss the following and more.
"Cash Rules Everything Around Me" gathered a diverse range of GLAM professionals to discuss financial/compensation transparency and how it relates to the field. Join EAC, VREPS co-chairs, and CREAM conference panelists, Jennifer Friedman and Margaret McKee, for a continuation of a fruitful discussion about compensation at various points in one’s career and across the field at large.
Everyone is encouraged to attend. We hope students and emerging professionals will leave feeling empowered with strategies to navigate employment, and managers/administrators will gain insight into potential discrepancies and inequities.
We invite you to review the survey results and presentation from the conference before the Hour, but we hope you will come prepared with your questions! If you prefer to participate anonymously, please send your questions in advance to Lael or Kendra or use private chat during the Hour.
View the Community Hour doc here.
*NEW* If you’d like to receive a Google Calendar invite (generally Outlook friendly) to help as a reminder, please select yes on the registration form. Registrants will still be sent a registration link via email two days before the hour.
Best,Kendra and LaelEAC Co-Chairs
Who would you like to see win a Distinguished Service Award or Nancy DeLaurier Award in 2022?
Has someone or something positively impacted your work in the field of visual resources and image management? We would love to celebrate their achievements!The VRA Awards Committee is scouting for potential nominators and nominees for the Distinguished Service (career achievement) and Nancy DeLaurier (project, publication, or other accomplishments) 2022 Awards to be given at the Annual Conference in Baltimore. To learn more about these awards, please see: httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/awards-committee/This is not a nomination, but a simple Google form that can be completed quickly to offer your ideas about deserving people or impactful projects. The Awards Committee will follow-up with you about your suggestions and provide assistance with any potential full nomination later this summer. See: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexCYTy1fM3Q1jjPkKWjILrNCWXX6E1X1Dwi4JrVxlNdv5Cww/viewformAlthough nominations need to be initiated by Visual Resources Association members, the nominees themselves do not need to be members of the organization.Please consider contacting us about any colleagues deserving of recognition and take a few minutes to complete this new Google form. We so welcome your ideas and suggestions.All the best wishes for a wonderful summer,Maureen BurnsVRA Awards Committee Chair
EAC Community Hour: Re-evaluating Work-Life Balance “Post-Pandemic”
Join us on Wednesday, June 30, 11am PST / 12pm MST / 1pm CST / 2pm EST to discuss the following and more. Are you concerned about the “return to normal”? Are you surrounded by the rhetoric that “everything is fine now,” and it’s okay to forget the experiences and lessons of the pandemic?
- Has your institution set a “back to normal” date? Has the language surrounding return to work been concerned with community and the necessities of social interaction?
- Do you feel a disconnect between the work you’ve been successfully completing at home for the past year and the potential lack of flexibility for telework “post-pandemic”?
- If you have been in the office, are you concerned about the lessening of restrictions?
- Are the rules for eating, distancing, and interacting for the fall up in the air?
- Is it unclear whether you will be continuing on with your “regular” duties, as well as the tasks you have collected during the pandemic?
- What have you learned about the differences between working from home and in the office? Is there a way to create/advocate for a better balance between work and home separation while maintaining some measure of flexibility?
Just as all of these concerns rise to the forefront, now may be a unique time for advocacy! How can we use what we have learned and done in the past year to bolster our positions and ask for a better work-life balance? View the Community Hour doc here. *NEW* If you’d like to receive a Google Calendar invite (generally Outlook friendly) to help as a reminder, please select yes on the registration form. Registrants will still be sent a registration link via email two days before the hour. Click here to register!Best,Kendra and LaelEAC Co-Chairs
EAC Community Hour: Transparency and Stakeholder Power
Join us Tuesday, April 20, at 2pm EDT / 1pm CDT / 12pm MDT / 11am PDT for our April Community Hour.
Our Community Hour will host a power mapping workshop and discussion with Kate Thornhill (Digital Scholarship Librarian) and Ann Shaffer (Music and Dance Librarian), both of whom are union stewards for the University of Oregon Libraries. The overall topic of this workshop will be transparency and stakeholder power.
- Power Mapping 101 - EdJustice via National Endowment for the Arts
- Power Mapping Your Way to Success - Union of Concerned Scientists, Science in Action Toolkit
- Guide to Power Mapping - Restorative Justice Project, Diversion Toolkit for Communities
Please send any specific questions or concerns in advance to Lael or Kendra (if you wish to remain anonymous please let us know) or bring your questions to the Hour (where you can still be anonymous via private chat).
