Organization > Chapters > Mid-Atlantic > Minutes and Reports
VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting Minutes
Friday July 20, 2001
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Attendees:
Kathe Albrecht, American University, [Chapter President]
Brenda Bikos, University of VA
Jeanne Boone, VA Commonwealth University
Michelle Boxley, American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC
Madelon Brennan, Georgetown University
Ann R. F. Burns, University of VA
Liz Edgar, The Teaching Company
Linda George, VA Commonwealth University
Macie Hall, Johns Hopkins University
Annette Macintire, Davis Art Slides
Sarah Miller, University of MD
Laura Paris, Ohio University
Susi Ridenour, National Aquarium, Baltimore, [Chapter Sec/Treas.]
Christina Updike, James Madison University
Bob Willis, Catholic University
Ann Woodward, Johns Hopkins University
Program:
Best Practices in the Digital Domain: Digital Images and the Art History Classroom Today
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA {http://www.jmu.edu/}
10-10:20 Registration and Refreshments, (Visual Resource Center, Duke Hall)
10:20-11:45 Madison Digital Image Database© demonstration by Tina Updike and Sarah Cheverton, (Technology Classroom, Duke Hall).
NOTE: The Madison DID© is a multimedia teaching and learning system containing an image search system as well. It is user-friendly, searchable, and flexible and capable of projecting high-quality images both for classroom and individual study. Initially developed at JMU to address the needs of a rapidly-growing Art History enrollment, the MDID©, together with the dedicated support of JMU's instructional technology staff, has been shown to have a positive impact on the quality of learning in Art History, with wider applications being explored.
12:00-1:30 VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Business meeting lunch, (Chandler Hall)
1:45-3:00 Panel discussion(Carrier Library) -- "Bringing Digital Images to a College Campus"
Ralph Alberico, Dean of Libraries and Educational Technologies
Sarah Cheverton, Faculty Development Instructor
Sharon Pitt, Director of Center for Instructional Technology
Jim West, Media Technology Specialist
Tina Updike, Visual Resource Curator
Tina had various staff from all aspects of the MDID© project and the JMU Center for Instructional Technology present their views on key points from inception to implementation. Issues of learning curve, social behavior, needs assessment, pedagogy, copyright, licensing, technology classroom equipment, ongoing evaluations and continuing user support were covered, to name a few. Developed at JMU by its own staff, the product is so successful that JMU is now exploring ways to make the system available to other colleges and universities.
If you missed our program, or if you wish to refresh your memory about some of the items we covered, visit the Madison DID© web site at http://cit.jmu.edu/cit/reports/mdidgettysburg_files/v3_document.htm. This is a very rich site with multiple access points to concepts relating to all stages of the project. It also includes presentation slides used by Tina in her morning demonstration.
For more information, you may contact: Christina Updike at 540.568.6588 or updikecb@jmu.edu or Sharon Pitt, JMU Director of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning at 540.568.3347 or pittsp@jmu.edu
Many thanks to Tina and all her colleagues at James Madison University for sharing their know-how and experiences with us!
Minutes for Mid-Atlantic VRA Chapter Business Meeting
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
I. Welcome and Introductions: Kathe Albrecht, our Chapter President, thanked all for coming. She also thanked Tina Updike and all the staff at James Madison University on our behalf for hosting our meeting and for having organized such an informative program.
As we also had a VRA member visiting from a neighboring chapter as well as some of JMU's program staff present, we were then each invited to introduce ourselves.
II. New Business:
A. Dues: Since our Chapter voted to reinstate the collection of $10.00 annual membership dues at our last Fall meeting, only 15 chapter membership renewals had been received to date for 2001. Kathe compared this number with our mailing list which contains at least 55 colleagues who have attended our functions and have otherwise shown interest in or support for our programs through the years. Susi Ridenour, our Secretary/Treasurer, reported that as of July 13, 2001, our Chapter account currently contains $225.95.
In the past, our dues had generally been applied to postage for our mailings or for light refreshments as provided at some of our earlier, half-day meetings. Recently, however, our hosting institutions have generally been providing early morning refreshments, followed by catered box or buffet-lunches served at cost, and paid for by each attendee (approx. $8-10). Dependence on postage costs appears likewise to have decreased, as most communications such as announcements, invitations, and minutes are now being transmitted via e-mail. Furthermore, for those times when a mailed paper copy is desired (as a number of attendees had indicated as their preference), postage costs are, more often than not, able to be absorbed under libraries' institutional accounts. (What is to happen if an office-holder's institution should not allow such support?).
