Organization > Chapters > Mid-Atlantic > Minutes and Reports
VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting Minutes
Friday June 23, 2000
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Attendees:
Michele Boxley (American Inst. of Architects)
Kathe Albrecht (American Univ.)
Bob Willis, Chapter President (Catholic Univ.)
Tina Updike (James Madison Univ.)
Kathy Cowan (Maryland Historical Soc.)
Susanne Ridenour, Chapter Sec./Treas. (National Aquar. in Balt.)
Steve Arbury (Radford Univ.)
Dottie Mercer (Radford Univ.)
Roberta Hipp (Roanoke Coll.)
Sarah Miller (Univ.Md)
Presenters and Hosts:
Jack Robertson (Univ .VA.)
Ann Burns (Univ. VA.)
Leslie Rahuba (Univ. VA.)
Lynda White (Univ. VA.)
Louise Putnam-Stoner, presenter (Univ.Va.)
Judy Thomas, presenter (Univ. Va.)
Jill Hartz, presenter (Univ. Va.)
Annette Burr (Virginia Polytechnic Inst.)
Program
Our summer program began with presentations by Jack Robertson, Ann Burns, Leslie Rahuba, and other colleagues from several other UVA collections on various University of Virginia digital imaging programs and new projects (10:30-11:30 A.M.). The entire day's program, including links to some of the systems demonstrated can be viewed at: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/vra.html (minus the wonderful coffee, bagels, juice and fruit salad which awaited us in the conference room!). From there, we had about an hour's time to visit and explore the systems of our choice. A refreshing lunch followed (provided at cost), after which we proceeded with our Business Meeting.
Minutes of the Visual Resources Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter Business Meeting
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, (Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library)
Friday June 23, 2000 1:00-2:00 P.M.
14 Members Present: Michele Boxley (Amer.Inst. of Architects.); Kathe Albrecht (American U.); Bob Willis, Pres. (Catholic U.); Tina Updike (James Madison U.); Kathy Cowan (Maryland Historical Soc.); Susanne Ridenour, Sec../Treas. (National Aquar.in Balt.); Steve Arbury , Dottie Mercer (Radford U.); Roberta Hipp (Roanoke College); Sarah Miller (Univ.of Maryland); Ann Burns, Leslie Rahuba, and Jack Roberston (Univ.of Virginia.); and Annette Burr (Virginia Polytech Inst.).
(1) Chapter President:
Bob Willis announced that since his term expires at the end of this year, he would like to have any nominations sent in by the end of August. Nominations may be sent to Bob Willis, President (willisr@cua.edu) or to Susanne Ridenour, Secretary/Treasurer (sridenour@aqua.org).
(2) Chapter Dues, Membership:
A discussion was held regarding our Chapter dues structure. It was agreed that we should retain the collection of Chapter dues, as it makes membership "more official." It was noted that our Chapter Bylaws make no reference to dues, and to properly institute them, we should submit a request to the VRA Executive Board. In the mean time, it will be necessary to look at ways to designate the spending of our money. (For, instance, our Chapter has previously contributed to the Tansey Travel Award). A topic for our next Agenda should include member suggestions on ways we can use our funds "in support of our Chapter meetings and future projects...." (Again, suggestions may be sent to Bob Willis, President (willisr@cua.edu) or to Susanne Ridenour, Secretary/Treasurer (sridenour@aqua.org).
So, it was decided that no dues would be required at this time, and that we would firm up our announcement at our Fall Meeting. It was suggested we regulate dues for the calendar year January-December (easily remembered), and a time-frame which would lend itself nicely to a January mailing for 2001 dues.