Click here to register and view the April Community Hour doc here.
Best,Lael & KendraEAC Co-chairs
Announcing the VRA Distinguished Service Award and Nancy DeLaurier Recipients
PRESS RELEASEMarch 29, 2021Contact: Visual Resources Association info@vraweb.orgOnline Address: httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/awards-committee/VISUAL RESOURCES ASSOCIATION PRESENTS 2021 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD TO MARCIA MEEKER FOCHT AND NANCY DELAURIER AWARD TO ANNA BERNHARD AND HEATHER LOWE FOR THEIR WORK FOUNDING THE VISUAL RESOURCES EMERGING PROFESSIONALS AND STUDENTS GROUPVIRTUAL CHICAGO, Illinois—The Visual Resources Association (VRA), a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to furthering research and education in the field of image management, proudly presented the 2021 Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to Marcia Meeker Focht, Binghamton University’s Visual Resources Curator, at the Virtual Chicago conference on March 25th. The VRA annually honors an individual who has made an outstanding career contribution to the field of visual resources and image management. DSA recipients have achieved a level of distinction through leadership, research, service to the profession, outstanding innovation, participation, or project management.
In over 30 years of active participation in VRA, Focht has helped to shape the association through her empathetic leadership and extraordinary service record—two terms on the VRA Executive Board, participation in various committees, task forces, and other special interest groups, and currently, Chair of the VRA Foundation. This breadth of service is only surpassed by her considerable professional talents, sincere dedication, and engaging personality. For example, she is primarily responsible for the success of the VRA Mentor Program with 13 years of “cheerleading” and matching new members with nurturing veterans to contribute to positive conference experiences and to help with ongoing professional development. She has welcomed more people to VRA than any other member, mentored many a future leader, and contributed to member retention.A forward-looking embracer of new technologies, Focht successfully transitioned her image collection from analog to digital images, collaborated with other campuses in the SUNY system to find ways to share Binghamton’s growing collection, and she continues to experiment with new technologies through digital humanities initiatives. As Tom McDonough, a Binghamton professor, stated in his letter of support, “What I’d most like to emphasize here, however, is not so much her assistance to the Art History faculty—her role was never merely supplemental or supportive—but her groundbreaking role in introducing us to the research and pedagogical potentials of the new tools offered by digital technology. Marcia could never be mistaken for a complacent figure; she has consistently sought out new ideas, new opportunities, and brought them back to campus to share with students and faculty alike.” An “ambassador” of embedded metadata, she has presented and published on the innovative tools the VRA developed at regional, national, and international conferences.Focht’s career-long dedication has involved hard work, intellectual curiosity, and impressive productivity, all accomplished with boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and an infectious sense of humor. VRA President, Jeannine Keefer, stated “Marcia exemplifies the numerous ways that members can participate and give back to VRA via committee and chapter participation, leadership roles, discussion contributions, and sharing our work with the world outside the association. Her mentorship and encouragement has meant the world to me over the years. I could not have asked for a better professional role model or a more dear friend.” Focht richly deserves the DSA award for her unparalleled spirit of volunteerism and career-long dedication to the visual resources profession. She has given “her head and her heart” to VRA and the membership has benefitted greatly from her generosity.
