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Choose from one of three renewal optionsRenewing Members - New Members - Institutional Members
Separate Donations and Chapter Membership
Benefits | Annual Dues and Subscriptions | Payment | Cancellation/Refund Policy
The Visual Resources Association is a multidisciplinary community of image management professionals working in primarily educational and cultural heritage environments.
The Association is committed to providing leadership in the visual resources field, developing and advocating standards, and offering educational tools and opportunities for the profession.
The Association offers a forum for issues of vital concern to the membership, including preservation and access to digital and analog image collections; cataloguing and classification; integration of technology-based instruction and research; and intellectual property policy.
Through collaboration and partnership with the broader information management and educational technology communities, the Association actively supports the primacy of visual information in the educational and cultural experience.
Our international membership includes information specialists; digital image specialists; slide, photograph, microfilm and digital archivists; art, architecture, film and video librarians; museum curators; architectural firms; galleries; publishers; image system vendors; rights and reproductions officials; photographers; art historians; artists; and scientists.
The benefits of membership are many, including:
- Access to information on the latest technologies, equipment, and current practices via subscription to the VRA Listserv.
- Subscription to the VRA Bulletin and discounts on selected Association publications.
- Registration discount for the annual national VRA conference, with programming on image management, copyright issues, standards, cataloguing and classification, metadata, digital imaging technology, Web design, preservation of image quality, and educational opportunities.
- Opportunity to participate on committees, advisory groups, and task forces.
- Vote in VRA elections and eligibility to run for office on the VRA Executive Board.
- Eligibility for enrollment in one or more of the regional VRA chapters across the United States and Canada (chapter bylaws allowing).
- Continuing education opportunities, including VRA member-discounted events, workshops, and institutes (including the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management, a joint program of the Art Libraries Society of North America and the VRA).
- Listing in and access to the online Membership Directory.
- Access to the Members Only section of the VRA Web site.
- Mentor program for new members.
VRA has an active print and online publication program.
Highlights include:
- VRA Bulletin
- Images newsletter
- Cataloguing Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images.
- Advocating for Visual Resources Management
- Criteria for the Hiring and Retention of Visual Resources Professionals (currently being updated)
- Finding and Cataloging Images of Native American Art
- Guide to Copy Photography for Visual Resources Professionals
- Guidelines for the Visual Resources Profession
The annual membership/subscription year runs from January 1-December 31.
There are two membership options:
Option 1 - Full Membership entitles you to receive all benefits of the Association, including VRA Bulletin and VRA-L listserv subscriptions.
Dues are based on the following categories:
Student, Retired, Unemployed |
$40 |
Individual |
$110 |
Institutional (3 named representatives receive the privileges of full membership) |
$300 |
Please be sure to include the names of up to three individuals who will receive the benefits of institutional membership.
Option 2 - Subscription Only entitles receipt of specific publication or service purchased and does not include any other membership benefits.
VRA Bulletin $60
VRA-L Listserv $60
Subscription Only payment for the VRA Bulletin may be processed through subscription services.
*New Applications or renewals received after October 15 will become activated upon receipt for the
following calendar year. New members and subscribers will receive all issues of the VRA Bulletin for the year in which their account is activated. Access to VRA-L and inclusion on the association's mailing list will take effect immediately upon receipt of payment. Membership renewals and subscription renewals not received by January 1 may be subject to a lapse in membership benefits, including suspension from VRA-L and from receipt of publications and mailings.
Full payment must be received before benefits of membership or subscription can be activated.
Credit card payments are only available online. Complete the Online Membership Form (coming mid-October). Options include VISA, Mastercard, Discover, and e-check.
For check or money order in US funds, please complete and submit our Online Membership Form (coming mid-October), then send check or money order (made payable to the Visual Resources Association) to the address below.
The form and payment should be sent to:
Visual Resources Association
Membership Services
P.O. Box 418232
Boston, MA 02241-8232
For information about VRA memberships, contact:
Lise Hawkos
Membership Services Coordinator
join@vraweb.org
A $25 fee will be charged for returned checks.
(Credit card Donations to VRA can also be made using the form above. If donating by check please use this pdf Donation Form.)
The VRA Federal Employer Identification Number is 43-1293169.
Membership Cancellation / Dues Refund Policy Statement
Request for dues refund for individual memberships MUST be made in writing to:
Lise Hawkos
VRA Membership Services Coordinator
join@vraweb.org
ALLOWABLE CIRCUMSTANCES
- Personal or familial injury or serious illness requiring a disability leave from employer; familial death (spouse, child, etc.)
- Unanticipated job loss (not resulting from termination for cause);
- Unanticipated early retirement (e.g. initiated by employer due to budget crisis)
NON-ALLOWABLE CIRCUMSTANCES
- Voluntary job change, whether to a different employer or to a non-VR position with same employer;
- Anticipated retirement from VR field
ALLOWABLE MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
- Regular Individual Membership
CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS
- If requested PRIOR to the start of the membership year, VRA will refund the amount of dues paid less a cancellation fee ($25)
- If requested AFTER the start of the membership year, but within the first 90 days, VRA will refund 50% of dues paid less a cancellation fee ($25)
Members electing not to renew their membership will be removed from VRA-L on March 1st of the following year.
