Announcing the VRA 2024 Travel Awards Recipients! ✈

Dear VRA Colleagues,

The VRA Travel Awards Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of Travel Awards for the 2024 VRA conference in Minneapolis, MN. The application pool this year was strong and we are pleased to be able to fund eleven excellent applications.

Lesley Carey – Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award

Emma Carter – Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award

Daniel Cicholwlas – Garneta E. Taormina Memorial Student Award and New Horizons student award

Jori Dale – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Award

Laura Darlington – New Horizons Award

Nora Davies – Kathe Hicks Albrecht Award and Luraine Tansey/VRA Top-up Award

Otto Luna – Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award

Grant Mandarino – Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award

April Martin – New Horizons Award

Julia Murphy – Luraine Tansey/VRA Top-up Award

Anna Zook – Luraine Tansey/VRA Travel Award

The Travel Awards committee thanks all of this year’s applicants. Additional thanks go to our generous travel award sponsors and the VRA Executive Board for their support of the Travel Awards Committee.  

Congratulations again to this year’s recipients,

Dr. Jeannine Keefer, 

Chair, Travel Awards Committee

July 2024 - VRA Board Buzz

Hi there—Happy Summer! I hope you have a fantastic summer that's just right—not too hot, rainy, or dry. 

Is now a good time to reflect on why you joined VRA? I joined to learn more about the field and to develop useful skills. To achieve that goal, I joined committees. VRA has about 10 committees and special interests groups, covering quite a few areas, and the details are here. 

I joined the VRA Core Oversight Committee, now merged into Cataloging and Metadata Standard Committee (CaMS), because I was interested in knowing more about VRA Core, the metadata structure standard developed by this very community back in 1996. In its fourth version, VRA Core is an internationally recognized metadata standard for describing works of visual culture and their surrogates, the media files created through digitization to represent the works in the digital realm. For decades, VRA Core has been integrated into schemes and tools to record cultural objects and related media files. The primary document, VRA Core 4.0 Element Description and Tagging Examples was first made available in English, followed by Italian, Greek and Chinese. 

Another metadata standard developed by this community and published in 2006 is Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO). Also internationally recognized, CCO guides the creation of record field content for cultural artifacts, such as those in visual culture. VRA Core and CCO complement each other: VRA Core provides guidance on the overall metadata schema, including which fields to include in cataloging environments and the sources of controlled vocabularies for some fields, while CCO focuses on specific tasks, such as forming titles when they are unknown and handling unknown creators. Though they work marvelously together, VRA Core and CCO can also be applied individually when developing or modifying metadata guidelines for specific projects.

Now, 28 years after the first version of VRA Core was released and 18 years since CCO was published, two sub-committees at CaMS are working parallelly to expand and update both VRA Core and CCO. Isn't that exciting? 

The work began a year ago, and this year, both sub-committees have made significant progress. VRA Core subcommittee have completed the review of VRA Core, identifying areas for expansion to enhance accessibility features, facilitate geographic location tagging and multiple language support. The VRA Core 5.0 draft scheme is coming out, potentially, for the community review before it is finalized. CCO, being a much larger document, requires more time to review, and the focus is to identify the areas that should be updated in response to widely-adopted cataloging approaches and newly established practices in critique cataloging. Preliminary planning has been done and the review is in process at a steady speed. The two subcommittees are currently discussing how to present the upcoming updates in an intuitive manner. At the same time, they are considering applying for major grants to cover expenses on  professionals and services if needed. 

If you want to join them, it’s not too late! The CCO subcommittee especially needs more participants. CaMS sent out emails to ask for volunteers last Friday. Feel free to approach CaMS now for this opportunity. Please contact the whole committee at vra-cams@googlegroups.com. Use “CCO Review Volunteer” as the Subject Line. 

Joining the committee is a fantastic opportunity to develop new skills, expand your network, and contribute to something bigger than yourself. In this case, you'll not only become more familiar with established metadata standards, but also play a key role in integrating the latest advancements of many fields into these standards, benefiting users worldwide. 

BTW, CaMS will have a new co-chair -- Grant Mandarino. Grant currently works for Providence Archives in Seattle as Visual Resources Archivist. He holds an MLIS from Simmons University and a PhD in Art History from the University of MIchigan. Starting August, he will work with CaMS’ long-term chair Leah Constatine to co-lead CaMS starting August. Leah has led CaMS solely for a few years. She has not only established effective communication within the committee but has also sustained major initiatives and facilitated the committee's growth. Kudos to Leah! As Leah transitions to the role of co-chair and later a committee member, Grant and Leah are now actively recruiting another co-chair to begin in 2025. Another opportunity knocks! :)

Best,

Xiaoli Ma

President

Visual Resources Association

VRA Happenings & Reminders

VRA 2024 Annual Conference Registration is Open Now!

The conference will be held October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, MN. VRA 2024 follows a single-track hybrid conference model. Register now to take advantage of reduced Early Bird registration rates. Check out the conference website for more information. The program is available on Sched, with full descriptions of each session.

VRA Awards Nominations Open until July 26th

The VRA Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the 2024 Distinguished Service Award and the Nancy DeLaurier Award. These awards exist to honor outstanding efforts and people in visual resources that may otherwise go unrecognized. The dossiers for the Awards are due by Friday, July 26th, and should be sent to: vra.awards@gmail.com.

VRA Bulletin 50th Anniversary Edition Out Now!

The 50th Anniversary Edition of the VRA Bulletin (VRAB) is now available. This special edition celebrates 50 years of VRAB and all of the editors, advisors, and authors who have contributed to its legacy. 