Internet and e-mail were seen as good for disseminating information (such as invitations, reports, news, or discussion points) among our members. Paper 'back-up' with e-mail was discouraged as redundant, since we will want to establish a main venue of communication. {Mailings of ballots only?}
Future meeting invitations will continue to be sent by e-mail, as a good response was received for the current meeting. Although VRA membership is normally a prerequisite for becoming a Chapter member, it has always been our policy to be open to guests at all our meetings. It was recommended that we continue to send out information on our meetings to the entire VRA list as well as to our own Mid-Atlantic Chapter mailing list. We want to encourage guests and participation at the local grassroots level, and we should also be actively recruiting students from nearby institutions. (In response to a question, our membership draws from the MD-DC-VA-WV area). We will also want to keep ARLIS members informed, perhaps through the ARLIS-List. [see Marissa Keller?] In three years, the ARLIS National Conference will be in Baltimore - another opportunity for our local Chapter to share with our national colleagues.
There is nothing stopping us from meeting more than the required 2 meetings per year, and Chapter members are encouraged to plan for additional get-togethers (such as the well-attended informal lunch and new exhibit tour at the Baltimore Museum of Art several years ago).
(3) Next Meeting:
Our Next Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting will be held at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, hosted by Kathy Cowan. It will spotlight their latest digitization projects, and the date is tentatively set for Friday, October 6th 11:00-2:00. The group agreed that Fridays generally tend to be good days for our meetings.
(4) SECAC:
Kathe Albrecht and Tina Updike reported on the upcoming meeting of the Southeastern College Art Conference to be in Louisville, KY, Oct. 18-21. As at the past meeting in Norfolk, it is nice to have all the visual resource sessions on a single day (Friday Oct. 20th). Christine Hilker will be chairing the am session: "In the Beginning There Were Slides-a look at the traditional slide library and the changing role of the slide librarian" (including an analysis of the ARLIS/NA-VRA Professional Status Survey), and Kathe Albrecht will be chairing the pm session: "Through the Looking Glass-VR applications in the 21st Century." In addition, Tina Updike will be doing a program on Thursday: "Using Technology for Teaching Art History." Nancy Alexander VR Curator at Louisville will be giving a tour. The Mid-American Art Association, as well as the VRA Midwest Chapter will also be meeting with SECAC. [see VRA-List or http://secac.valdosta.edu/ for further information]
(5) VRA National Conference in San Francisco:
Several of our members shared reflections upon April's meeting. Tina Updike was chair of Tansey Travel Awards Dinner at which 6 awards were given. Of particular interest were the NINCH Town Sessions on public domain, as well as the presentation of survey results on the visual resources profession in the 21st Century. Of note was also the changing terminology; the use of word slides is limiting. We now have Image curators as digital images are now no longer just slides.
(6) Next VRA National Conference:
The next VRA National Conference will be held in Chicago (in conjunction with the College Art Association, February 27 through March 3, 2001.
(7) Other Business:
People seemed to feel a summer meeting in May or June is o.k. (a lot of people vacation in July). It was suggested our Chapter might see about obtaining a server address on the VRA website for creating our own Chapter page. This would be an ideal way to build our 'community' and promote communications by and about our Mid-Atlantic Chapter (e.g., agenda, minutes, reports, bylaws, points of discussion).
The meeting adjourned at 2 p.m.
Afterwards, we walked across campus past Jefferson's Rotunda and lawn grounds (see: http://www.virginia.edu/~finearts/Lawntour/Lawnviews.html) to the Digital Media Lab, where Judy Thomas gave a tour and on-site demonstration of additional UVA projects (see: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/dmc/ and http://viva.lib.virginia.edu/dmc/collections.html). Our day was capped with Professor Marion Roberts' demonstration of their "Salisbury Project," an interactive photo-archive for scholars studying the cathedral and town of Salisbury, England (see: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/salisbury/).
Thanks to all Mid-Atlantic members who could attend. Appreciation is also expressed to all those institutions which allowed their staff the time to take part in this opportunity for professional development as well as providing visibility for their respective institutions. And finally, many thanks to Jack, Ann, Leslie, Lynda all their colleagues at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville for their splendid hospitality and program. It was certainly an image-rich day for all who attended.
Respectfully submitted,
Susanne L.M. Ridenour,
Secretary/Treasurer,
Mid-Atlantic Chapter,
Visual Resources Association