The Nancy DeLaurier Award (NDL), named for one of the pioneers of the Visual Resources profession, honors distinguished achievement in the field of image management. “Achievement" is measured by immediate impact and may take the form of published work, oral presentation, project management, software development, technology application, Web site creation, or other outstanding effort. The NDL was enthusiastically bestowed on Anna Bernhard and Heather Lowe for their foundational work with the Visual Resources Emerging Professionals and Students group (VREPS).Under the initial leadership of these two founding chairs, VREPS created a space where emerging VRA professionals can build kinship, network, exchange ideas, collaborate, and thrive. Anna, Heather, and the newfound VREPS group recognized that early professionals and students were entering a drastically different employment landscape than their more established VRA colleagues, and they sought to provide a variety of support for these association members. As the nominator, Jasmine Burns of Cornell University, shared, "Anna and Heather set a wonderful example of what emerging professionals could accomplish in and outside of the VRA. Their example gave me the confidence and eagerness to run for office, serve in chapter leadership, and continue building my job-related skills before I even hit the job market. The inclusive space that they created during my first-ever conference experience made me a long-lasting member and fostered my connections with other people in the same boat, many of whom remain my treasured, life-long colleagues."The group focuses on developing job searching skills, networking, and finding professional development opportunities, such as relevant webinars, workshops, and conferences. VREPS sponsors VRA conference sessions and workshops as well as the annual “Night Out,” an informal, open, social outing that provides emerging professionals an opportunity to get to know each other and form new relationships in an informal setting, both of which have become a formalized features of the VRA conference. They alert group members about calls for papers/proposals, fellowships, internships, scholarships/awards, employment openings, and other opportunities. The VREPS blog became the go-to source for job and internship opportunities in the field and inspired the creation of the VRA Job Digest. By the time Anna and Heather stepped down from their VREPS leadership roles, the group had firmly solidified its place within the VRA. Bernhard and Lowe have more than paid back any mentorship they received by developing this new mechanism to warmly welcome emerging professional and students to the field of visual resources.Visual Resources Association http://www.vraweb.org/
The VRA Board and EAC stand in solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community
The VRA Executive Board and Equitable Action Committee stand in solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the field of visual resources and beyond. Anti-AAPI racism is not new to the United States, but it has seen an ugly increase since the beginning of 2020. With the onset of COVID-19, reported anti-Asian and anti-AAPI hate crimes have risen by 149% percent even while overall reported hate crimes have decreased by 7%. The organization Stop AAPI Hate reported on 3,795 incidents from March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021, which included verbal harassment, physical assault, civil rights violations, and online harassment. The Pew Center found in July 2020 that “three-in-ten Asian adults (31%) say they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their race or ethnicity since the outbreak began” and “majority of Asian adults (58%) say it is more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views about people who are Asian than it was before the coronavirus outbreak.” On March 16, 2021, eight massage parlor workers, six of whom were Asian women, were murdered as a result of white supremacist and misogynist violence: Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, and Paul Andre Michels. The VRA condemns this hate crime and sends its condolences to the family members and friends of those who were slain, and all those in the AAPI community who are mourning this loss. We understand that this violence, combined with the events of the last year, may have an understandably negative impact on the health and well-being of our AAPI colleagues. A non-exhaustive list of mental health resources for the AAPI community can be found below; please let VRA know if there are additional ways we may support you. You can email the board at conduct@vraweb.org to report incidents that occurred at any VRA conferences, affiliated events, or online forums. You may also always use this form to let the EAC know your concerns you have related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Or, you can write the Board directly at board@vraweb.org or the EAC at ea@vraweb.org. It is critical that white people recognize that the United States was founded in white supremacy, and that anti-AAPI racism and violence are one painful part of our legacy. Read about a select handful of this history in this article. For more in-depth analysis of anti-Asian racism, see this reading list, and for information on Asian history, solidarity, and feminism, see this reading list. We must learn from the past, acknowledge what is going on today, and collectively act to bring about change for a better tomorrow. Anti-racist practices need to be embedded in visual resource work, as well, including but not limited to anti-racist hiring and retention practices, collections development, cataloging and description, curation, and programming and outreach. For those outside the AAPI community, please see opportunities for bystander intervention and financial support below. Training:
- Bystander intervention training to stop anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment, hosted by Hollaback! partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. (Various dates)
- Bystander intervention pamphlet by Hollaback!