VRA Regional Workshop Season

The VRA is pleased to announce its 2024 Workshop Season! Check out the full schedule here. If you have any questions, please send an email to the Regional Workshop Implementation Team at vraf.rwit@gmail.com.

New for this season: VRA members will receive a nearly 25% discount on all of our workshop registration fees! For online workshops, the VRA member rate is $50 and the non-member rate is $65.

VRA 2024 Attendee Guide

About the Schedule

VRA 2024 is a single-track, hybrid conference. A nice thing about single-track programming is that it eliminates the FOMO (fear of missing out) that can arise during multi-track conferences. It also makes it a bit easier for us to offer hybrid programming — live-streaming takes a large amount of money and labor! 

While VRA is designed to be as hybrid a conference as possible, workshops, tours, meals, and certain meetings are only available in person. 

There are several other opportunities to network, learn, and explore at this year’s conference. Each day includes 15-minute breaks between sessions, an hour and fifteen minutes for lunch, and two coffee breaks. Events like our Welcome Reception, Members Breakfast, and Community Happy Hour are all great ways to make new connections. 

All registrants will also have access to a VRA Slack channel where you can interact and share your thoughts throughout the conference.

We also are offering three outstanding tours this year! Conference attendees can take advantage of exclusive tours of two exhibitions at Walker Art Center, Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library, and the Visual Resources Center at Minneapolis Institute of Art. These all require prior registration, and the Walker has a small fee, so be sure that you’re registered ahead of time: Register for tours here! Please note, the tour registration form is separate from conference registration.

For Virtual Attendees

We will be live streaming all general sessions and certain events like the Convocation Keynote and Awards Ceremony. Certain events, like workshops and the Welcome Reception and Members Breakfast, will only be offered on-site. 

All registrants will receive a daily morning email from VRA during the conference with Zoom links for each day. The webinars will be live 15 minutes prior to the start of programming, and remote attendees are encouraged to log in a little early so we can assist with troubleshooting as needed. All registrants will also have access to a VRA Slack channel where you can interact and share your thoughts throughout the conference.

For First-Time Attendees

Each year our association welcomes many who are attending their first or second conference. Even with user-friendly conference programming; a newcomer may have questions, need advice, or simply want help meeting new people in a new place. Our Annual Conference Mentor Program is a fun and collegial program. Both mentors and mentees have found the program enhances their conference experience.

You may request a conference mentor or volunteer as a mentor when you register for the conference, or contact the Membership Committee’s Mentor Coordinator.

For Speakers, Moderators, and Volunteers

All speakers, moderators, and volunteers must register for the conference ahead of time. If you are attending the full conference, you are eligible for $50 off full conference registration. If you are only attending the day of your presentation, you may register for a day pass. 

When you register for the full conference as a speaker, you will use the same registration form as all other conference attendees. When you get to the end of the form where it says “How would you like to pay?” please select “Invoice Me” from the list, then click on the “Pay Later” button. Our membership coordinator will add your discount and send you an updated invoice.

All sessions have a moderator. Moderators will be provided with training prior to the session. If you are interested in moderating a session, please reach out to initiatives@vraweb.org.

There are many opportunities to help shape the conference through volunteering. Please reach out to initiatives@vraweb.org if you are interested in lending a hand. 

Thank you everyone who is helping to make this year’s conference a success! 

Getting Around Minneapolis

Minneapolis offers several ways to get from point A to point B, including an award-winning transit system with light rail and buses. The city is also served by taxis, Uber and Lyft, the famous Skyway System, and bike rentals on the streets with dedicated bike lanes all over the city.

For those flying into the city, the METRO Blue Line is a dependable, low-cost light rail system that can get you from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport straight to the conference hotel. Tickets are sold at ticket machines at the rail stations.

• More on Transportation in Minneapolis

• Minneapolis Light Rail & Bus Information

• An Accessibility Guide to Minneapolis

• Your Guide to the Minneapolis Skyway System

Fund Your Attendance

VRA offers several opportunities to support attendance at our annual conference via Travel Awards. First-time attendees, new members, students, international members, isolated professionals, those from underrepresented and underserved communities, and those actively participating in the conference programming are especially encouraged to apply. Applications for Travel Awards are being accepted through July 8, 2024.

VRA Refund Policy

Planning and arrangements for facilities, catering, and other program elements are based in part on registration numbers. Unanticipated circumstances may occasionally require registrants to cancel their registrations and request a refund. We ask that you do this as a last resort.

Refunds of event registration fees requested by registrants will be made on request through the start of the program; however, an administrative cancellation fee of $50 will be charged. Please note that in most cases refund requests will not be accepted after a program has concluded.

If a conference, workshop, tour, or other program is canceled by the Association, all registration fees will be refunded.

Accessibility

We want to make choices that make VRA 2024 as accessible and welcoming as possible. 

Every session has a moderator who ensures people use the microphone for their questions and presentations. Certain events, like the Keynote, have live captions. General sessions and the Keynote are live-streamed. 

Most importantly, we want to hear from you about what you need! Please reach out to initiatives@vraweb.org to make arrangements for individualized accessibility concerns like dietary restrictions, seating arrangements, and other conference-specific needs. If you need something addressed during the conference, please contact initiatives@vraweb.org, or any member of the VRA Executive Board. 

The conference hotel, Embassy Suites Minneapolis Downtown, has their accessibility features outlined on their website. If you need an accessible room, please let the hotel know that directly when you book your room. 

