Organization > Chapters > Mid-Atlantic > Minutes and Reports
VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting Minutes
Friday, June 20, 2003
Freer Gallery of Art/Sackler Gallery
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
VRA Attendees:
Kathe Albrecht, American University
Ann Burns, University of Virginia
Cindy Frank, University of Maryland
Meghan Gross, Johns Hopkins University
Elizabeth Gushee, University of Richmond
Chris Hinojosa, University of Maryland
David Hogge, Freer/Sackler Gallery
Jennifer Parker, University of Virginia
Tina Updike, James Madison University
Ann Whiteside, University of Virginia (Chapter Chair)
Bob Willis, Catholic University of America
Ann Woodward, Johns Hopkins University
Schedule of the Day’s Events:
10:00 am: Coffee & meet with colleagues
10:30-12 noon: Chapter Business Meeting
12 noon: box lunch, talk with colleagues
1:00-3:00 pm: tours of the Gallery, the photo lab & archives
Chapter Business Meeting – Minutes
I. Welcome & Introductions: Ann Whiteside offered a welcome to all and thanked David Hogge for hosting the meeting. Participants of the meeting introduced themselves and gave their institutional affiliation.
II. Chapter Bylaws Review: Ann Whiteside stated that the chapter by-laws needed to be reviewed for accuracy and asked for a couple of volunteers to do this. Cindy Frank and Chris Hinojosa offered their services.
III. Chapter Web Site: Ann Whiteside thanked Ann Woodward and Macy Hall for maintaining the chapter’s website so handily. She especially appreciated how quickly items were posted. Ann then asked for suggestions of things people would like to have included on the chapter’s site. The following ideas were suggested:
a. A list of Mid-Atlantic Members and their institutional affiliation; e-mail addresses will not be included. Ann Whiteside will send out a notice letting members know that this information will appear on the site unless they request that it not be.
b. Photos from VRA gatherings
c. Brief descriptions of projects that VRA people are working on at their institutions. Send a short summary (three lines or so regarding your project) to Ann Woodward if interested.
In a discussion related to the chapter’s web site, Ann Woodward expressed an interest in having a list made available of curators who are not members of the VRA. Kathe Albrecht then asked that if such a list were to be generated, that it then be sent to the national VRA membership committee for potential recruitment of those individuals. Ann Woodward stated that she had a list of individuals from her area and would send a copy to Ann Whiteside for “local” outreach efforts.
IV. Chapter Dues: The VRA Board has mandated that local VRA chapters have dues. Ann Whiteside stated that having dues will help to formalize chapters; dues will subsidize meetings and will allow local chapters to be self-sustaining. It was decided that dues will not be required until January 2004 and, in the meantime, a committee will be formed to publicize the benefits of having dues. This committee will also be in charge of program development for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the VRA. As of this meeting, Ann Whiteside, Kathe Albrecht and Liz Gushee volunteered for this committee; more volunteers are welcome. It was suggested that dues might be more popular with chapter members if chapter meetings in the future had more of an emphasis on professional development. It was suggested that hands-on workshops of the technical aspects of visual resource management be featured for future meetings. A list of paper presentations and workshops from national VRA meetings will be obtained and studied for possible programming ideas on the local chapter level. A brief discussion of the cost of dues was discussed; no formal amount was decided upon.
V. Election for Secretary: Ann Whiteside stated that the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the VRA will need a new secretary soon; Susanne Ridenour’s term will be over in December 2003. The secretary’s term is two years, January 2004 – December 2005. Duties are light and include keeping minutes, assisting the chapter chair and managing the bank account. A call for nominations will be posted on the VRA-list serve and website; voting will be done online. Don’t be afraid to nominate yourself!
VI. Chapter Newsletter: Ann Whiteside asked if chapter members had any interest in having a newsletter. Bob Willis expressed an interest in possibly generating an on-line newsletter for the chapter website.
VII. Houston Conference Information: Ann Whiteside asked that conference attendees report on the seminars and workshops they attended.
Kathe Albrecht reported on the following:
Strategic Plan Town Hall Meeting- attendance at the meeting was high, as was the participation. It was suggested that a Town Hall Meeting should be featured at every national VRA conference. Popular discussions in the meeting were generated regarding the VRA Bulletin (it will become more scholarly and only be published twice a year) and committees (new members want more information on what the committees do and how one gets involved).
Liz Gushee reported on the workshop, Creating Intellectual Property Guidelines for Visual Resource Collections, taught by Georgia Harper. Susi Ridenour provided extensive notes from the workshop
Ann Burns spoke about the conference generally. She reported on the following:
Cataloging Cultural Objects & Images
Beyond the Obvious: Keyword Definitions & Usage
Integrating Digital Images into the Classroom
Architectural tours of downtown Houston
Tina Updike reported on the following sessions:
Amico Users Group MDID Users Group – Users of MDID should be aware that MDID2 will be coming out in the Fall of 2003. Go to http://cit.jmu.edu.mdidinfo for details
Thinking Globally While Acting Locally: Sharing Our Resources NOW
Integrating Art Images Into the Curriculum
XML, METS, TEI, EAD: New Metadata Acronyms in the Future of Visual Resources?
VIII. SECAC: It was decided that no VRA chapter meeting will be held at the conference. One session of special interest to VRA attendees will be: “Current Directions in Digital Imaging: Theory & Practice.”
IX. Mid-Atlantic Fall Meeting: A tentative date of Friday, October 3rd has been proposed for the next chapter meeting. The location is likely to be Baltimore.
Business Meeting Adjourned at 1:00 pm
1:00-3:00 pm: David Hogge gave tours of the galleries, the in-house photo lab and archives.
Respectfully Submitted,
Elizabeth M. Gushee, University of Richmond
Meeting at Freer/Sackler, June 20, 2003