- Stop AAPI Hate for more resources and information on how to report a hate crime
- Center for Anti-Violence Education for future training sessions
Organizations to donate to:Atlanta-area organizations:
- National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Atlanta chapter
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Atlanta chapter
- Korean American Coalition Metro Atlanta
- Raksha
- Asian American Resource Center
- Asian American Advocacy Fund (Georgia)
- Center for Pan Asian Community Services
Justice advocacy organizations:
- Asian American Community Resource and Donation List - this document includes organizations to support by state, volunteer opportunities by state, small business and individual mutual aid opportunities, and upcoming vigils and rallies
- Red Canary Song
- Stop AAPI Hate
- Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- AAPI Journalists Therapy Relief Fund
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
- Asian American Feminist Collective
- National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice
- Empowering Pacific Islander Communities
- National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
- Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum
- Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
- National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
- National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
Mental health resources for the AAPI community:
- APISAA Therapist Directory
- Southasiantherapists.org
- National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
- Inclusive Therapists
- National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network
- Asian American Health Initiative toolkits (1 & 2)
------References:https://sites.northwestern.edu/asag/about-us/who-is-apida/CAA:CAA Antiracism Working Group Statement in Support of the AAPI Community The Chicago Area Archivists’ Antiracism Working Group stands in solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander community within CAA and beyond. We unequivocally condemn the racist acts of violence and pervasive discrimination against Asian Americans. This past year has seen a dramatic and tragic rise in hate crimes against people of Asian descent in the United States, including the heartbreaking murders of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, by a white domestic terrorist that took place in Atlanta on March 16th. These incidents follow a long history of anti-Asian racism in the United States and underscore the urgent need to dismantle white supremacy in our country. We understand that this violence brings harm, anxiety, and grief to our AAPI members and offer our solidarity and support. A select list of national and local resources for AAPI folks and for others to support the AAPI community: In Wake Of Deadly Georgia Shooting, Chicagoans Are Combating Anti-Asian Violence Nationwide: ‘Be Part Of The Solution’ Block Club Chicago Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago Chicago Community Trust Asian Giving Circle Community Resources | Asian American Resource and Cultural Center | University of Illinois at Chicago Letter to Asian Diasporic Library Workers up//root Stop AAPI Hate 61 Ways to Donate in Support of Asian Communities New York Magazine Signed, CAA’s Antiracism Working GroupARLIS:[ARLIS-L] Condemning the Attacks Against Asian Americans Condemning the Attacks Against Asian AmericansThank you for taking the time to read this statement. The hope of the ARLIS/NA Diversity and Inclusion Committee (ARLIS/NA D&I) is for these words to resonate into efforts of support and compassion that extend beyond our roles in librarianship. When the former occupant of the White House introduced COVID-19 to America, he used his podium to blanket the virus in racially charged rhetoric associated with the rise in hate crimes in the Asian American community. According to a report by STOP AAPI HATE, a group composed of Asian American and Pacific Islander American civic organizations, between March 2020 and February 2021, verbal harassment made up 68% of attacks and by February 2021 physical assaults became the 3rd leading form of discrimination and made up 11% of incidents. On February 3rd, 61-year-old Noel Quitana was in the New York subway station on his way to work when he felt kicks in his back. Those kicks were followed by slashes that led to about 100 stitches to his face. Unfortunately, this violent incident is not isolated. On March 16th, a rampage ended with the murder of 8 people in 3 massage parlors, 6 were reported to be of Asian descent. Furthermore, “How San Francisco Erased a Neighborhood,” a report by VOX, examines a history often forgotten, a fight for fair-housing by Filipino immigrants who were brutalized by members of the surrounding community, segregated, then violently displaced through gentrification. As the country begins to examine a past littered with inhumanity, library professionals must be vigilant in eradicating the perpetuation of racist tropes, dehumanization, and the facilitation of segregative practices. The ARLIS/NA D&I Committee condemns these acts of persecution and stands with our Asian colleagues during this tumultuous time! The ARLIS/NA D&I Committee welcomes feedback on how we can better support the Asian community at this time and beyond! Please send suggestions to natisha.n.harper@gmail.com.