VRA 2024 Minneapolis Conference Planning Team

• Maria Nuccilli, Sr. Director for Events & Initiatives | Wayne State University

• Molly Schoen, Jr. Director for Events & Initiatives | Fashion Institute of Technology

• Nadine McAllister, Officer & Conference Experience Liaison | Brown University

• Emily Smith, Public Relations & Communications Officer | Oakland Museum of California

• Meghan Rubenstein, Technology Advisor | Colorado College

• Otto Luna, Co-Chair, Education Committee | University of New Hampshire

• Amy McKenna, Co-Chair, Education Committee | Williams College

• Ann McShane, Conference Experience Planning Group | Emory University

• Margaret McKee, Conference Experience Planning Group | The Menil Collection

• Allan Kohl, Conference Experience Planning Group | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

VRA 2024: Announcing Keynote Speaker Kao Kalia Yang!

The VRA Executive Board is pleased to announce the VRA 2024 Conference keynote speaker, Kao Kalia Yang. She is a Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer. Yang is the award-winning author of the memoirs, The Latehomecomer, The Song Poet, Somewhere in the Unknown World, and Where Rivers Part. She has authored several children's books, including A Map Into the World, The Most Beautiful Thing, and The Shared Room. Yang’s work has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Book Critics Circle Award, as Notable Books by the American Library Association, and garnered four Minnesota Book Awards. You can learn more about Kao Kalia Yang and her work on her website.

In her presentation, titled “Between Images and Words,” Kao Kalia Yang will read from and explore how the form of the picture book has expanded meaning within her work. Yang will discuss how the contributions of her illustrators have shifted and deepened her stories, how the conversation between both opens up possibilities for readers of all ages, and what lives in between images and words: the breadth of the emotional landscape. 

The Convocation Keynote is scheduled for October 8th, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. CDT, and will be open to the public via Zoom. Register here!

Have you registered for the VRA 2024 Conference yet? Register now to take advantage of reduced Early Bird registration rates, and join us October 8-10th, on-site at the Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis or virtually. Check out the conference website for more information. The program is available on Sched, with full descriptions of each session.

June 2024 - Introducing VRA "Board Buzz"

Hello all, I am Xiaoli.

Summertime Salutations!

To start, I am thrilled to introduce (again) our new executive Board that formally started in April 2024. Each member brings unparalleled passion and innovative ideas to our organization. Will Fenton, Treasure, brings in rich experience in professional organization treasury management. Meanwhile, Emily Smith, Public Relations and Communication Officer, possesses the right skill sets to craft a well-rounded strategy, fostering connections among members and facilitating resource sharing (this newsletter is one product of this strategy). Jon Cartledge, Secretary, and Liz Gadelha, Grants Officer, have been valuable members of the Board for several years. Jon has meticulously organized all Board files and consistently provided valuable insights from past Board communications to aid decision-making. Liz has efficiently optimized grants management processes and led the selection of grant applications following the merger of VRA and VRAF. Jon and Liz, not only do they support the Board in their respective functional areas, but they also connect the current Board with the past Boards through their knowledge about VRA’s history and traditions. Lastly, we are fortunate to have an outstanding planning team on the Board. This team is headed by Maria Nuccilli, Senior Director for Events and Initiatives, supporting her are Molly Schoen, Junior Director for Events and Initiatives and Nadine McAllister, Officer. They worked tirelessly, collaborating with hotels, institutions, individuals and VRA groups to organize this upcoming conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 8-10, 2024. (Check out the program and register soon to secure the Early Bird Registration.)

This year, we received numerous excellent proposals. To select and then to organize them into a coherent conference was daunting, but the Education Committee willingly undertook this challenge. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Committee for their dedication and hard work. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Allan Kohl for his help. As a Minneapolis local, he has provided unwavering support to the conference planning team, ensuring that the conference comes together, and on schedule. Thank you, Allan Kohl! 

Further exciting news: a new task force has been established! 

Led by our past Treasure Ann McShane, joined by our long-term membership coordinator Lise Hawkos (the lady who contacted you when you first joined VRA) and the current Public Relations and Communication Officer, Emily Smith, this task force, named as Membership Services Software Task Force, will evaluate various membership management software options to identify a more cost-effective solution for managing VRA membership. Currently VRA uses MemberClicks to manage membership, and VRA has used it for many years. With technology advances daily, it’s essential to explore whether there are better, more cost-effective options available. Save a little, gain a lot. We look forward to the task force’s report to be presented during the conference. The group meets every Thursday at 4-4:45 EDT/3-3:45 CDT/2-2:45 MDT/1-1:45 PDT. If you are interested in this type of work, join the task force. Contact Ann at ann.mcshane@emory.edu.  

 That’s all from me for now. 

The new Board looks forward to working with all of you. This year’s annual conference will surely be exceptional, and the registration is now open! Please join the Membership Services Software Task Force!

Best,

Xiaoli Ma

President, Visual Resources Association

VRA Happenings & Reminders

VRA 2024 Annual Conference Registration is Open Now!

The conference will be held October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, MN. VRA 2024 follows a single-track hybrid conference model. Register now to take advantage of reduced Early Bird registration rates. Check out the conference website for more information. The program is available on Sched, with full descriptions of each session.

VRA 2024 Call for Posters

The VRA Conference Planning Committee welcomes applications for in-person poster presenters at the conference. Unfortunately, at this time there is no virtual option for posters. The poster session will be held Wednesday, October 9, 4:30 p.m. CDT. Submit you poster via this form. The application deadline is Monday, July 8, 11:59 p.m. PDT.

VRA Travel Awards Submissions Open until July 8th

We are delighted to announce that VRA Travel Awards are available for attendance at the 2024 VRA conference in Minneapolis. Applications can be submitted via this form by Monday, July 8, 11:59 pm EDT​. The list of recipients will be announced on the VRA listserv the week of July 31. Contact our committee at travelawards@vraweb.org with any questions.

