Organization > Chapters > Greater Philadelphia > Minutes and Reports
Minutes
January 14, 2003 Meeting
The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of Visual Resources Association met at one p.m. on Tuesday, January 14, 2003, at the University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street, with Jeannine Keefer as hostess. This was the delayed fall meeting. Members attending were Carol Campbell, chair person; Joan Beaudoin; Jeannine Keefer; Heather Glaser; and Alice Bampton, secretary. Minutes from the previous meeting (June 19, 2002) held at Bryn Mawr College were distributed.
Business from national. Carol Campbell announced that the chapter must submit a year end report to the national Visual Resources Association by February 3. Carol reported that VRA will publish its Strategic Plan in the next Bulletin . National's Education Committee offered the Greater Philadelphia Chapter $100.00 support for a member to attend a workshop at the conference in Houston, April 7-12. A report needs to be given at the next chapter meeting. Anyone wishing to apply for this should contact Carol. Members planning to attend the Houston conference are Joan Beaudoin, Jeannine Keefer, and Heather Glaser. Jeannine is the liaison to the national Membership Committee. Carol requested a proxy for herself so that a chapter member could attend the Chapter Chairpersons meeting [Leadership Breakfast]. Heather expressed an interest. This was approved.
Membership. Carol also provided information about membership in the Greater Philadelphia Chapter. We shall continue to charge no dues since our membership is too small to make a bank account practical. A late summer communication from national asked how we determine our membership and Carol has replied, with no board response back. Our membership is drawn from the VRA members in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware areas and includes those who attend at least one of our meetings per year. At mid year we had thirteen members, but since then we have lost four (from retirement, changed jobs or location, or further education) leaving us with nine members. There was a brief discussion about attracting new members from Temple University and Winterthur.
According to the Bylaws of March 4, 1999 (revised May 12, 1999) as posted on the chapter's web site, a nominating committee of three would be needed for nominating new officers. However, Joan recalls that she reported to national in the May 11, 2001, Mid-Year Report amendments for Articles IV and V. Article IV permitting staggered two-year terms for the officers was accepted by the board. Article V, deleting the Nominating Committee, permitted the membership to poll its members for officers. If necessary, we will go down the membership list in alphabetical order (new members listed at the bottom) until a volunteer is found to fill the office. According to an earlier plan Karen Glick was to become secretary-treasurer, but she has transferred her membership to the Mid-Atlantic Chapter. The next candidate would be Heather Glaser, but she is unable to accept the position because of other responsibilities. Therefore, the members ratified Alice Bampton who had volunteered to remain in office for a second two-year term, 2003, 2004. Carol's term as president is expiring and this office also needs to be filled at the fall meeting for 2004, 2005, and will be discussed again at the next meeting in late spring. Joan and Carol, before the next meeting, will check with national on the status of Article V, for which there may not have been a reply.
New Business:
As part of an effort to increase our membership, the members discussed an outreach to library schools. Carol noted that Mary Wassermann was attending a meeting today, sponsored by the Special Libraries Association, for library students at Drexel University and had VRA brochures for distribution. Jeannine Keefer will check on Career Day at the University of the Arts as another possibility for attracting new members. Heather asked if national could notify us when new members from our area join. If we are notified of new members, Alice will send a welcoming message to them. [This request was put into the February 3 Mid-Year Report to national.]
At our summer meeting should we ask for financial support from national?
Carol asked for a volunteer to host the late spring meeting and Heather Glaser offered to be hostess at the University of Pennsylvania and to arrange a program on digital imaging.
The business meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m. Refreshments were served, followed by a report from Carol about the database survey results taken at the June 19, 2002, meeting. A 3-page summary was handed out and Carol will mail copies to those participating who were not attending today's meeting. Of the eight local institutions in the survey, there are six different data bases utilized. All of those reporting are still in early stages and are all understaffed for the expanded duties of running a traditional slide library and new digital services. It was pointed out that it may cost $100,000 of staff time to plan for the new technology (when it relates to consortia) and that most members have been self-taught or gained skills at workshops. Members also are concerned with licensing issues.
As the main part of the program, Jeannine provided us with an introduction to ICONCLASS, a system originating at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, which she learned at the University of Virginia. ICONCLASS is used to locate a subject within a collection of visual images. Jeannine provided a talk and web site demonstration with information on both the strengths and weaknesses of ICONCLASS as she has applied it to the holdings at the University of the Arts.