VRA 2021: Film Screening of '63 Boycott
VRA 2021: Early Bird Registration Ends Soon
We’re just a month away from the start of VRA 2021!If you haven’t registered yet for the annual conference, now is the time to take advantage of Early Bird Rates, which are good through Saturday, March 6. While we will miss seeing everyone in person, the online format has two major advantages: we are able to offer lower registration fees this year and we are able to welcome attendees from around the world.Early Bird Rates available through March 6, 2021Member: $100Non-member: $200Student, Retired, Unemployed: $75Non-member Student, Retired, Unemployed: $125Members of affiliate organizations (ARLIS/NA, CAA, SAH, SECAC, CAICC) will register at the VRA Member rate.You can register through the conference website or at this direct link: https://vra.memberclicks.net/2021vra38. New members should register at the Non-member rate.In the next few weeks, we will be sharing more information about our virtual host city, Chicago, Steven D. Booth’s keynote address, and what you need to know to get the most out of our online conference. We plan to open the VRA 2021 Attendee Portal on March 15, one week early, so you have time to look around, read the FAQs, and ask your questions in advance.The VRA Board, our Membership Services Coordinator, and all of our conference content contributors and volunteers are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for VRA 2021. We hope you can join us in March.Looking forward to VRA 2021!Meghan RubensteinVRA Public Relations and Communication Officer
VRA 2021: SIGs and SUGs
Did you know that within VRA there are a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Special User Groups (SUGs)? Over time, these communities have formed organically, shifting focus based on the interests of their current members. Each year at the annual VRA conference, a number of these groups sponsor sessions open to all attendees. VRA 2021, virtualChicago, is no exception! If you are looking to learn more about the work of our SIGs and SUGS, or want to join up with more like-minded individuals, keep these sessions on your radar as you build your own conference program on Sched.Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Special User Groups (SUGs) at VRA 2021: Monday, March 22
- 4:00–5:00 pm CDT VREPS Committee Meeting Roundtable [VREPS: Visual Resources Emerging Professionals and Students Group]
Tuesday, March 23
- 12:00–1:00 pm CDT Visual Resources in Archives: Information Sharing on Cultural Heritage Collections [SIG: Archives]
- 1:00–2:00 pm CDT Solo VR Professionals [SIG: Solo VR Professionals]
Wednesday, March 24
- 10:00–11:00 am CDT Artstor User Group Forum [SUG: Artstor]
- 10:00–11:00 am CDT MDID Special Interest Group Meeting [SUG: MDID]
- 2:00–3:00 pm CDT Future-Proof Your Data: Cataloging Conundrums and CCO [SIG: CCO]
Thursday, March 25
- 10:00–11:00 am CDT Materials Collections [SIG: Material and Object Collections]
Friday, March 26
- 11:00 am–12:00 pm CDT Digital Humanities/Digital Scholarship [SIG: Digital Humanities and Digital Scholarship]
- 2:00–3:00 pm CDT EAC Community Hour: Looking Back and Looking Forward [SIG: Equitable Action Committee]
VRA 2021: DEIA Events
Greetings All,The Equitable Action Committee invites you to attend the many events during VRA 2021 that are related to the VRA’s equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts.Monday, March 22
- 1:00pm - 4:00pm CST Digital Accessibility and Accessible Design Practices Workshop
Tuesday, March 23
- 10:00am - 11:00am Adaptability, Ingenuity, and Opportunity: VR Professionals During a Pandemic
- 11:00am - 12:00pm CST Cash Rules Everything Around Me
- 1:00-1:45pm CST Re-imagining Digital Collections Metadata: Improving Workflows And Supporting User Experience
Wednesday, March 24
- 11:00am - 12:30pm CST Keynote Speaker: Steven De'Juan Booth
- 1:00pm - 2:00pm CST ‘63 Boycott: How a digital audiovisual civil rights collection inspires new generations of students
Thursday, March 25
- 10:00am - 11:00am CST Oral Histories for the Uninitiated: Transcribing, Copyright, Metadata and Everything in Between
- 1:00pm - 2:00pm CST Power and Respect: Giving Back IPR Rights to Vulnerable Communities
- 2:00-3:00pm CST Critical Viewing and Collaboration and Outreach: Building Innovative Projects
Friday, March 26
- 2:00pm - 3:00pm CST EAC Community Hour: Looking Back and Looking Forward
- 1:00pm - 2:00pm CST Stories from the Start
If you are unable to attend VRA 2021 and have suggestions for EAC, you may fill out the form here (https://bit.ly/38Y8nGZ).Contributed by Equitable Action Committee Co-chairs:Lael Ensor-Bennett, Johns Hopkins UniversityKendra Werst, Williams College
VREPS Spring Sessions
VRA 2021: The Lifecycle of Visual Assets
The conference schedule is jam-packed with sessions for all types of visual asset professionals. Transcending the differences in our workplaces and position titles, we all engage with materials and people along the visual asset management lifecycle.
The Lifecycle was identified by the VRA Identity Task Force reflecting key points of practice and professional interest. The VRA 2021 virtualChicago conference can be filtered according to these lifecycle categories to create programming tracks. You can click on the links below to find events, sessions, and workshops that align with these categories.
Sched Lifecycle Category: Conceptualization
Sched Lifecycle Category: Capture
Sched Lifecycle Category: Description
Sched Lifecycle Category: Management
Sched Lifecycle Category: Access
Sched Lifecycle Category: Preservation
Submitted by Sara Schumacher, Vice President of Conference Program
VRA 2021: Workshops
Workshops have always been a popular component of the VRA conference and the move to virtual has allowed for innovation while maintaining crucial hands-on participation.