VRA Awards Nominations Open until July 26th

The VRA Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the 2024 Distinguished Service Award and the Nancy DeLaurier Award. These awards exist to honor outstanding efforts and people in visual resources that may otherwise go unrecognized. The dossiers for the Awards are due by Friday, July 26th, and should be sent to: vra.awards@gmail.com.

VRA Bulletin 50th Anniversary Edition Out Now!

The 50th Anniversary Edition of the VRA Bulletin (VRAB) is now available. This special edition celebrates 50 years of VRAB and all of the editors, advisors, and authors who have contributed to its legacy. 

VRA Regional Workshop Season

The VRA is pleased to announce its 2024 Workshop Season! Register now for our popular Events Made Easy workshop, July 11th & 12th 3-5pm EST both days. Full workshop details and registration links are available on the website. If you have any questions, please send an email to the Regional Workshop Implementation Team at vraf.rwit@gmail.com. New for this season: VRA members will receive a nearly 25% discount on all of our workshop registration fees! For online workshops, the VRA member rate is $50 and the non-member rate is $65.

Announcing the VRA 2024 Workshop Season!

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) is pleased to announce its 2024 Workshop Season!

Our first workshop is right around the corner! Details and registration are below for our popular Events Made Easy workshop. Scroll down for the dates and topics for the next three workshops in our 2024 season!

New for this season: VRA members will receive a nearly 25% discount on all of our workshop registration fees! For online workshops, the VRA member rate is $50 and the non-member rate is $65.

Information about all workshops will be available here: https://www.vraweb.org/workshops

***

Events Made Easy (ONLINE)

Tess Colwell and Alexandra O’Keefe 
Thursday and Friday, July 11th and 12th (TWO-PART WORKSHOP) //  3:00-5:00 PM EST both days

Registration capped at 40

Register now through this form!

Hosting events for libraries and special collections is a key part of outreach to patrons but can be overwhelming and challenging depending on resources such as staff time, funding, and partnerships. In this workshop, participants will learn step-by-step how to use a simple framework to maximize limited resources, serve their community through events, and generate positive attention from stakeholders. This process includes developing a holistic strategy tailored to their specific community, creating a standardized outreach plan based on their institution’s procedures, and ultimately streamlining their programming efforts.

The instructors are from different art library backgrounds (one large academic and one art and design school) with event-planning expertise that is demonstrated in their joint research and work outcomes. They will introduce a customizable toolkit they designed using freely available tools which can be used in any collection’s context. Ideally, participants will bring one event idea to the workshop (but will have time between sessions one and two to create one if needed).

During the workshop, the instructors will walk participants through a series of hands-on, solo and collaborative activities to plan an event step-by-step using the framework while integrating GLAM scholarship about best practices in the field. The workflow participants will walk through includes audience identification, creative practitioner consideration, budget application, promotional material creation, action item generation, day-of-event execution, post-event evaluation, and thorough documentation to share with administration. Participants will leave the workshop with one complete event plan for their library or collection, a community of event-planning peers for future support, and a variety of resources to enact a sustainable events program at their institutions beyond this event.

Learning Objectives
Evaluate their community’s needs in order to generate outreach plan with individual events
Compose marketing materials such as emails, flyers, and event copy for a target audience
Utilize an existing, sustainable event management framework and apply it to their institution
Create a customized template for individual events that includes event planning logistics, marketing checklists, resource evaluation, post-event assessment, and overall documentation.

Register for this workshop here!

***

SAVE THE DATES for our upcoming workshops! Full details and registration for these workshops will be announced soon!

The Future is Looking Up!: How to Sustainably Utilize Drones for Research and the Classroom (and anything else) (ONLINE)

Instructor: Chris Strasbaugh
Friday, September 27th // 12:00-4:30 PM EST

Registration capped at 40

Learning to Look and Looking to Learn: A Workshop on Visual Literacy (ONLINE)

Instructors: Jessica Sack and Rachel Thompson

Friday, October 25th // 3:00-7:00 PM EST

Registration capped at 40

We are very pleased to announce our return to in-person programming with a full-day, immersive workshop held at Pitts Theology Library, Emory University in Atlanta, GA!
From Project to Product: Effective Project Management and Strategic Planning

Pitts Theology Library, Emory University (IN PERSON)

Atlanta, GA

Instructor: Cristela Garcia-Spitz

Friday, November 15th

Registration capped at 30

***

If you have any questions, please send an email to the Regional Workshop Implementation Team at workshops@vraweb.org.

Workshop Coordinator: Michelle Schierburg

Senior Workshop Liaison: Eva Soos

Junior Workshop Liaison: Caroline Philippone

Workshop Consultants : Beth Haas and Janice Shapiro Hussain

Announcing the VRA 2024 Travel Awards! ✈

We are delighted to announce that VRA Travel Awards are available for attendance at the 2024 VRA conference in Minneapolis, October 8-10, 2024! The application submission deadline is July 8 at 11:59 pm EDT​. The list of recipients will be announced on the VRA listserv the week of July 31. Contact our committee at travelawards@vraweb.org with any questions.

A preliminary conference schedule can be found here: https://vra2024.sched.com/. To assist with budgeting, the conference registration fees and hotel rate are available on the conference webpage.

Before you apply, PLEASE READ "Travel Award Rules and Guidelines” for VRA Travel Awards Applicants, and "Types of Travel Awards," both linked here as PDFs.

You do not need to be a member of the VRA to apply for a Travel Award. 