Until our chapter should decide upon a particular project or other cause to support with our funds, it appears the only remaining need for dues may be to support specific meeting costs. For instance, knowing in advance that there would be funds available could help our hosts plan for events such as today's. Another suggestion was that we continue to depend on e-mails to our full list of regional colleagues and to have meeting costs borne solely by those who are actually attending and benefiting from that program. An alternative would be for us to spend down our account and to "pass the hat" occasionally (however, it was noted that some state organizations will pay for dues but not for '"collections").
As the issue of dues has been a perennial topic within our Chapter over the years, there appears to be general agreement that we would like to be able to put this discussion to rest once and for all. As our membership builds and we begin to consider future projects, only then might we need to reevaluate the issue.
ACTION: Kathe and Susi will write a memo detailing the various dues options to poll the entire Mid-Atlantic Chapter mailing list of colleagues.
B. Fall 2001 Meeting: Our next meeting (in conjunction with our neighboring ARLIS chapter) will be held in Washington, D.C. at the National Building Museum {http://www.nbm.org/} and Smithsonian Museum of American Art {http://www.nmaa.si.edu/} on Friday November 2, 2001. Kathe and Linda Tompkins-Baldwin of ARLIS are already laying out plans for our day-long joint program which includes tours of the Building Museum as well as a special "insider" tour of the newly-renovated American Art Museum Headquarters. The afternoon includes our respective business-meeting luncheons, to be followed by a hands-on workshop on creating effective and professional-quality slide-presentations using PowerPoint. For a glimpse at the product, see: http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/. Stay tuned for further announcements.
C. Mid-Atlantic Chapter Website: Kathe noted that 4 of the 10 chapters {http://www.vraweb.org/} have links to their own regional sites. As the VRA Executive Board is encouraging all chapters to set websites, we would like to create our own Mid-Atlantic presence on the web. This would enable us not only to post, but also to archive our Chapter by-laws, announcements, invitations, minutes and other reports. Some of the other chapters include their membership lists, but our Chapter will discuss the level of content information to be included on our site. Our next step is to find someone whose institution is willing to host our Chapter's site. Kathe asked for any interested volunteers to contact her.
UPDATE: We have just heard that Johns Hopkins University has offered to host our site. Thanks to Ann Woodward and Macie Hall!
D. Election of Officers: Kathe noted that Susi Ridenour's term as Secretary/Treasurer is coming to a close, and that we will have to hold an election for that position at our Fall meeting for the new term to begin January, 2002. Susi indicated that she would run again if asked, but that volunteers and nominees for election are just as welcome. It was decided we would offer both snail- and e-mail ballots. Anyone wishing to apply for this position should contact Kathe Albrecht kalbrec@American.edu (tel: 202-885-1675).
Kathe added that the President's position is up for election the following year, in the Fall of 2002. She asked that we consider running for one of these offices
III. Other Business:
A. Chapter Communications: Kathe wished to check on how we as a chapter preferred to receive our communications. Presently, we post information on the main VRA-List, as well as sending individual e-mails to each of our regional chapter colleagues. In addition, we sometimes send out actual paper copies for certain occasions (ballots or invitations). Attendees voiced a strong interest in still receiving the paper format, as it was less likely to lose track of a brightly-colored printed paper. We soon will also have the option of checking our regional website for information which can also support rich text, illustrations and the like.
B. Spring meeting site: We need to start planning for our Spring/Summer 2002 meeting (usually in June or July). Anyone having a suggestion for a location or any ideas for hosting our next event should please drop a line to Kathe kalbrec@American.edu or Susi sridenour@aqua.org
C. Discussion of meeting types, other ideas for future meetings: While our VRA Chapters are required to hold a minimum of two business meetings each year, it might be useful to explore some other options to maximize our networking among our regional colleagues. The group-sense was that people would be more likely to invest time and travel in a day-long program or structured workshops (e.g., Rodney Peterson, U of Maryland CopyOwn) rather than in a simple meeting or shorter event.
However, shorter, less-formal gatherings also have their place, and we then explored the concept of "Cluster Groups" - geographically delineated sub-regions that would lessen travel-time among our peers and provide further opportunities for us to network and share. Four possible regions might be: D.C., Baltimore, Northern VA, and Richmond/Tidewater VA. Such get-togethers could offer some variety - from unstructured and informal lunches to gallery tours or more structured times. It might also be good to include spur of the moment get-togethers as well - to share new software and in-progress reports on our projects. Workshops in various software packages (e.g., Photoshop) to build proficiency were also suggested.
ACTION: Kathe and Susi will create a memo to rest of our membership to help initiate Chapter Cluster Groups.
IV. Closing Remarks and End 1:30.
Respectfully submitted, Susi Ridenour, VRA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Sec. Treas.