Have you downloaded and started to use OpenRefine, but need help as you apply it to your work?Jasmine Burns will be your guide through real-life examples and answer all your questions in “Let’s Play OpenRefine Reconciliation!” on Monday, March 22, 11am-1pm CST
Do you struggle with organizing your thoughts, representing your ideas, and sharing the value and importance of your work?John Trendler, Sheryl Frisch, and Rebecca Moss will empower you through active prompts to harness the power of visual communication in “Visual Communication for Knowledge Acquisition, Processing and Dissemination” on Monday, March 22, 11am-3pm CST
Are you worried that your digital collections are not accessible to all users?Tiffany Saulter and Carie Fisher, consultants and trainers from Deque, will help you sort through the tools and strategies to identify accessibility problems and solve them in “Digital Accessibility and Accessible Design Practices” on Monday, March 22, 1-4pm CST
These workshops are filling up fast, so do not hesitate to add them to your conference registration OR as a stand-alone workshop (additional $35 processing fee). Are you already registered for the conference? Contact VRA Membership Services Coordinator at join@vraweb.org for assistance.
Learn more about the week-long conference at httpS://vraweb.org/2021-chicago.Submitted by Sara Schumacher, VRA Vice President for Conference Program
EAC Community Hour: Accessibility & Equity in Online Instruction
EAC and Instruction SIG have teamed up to provide a Community Hour session about online instruction accessibility and equity. Please join us on Wednesday January 20, from 11am-12pm PST/ 12pm-1pm MST/ 1pm-2pm CST/ 2pm-3pm ESTAs online instruction has become more normalized, it is important to assess accessibility and equity issues in our teaching and course planning. We will have a few guest moderators and hope to discuss these topics:
- Basics of accessible pedagogy
- Success and challenges of the past year, what have we learned?
- Shareable tips and tricks and suggestions for new resources
- Accessibility in archives, libraries, museums, and visual resources
Our guest moderators will include:Bridget Madden is the Associate Director of the Visual Resources Center in the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago. Bridget is Chair of VRA’s Midwest Chapter, Implementation Team Co-chair for ARLIS/NA & VRAF’s Summer Educational Institute for Digital Stewardship of Visual Information (SEI), and has been leading VRA’s new Instruction SIG.Berit Ness is the Assistant Curator of Academic Initiatives at the Smart Museum, University of Chicago's campus art museum. Berit is involved in teaching strategies that support first-year core humanities courses as well as object-focused art history graduate seminars and everything in between. Working as both an educator and a curator at the Smart, she recently opened an exhibition Take Care which was used for both in-person and virtual teaching this fall. She is a thoughtful educator and curator whose recent exhibition Take Care was taught in-person and remotely in several courses this fall.
EAC Community Hour: Winter Check-In
Greetings All,Join us for a Winter Check-in on Wednesday December 16, 2:00-3:00 pm EST/ 11:00am-12:00pm PST.As this unprecedented year comes to a close, we thought we would hold space for the membership to get together to chat and support each other. We are envisioning this session as more of a “drop-in coffee” hour where we will not have a set topic and hot beverages of choice are encouraged. Feel free to share your end of semester thoughts, workplace anxieties, or plans for the New Year.Click here to register for EAC's Community Hour!Best,Lael + KendraEAC Co-Chairs
VRA 2021 Early Bird Registration Open!
Meet the 2020 Executive Board Candidates: Jon Cartledge, Secretary
About the Candidate:Jon Cartledge is the Digital Imaging Specialist at the Smith College. He is currently a member of the Cataloging and Metadata Standards CCO Sub-committee. From 2012 to 2017, he was secretary of the Visual Resource Association of New England. He has a BA in Anthropology, an MFA in Printmaking, and a masters in Library Science. He has presented at both regional and national VRA conferences and has published in the VRA Bulletin. He is also an active printmaker and a former board member of the Boston Printmakers. He has shown internationally and his work is in the collections of the University of Arkansas and the University of Cincinnati.Goals:I have been a member of VRA for nearly twenty years and have participated as a speaker, writer, organizer, and occasional technician. I have also hugely benefitted as from VRA, by its innumerable and invaluable trainings, excellent colleagues, and indispensable publications. I am happy to give back to an organization that has given so much to me and the profession. I’ve been secretary in couple different organizations, and I’m excited to bring these skills to the VRA board.