Travel Awards Application

Please also note that award checks are scheduled to be mailed to recipients after the Awards ceremony at the conference and as such, recipients will not have acce​ss to those funds ​ahead of the conference to set against travel expenses. 

Travel Awards are intended to provide partial support for an individual's conference attendance, and typically supplement support from one's employer and/or personal resources​. 

For 2024, we are fortunate to have generous financial support from sponsors and funds provided by the membership including: 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Award. Up to $1,000

Earmarked for applicants from underrepresented and underserved communities, which may include but is not limited to: neurodiversity, persons with (in)visible disabilities, gender identity, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, socioeconomic status, religion, sex, age.

Two New Horizons awards.  $850 to $700 each

Earmarked for applicants in one or more of the following categories:  first-time conferee, solo, part-time, or geographically isolated practitioner.

Tansey awards. $1000-$400 each

These awards are intended for applicants with insufficient (or no) institutional support from their employer or academic program.

Tansey Top-Up awards. $300-$250 each

These awards are intended for applicants who have demonstrated need for only partial support on top of other funding (typically from employers or graduate programs).  

New Horizons Student award. $300

Earmarked for a currently enrolled student.

Garneta E. Taormina Memorial Student Travel award. $300

For full-time graduate students enrolled in an accredited degree program and considering a career in visual resources and/or digital humanities. 

More awards may become available and will be announced on this listserv. Also, stay tuned and watch VRA-L and the VRA website for further details about the conference. Please email (travelawards@vraweb.org) if you have any questions not answered by the documents noted above. 

So don't delay - apply today!

VRA Bulletin | 50th Anniversary Edition (2024)

VRA Bulletin Vol. 51 No. 1 (2024): 50th Anniversary Edition

The 50th Anniversary Edition of the VRA Bulletin (VRAB) is now available. This special edition celebrates 50 years of VRAB and all of the editors, advisors, and authors who have contributed to its legacy. Explore the new issue of the VRA's fully open access journal below. 

IN THIS ISSUE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR(S)

Letter from the Editors:

50th Anniversary Edition

ASSOCIATION NEWS

2024 VRA State of the Association Address

John Trendler

Fiscal Year 2023 Visual Resources Association Treasurer's Report

Ann McShane

PERSPECTIVES

"Members Helping Members" – The VRA Travel Awards Program

Allan T. Kohl

Looking Back, Looking Forward:

50 Years of the Visual Resources Association Bulletin

Sara Schumacher

Encouraging Flexibility in Our Approach to Copyright:

An Interview with Nancy Sims

Sara Schumacher, Nancy Sims

FEATURE ARTICLES

Toward a Decolonial Archival Praxis:

Digitizing the Lloyd Best Archive in Trinidad and Tobago

Christina Bleyer, Amanda Matava

Capturing the Hidden Legacies of Route 66 in New Mexico:

Centennial Documentation Projects and Programs Honoring the Mother Road, Its People, and Stories

Audra Bellmore, Donatella Davanzo

Interactive Topography with IIIF:

Open Access to Photographs from the Ernest Nash Fototeca Unione Collection

Maureen Burns, Lavinia Ciuffa

REVIEWS

Review of The Visual Elements - Photography: A Handbook for Communicating Science and Engineering

Ann Bell

About the VRA Bulletin

The VRA Bulletin (VRAB) is the journal of the Visual Resources Association (VRA), a multidisciplinary, international organization dedicated to furthering image management education and research by providing leadership in the field, developing and advocating standards, and offering educational tools and opportunities for the benefit of the community at large. The VRAB is a fully open access journal and issues are available to anyone immediately upon publication. All costs of publishing are borne by the Visual Resources Association; there is no cost to the authors in order to publish.

Interested in publishing in the VRAB? Information about the submission and publication process is available on the VRAB website.

VRA 2024: Call for Posters!

The annual conference of the Visual Resources Association (VRA) is hybrid this year, meeting in person in Minneapolis, MN, as well as virtually from October 8–10, 2024. The Visual Resources Association is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to furthering research and education in the field of image management within the educational, cultural heritage, and commercial environments.

The VRA Conference Planning Committee welcomes applications for in-person poster presenters at the conference. Unfortunately, at this time there is no virtual option for posters. The poster session will be held Wednesday, October 9, 4:30 p.m. CDT. The conference’s full schedule of events is available at https://vra2024.sched.com

The application deadline is Monday, July 8, 11:59 p.m. PDT 

A poster session presents a topic using visual aids in conjunction with direct interaction with conference attendees. Posters can depict workplace initiatives, research in progress, and other topics of contemporary interest. Presenters will stand with their posters and engage directly with conference attendees. Posters can be displayed in the traditional manner using a physical poster board or by using up to 3 presentation slides. The VRA will not be able to provide laptops for use in the poster sessions.

Suggested topics include:

• 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)

• 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.)

This is not an exhaustive list! All ideas are welcome and will be carefully reviewed.

Poster presenters are responsible for printing their materials and mounting them in the display area at the conference ahead of the scheduled viewing time. If using presentation slides, presenters will need to bring their own laptops. Easels and tables will be provided.

How to submit your poster proposal:

Please fill out the form linked below by Monday, July 8th at 11:59 p.m.

Submit A Poster Proposal Here

The form asks for a 250-word statement describing your poster as well as its title. Applicants will be notified if their proposals have been accepted or not by July 18. If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please contact the VRA Directors for Events and Initiatives at initiatives@vraweb.org.

It's VRA Awards Season! Call for Nominations 🥇

The VRA Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the 2024 Distinguished Service Award and the Nancy DeLaurier Award. These awards exist to honor outstanding efforts and people in visual resources that may otherwise go unrecognized. 

1)    The VRA Distinguished Service Award honors an individual who has made an outstanding career contribution to the field of visual resources and image management. Nominees must have achieved a level of distinction in the field either through leadership, research, or service to the profession. Recent award recipients include:

• Greg Reser in 2023

• Jolene de Verges in 2022

• Marcia Focht in 2021

2)    The Nancy DeLaurier Award honors a single professional or a group of professionals for distinguished achievement in the field of visual resources. “Achievement” may take the form of published works, oral presentations, digital humanities projects, open-source solutions, software development, technology applications, website creations, or other outstanding efforts. Recent award recipients include:

• Lael Ensor-Bennett and Kendra Werst for exceptional leadership on the Equitable Action Committee and for founding the innovative and inclusive Community Hour Discussion Series in 2022. 

• Asfaneh Najmabadi for founding, guiding, developing, and sustaining the Women’s Worlds in Qajar Iran (WWQI) Digital Archive in 2022.

How To Apply

Nominations for both the Distinguished Service Award and the Nancy DeLaurier Award are submitted in the form of a dossier. This dossier must include:

1. The nominee’s curriculum vitae

2. A cover letter of nomination describing how the nominee meets the criteria, written by the nominator(s)

3. Letters written in support of the nomination

4. Documentation in support of the nomination, if applicable 

Nominations are accepted electronically via e-mail or file hosting service. After the submission deadline, members of the VRA Awards Committee review the submitted dossiers. The Awards Committee then makes recommendations to the VRA Executive Board.

The dossiers for the 2024 Distinguished Service Award and the 2024 Nancy DeLaurier Award are due by Friday, July 26th and should be sent to: vra.awards@gmail.com.

If you have any questions or need help, please contact Ann McShane or any member of the Awards Committee. We would be very happy to assist you in the nomination process. 

Registration for VRA 2024 is now open!

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) 2024 Conference Registration is now open! Register now to take advantage of reduced Early Bird registration rates, and join us October 8-10th, on-site at the Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis or virtually. Check out the conference website for more information. The program is available on Sched, with full descriptions of each session.

Register for the conference here!

We also are offering three outstanding tours this year! Conference attendees can take advantage of exclusive tours of two exhibitions at Walker Art Center, Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library, and the Visual Resources Center at Minneapolis Institute of Art. These all require prior registration, and the Walker has a small fee, so be sure that you’re registered ahead of time. Please note, the tour registration form is separate from conference registration.

Register for tours here!

Questions about either registration form? Please contact Membership Services Coordinator Lise Hawkos at join@vraweb.org if you need help to complete your registration.

For Speakers & Volunteers

All speakers must register for the conference ahead of time. If you are attending the full conference, you are eligible for $50 off full conference registration. When you register, you will use the same registration form as all other conference attendees. When you get to the end of the form where it says “How would you like to pay?” please select “Invoice Me” from the list, then click on the “Pay Later” button. Membership Services Coordinator Lise Hawkos will add your discount and send you an updated invoice to complete your payment. Please ignore the first automatically-generated invoice you receive immediately after registering—the VRA Membership Services Coordinator will reach out to you separately with an invoice reflecting your discount.

If you have questions about your eligibility for this discount, please contact initiatives@vraweb.org. Please note, this discount is only applicable for full conference registrations. If you are only attending the day of your presentation, you may register for a day pass.

Ready to book your stay? To reserve a room at the Embassy Suites at the special VRA Conference rate of $179 (+taxes) per night, use the VRA 2024 Annual Conference Booking Link. Be sure to make your reservation by September 6, 2024 to secure this rate (subject to availability).

VRA 2024 Minneapolis Website & Schedule Now Live!

The Visual Resource Association (VRA) 2024 Conference website and schedule is now live! Click here to view the website. The conference will be held October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, MN. VRA 2024 follows a single-track hybrid conference model, which means no attendee will miss out on any sessions, and makes hybrid programming easier for our volunteers. Registration for the hybrid conference will open on Monday, June 3rd. The Early Bird Registration rate is available until September 6th. 

This year’s programming highlights the diverse expertise of the VRA community — including sessions on digital preservation, accessibility, digital humanities, primary source literacy, culturally-responsive collection building, and a workshop on digital mapping — as well as the rich cultural offerings of Minneapolis. Click here to view the program on Sched.

We will be live streaming all general sessions and certain events like the Opening Keynote and Awards & Recognition Lunch for those who register to attend virtually. The workshop, tours, meals, and certain meetings are only available in person.

There are also several other opportunities to network, learn, and explore at this year’s conference. Each day includes 15-minute breaks between sessions, an hour and fifteen minutes for lunch, and two coffee breaks. Events like our Welcome Reception, Members Breakfast, and Community Happy Hour are all great ways to make new connections. 

We also are offering three outstanding tours this year — these all require prior registration, and some may have a cost, so be sure that you’re registered ahead of time. All tours are listed on Sched, and registration for tours will open at the same time as conference registration.

This year’s conference art was created by Asahi Nagata, a Japanese freelance illustrator based in Minneapolis. The photographic slide-inspired design will be featured on the conference tote bag given to all attendees, and is an homage to both our host city, and how much VRA has grown in the past 40+ years.

Ready to book your stay? To reserve a room at the Embassy Suites at the special VRA Conference rate of $179 (+taxes) per night, use the VRA 2024 Annual Conference Booking Link. Be sure to make your reservation by September 6, 2024 to secure this rate (subject to availability). Located in the historic Plymouth Building and directly connected to the Minneapolis Skyway System, this all-suite hotel features modern amenities alongside historic architecture. Guests enjoy a free made-to-order breakfast, free evening reception, fitness center, and heated indoor pool.

Prefer to attend remotely? You will be able to indicate that you plan to attend remotely at the time of registration. Registration rates are the same for both virtual and on-site attendees.

Interested in attending but need support in order to join us? Look out for the Travel Awards call for applications in a few weeks! 

Announcing the Recipients of the 2024 vrcHost Membership Awards

The VRA Awards Committee is delighted to announce that fourteen information professionals have been selected as recipients of the 2024 vrcHost Membership Awards.

The vrcHost Membership Awards provide a year of individual VRA membership, and chapter memberships of the recipient’s choice. They are intended to provide VRA memberships to engage new members in the organization and to help existing members who need financial assistance retain their VRA membership.

This second round of awards are sponsored by vrcHost, a company that offers comprehensive solutions for the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID) project--installation, integration, hosting, customization, and software development--while also serving as the exclusive agent for the Archivision Research Library, which provides professional architecture and art photography with rich metadata for educational purposes. VRA is grateful for vrcHost’s continued generosity.

Congratulations to:

• Charlie Coffey, Wesleyan University

• De'Ivyion "Ivy" Drew, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

• Madison Ferrell, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

• Diego Roberto Irigoyen, University of California, Riverside

• Ariell Lomax, California State University Sacramento

• Kaylie Longley, University of Denver

• Liz Miller, Emory University

• Meina Naeymirad, Pratt Institute

• Elisabeth Narkin, National Gallery of Art

• Sureshkrishnan Ramakrishnan, Independent

• Spencer Roberts, Emory University

• Isis A Serna, University of New Mexico

• Amanda Smith, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

• Marsha Taichman, Ontario College of Art & Design University

Please join us in welcoming these new members to the Visual Resources Association and in thanking vrcHost for funding these awards.

With much appreciation,

VRA Awards Committee

VRA 2024 Minneapolis Call for Volunteers

VRA 2024 will be held October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis, MN. The VRA Executive Board needs your help to make our conference a success! 

We have opportunities for both planning and on-site work, and will tailor your responsibilities to the amount of time you can commit to the planning efforts. Please note, volunteers are eligible to receive the speaker discount when registering for the conference.

If you are interested, please complete this form by May 2, 2024. 

We are seeking volunteers to help in the following areas:

Conference Experience Planning Group

• Organizing tours, dine arounds, meetups and more

• Identifying potential keynote speakers and local collaborators 

• Compiling local resources for attendees

• Adding local flair to the conference as a whole  

On-Site/Hybrid Volunteers

• Registration Desk 

• Session Moderators + Coordinators

• Supporting VRA Tech Advisor during on-site sessions

• Monitoring Zoom during hybrid sessions

If you are thinking about getting more involved in VRA, this is a great opportunity to test the waters without a long commitment. We welcome both new and longtime members in this process: the more volunteers we have, the better and more diverse the conference will be!

Sign up to volunteer for VRA 2024 Minneapolis!

Please reach out to initiatives@vraweb.org with any questions. 

Announcing the 2024-2025 VRA Professional Development Grant Recipient

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) is pleased to present the 2024-2025 VRA Professional Development Grant in the amount of $1,000 to Jung Soo Bae, Electronic Resources Librarian & Metadata Specialist, National Gallery of Art Library.

Soo will attend the 10th International Conference of Art Libraries to be held in Barcelona, Spain. She plans on sharing insights from the conference, particularly focusing on library practices for Spanish art and cultural history, as well as artificial intelligence applications, with colleagues.

Additionally, Soo intends to explore the feasibility of implementing AI to enhance cataloging practices for e-resources through a pilot project. The results of this exploration will be shared with information professional communities to facilitate feedback and further discussions.

VRA Awards Scouting 2024

The VRA Awards Committee is scouting for potential nominees for 2024 Awards to be presented at the Annual Conference in Minneapolis. 

There are two such awards:

• The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a person for their contributions to the field of visual resources work.

• The Nancy DeLaurier Award recognizes an achievement of an individual or a group. That achievement can be a published work, oral presentation, project management, software development, technology application, website creation, or other outstanding effort.

If you would like to share your ideas about any people or projects that deserve recognition, please complete this Google form:

https://forms.gle/ADF421qtE4bZyC1k6 

Completing the online form is not a formal nomination. The Awards Committee will follow-up about your suggestions, connect potential shared nominators, and provide assistance with the application process. If you've never applied for a VRA Award before, or don't want to complete a nomination all by yourself, this is a great place to start. 

You can also email the Awards Committee if you'd like to highlight someone or something for recognition. We so welcome your ideas and suggestions sent on through the Google form or to our shared e-mail atvra.awards@gmail.com

Deadline Extended! VRA 2024 Minneapolis Call for Proposals

The deadline for submitting proposals for VRA 2024 Minneapolis has been extended until Monday, April 15, 2024!

So, if you've been sweating the original April 1 deadline, take a deep breath –  you now have an extra two weeks to get those brilliant ideas in. Rest assured, this isn't an early April Fools’ Day prank – it's a genuine opportunity for you to fine-tune your submissions.

With this extended deadline, proposers will be notified of their acceptance by the end of May.

The conference will be held October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis, MN. The format will be hybrid, allowing for the possibility of presenting remotely. 

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to furthering research and education in the field of image management within the educational, cultural heritage, and commercial environments. Past conference schedules can give you an idea of the range of topics presented in previous years; for further inspiration you may also wish to read through a list of suggested topics below.

Click here to access the conference proposal form.

Suggested topics include:

• 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.)

Content may take the form of papers, sessions, special interest/user groups, workshops, posters sessions, and committee meetings. 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 Senior Director for Events & Initiatives, Maria Nuccilli.

Again, the extended proposal deadline is Monday, April 15, 2024.  Click here to access the conference proposal form.

Deadline Extended! 2024 vrcHost Membership Awards

The VRA Awards Committee is extending the application deadline for the vrcHost Membership Awards until Friday, March 29th, 2024!

For consideration, please complete this short form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpf48yDWuiea88k_yqllYjTDxztXC9iSoWlrMqBXOwDGBpQA/viewform

Updated timeline:

• March 8 – Deadline for Completing the Google Form Application

• March 29 - Deadline for Completing the Application

• April 4 – Awards Committee Review Completed & Recommendation

• April 5 – VRA Board Decision

• April 8 – Notify Recipients

Award winners will be notified in early April in order to provide the recipients with membership in time to participate in VRA's professionals development and conference opportunities.

Any student or information worker interested in visual resources and image management is eligible to apply for a vrcHost Membership Award, including: new members; veteran members; international members; solo, isolated, and part-time VR professionals; students considering careers in visual resources; and any member with financial need. There is no limit to how many times a person can apply for or receive this award, but first consideration will be given to those who have not received this award in the past.

We are very grateful to our sponsor, vrcHost, a company that offers comprehensive solutions for the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID) project--installation, integration, hosting, customization, and software development--while also serving as the exclusive agent for the Archivision Research Library, which provides professional architecture and art photography with rich metadata.

Contact VRA Awards Committee members at vra.awards@gmail.com or me directly moaburns@gmail.com, if any questions arise.

Apply now! 2024 vrcHost Membership Awards

The VRA Awards Committee is thrilled to announce that the vrcHost Membership Awards received generous sponsorship for a second year! This award exists to engage new members in the Association and help existing members who might need financial assistance to retain their VRA membership.

Our sponsor, vrcHost, is a company that offers comprehensive solutions for the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID) project--installation, integration, hosting, customization, and software development--while also serving as the exclusive agent for the Archivision Research Library, which provides professional architecture and art photography with rich metadata.

In 2024, vrcHost is providing funds for about 10-15 such awards, each of which will provide a one-year membership in the Visual Resources Association as well as in the VRA Regional Chapter of the recipient's choice. Membership in VRA confers benefits, including, but not limited to: discounts on continuing education and professional development; participation in community spaces, such as committees with leadership opportunities; and networking with colleagues via the VRA Listserv.   

A simple application process is in place. For consideration, please complete this Google form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpf48yDWuiea88k_yqllYjTDxztXC9iSoWlrMqBXOwDGBpQA/viewform

Be prepared to share your interest in the field of Visual Resources, how this award might benefit you and a resume or curriculum vitae.

On the timing front, please see the following goals:

• March 8 – Deadline for Completing the Google Form Application

• March 22 – Awards Committee Review Completed & Recommendation

• April 5 – VRA Board Decision

• April 8 – Notify Recipients

Any student or information worker interested in visual resources and image management is eligible to apply for a vrcHost Membership Award, including: new members; veteran members; international members; solo, isolated, and part-time VR professionals; students considering careers in visual resources; and any member with financial need. 

There is no limit to how many times a person can apply for or receive this award, but first consideration will be given to those who have not received this award in the past.

Please spread the word about these awards to anyone you think might be interested and join us in thanking vrcHost for supporting new and existing VRA members with this wonderful award.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly at moaburns@gmail.com  or the Awards Committee at vra.awards@gmail.com.

VRA 2024 Call for Proposals

The VRA Executive Board is soliciting content proposals for the 2024 VRA Conference to be held from October 8–10, 2024, at the Embassy Suites in downtown Minneapolis, MN.

The VRA Executive Board reminds everyone that the strength of our content depends on the willingness of our members and other professionals to submit proposals. We want to encourage all members and other potential attendees to reflect on their own work experiences and ideas and consider those as the potential basis for a paper or workshop that can help others in the field of digital object management.

Past conference schedules can give you an idea of the range of topics presented in previous years; for further inspiration you may also wish to read through a list of suggested topics compiled from post-conference survey responses. 

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.)

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Do not hesitate to propose something new or highlight an area of concern that you feel has not been adequately addressed in the past. 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.

Content may take the form of papers, sessions, special interest/user groups, workshops, posters sessions, and committee meetings. 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 Directors for Events and Initiatives, Maria Nuccilli and Brian Shelburne.

• A paper is an individual idea submission, which will be reviewed for possible grouping into a session. Your ideas, whether they come to us independently or as part of a group, are equally valued in the Board’s proposal and selection process.

• A session is a 60-minute moderated panel consisting of no more than 3 presenters speaking for 15 to 18 minutes each, followed by a brief facilitated question and answer period. If you feel your session topic requires additional 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 event to develop skills and experience in the field of visual resources with hands-on activities.

• A poster session presents a topic using visual aids in conjunction with direct interaction with conference attendees. Posters can depict workplace initiatives, research in progress, and other topics of contemporary interest.

The conference format will be hybrid, allowing for the possibility of presenting and/or attending remotely. The proposal form includes a section to specify if you are interested in presenting online or in person.

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 are 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 Directors for Events and Initiatives, Maria Nuccilli and Brian Shelburne at initiatives@vraweb.org with any questions or concerns.

Again, the proposal deadline is Monday, April 1, 2024.  Click here to access the conference proposal form.