Report from the Art Libraries Society of North America’s Annual Conference 2008 from Lois Swan Jones Professional Development Award recipient Catherine Essinger

It was my privilege to attend the Art Libraries Society of North America’s Annual Conference in Denver and to receive the Lois Swan Jones Professional Development Award, which allowed me to do so. I find it heartening that this chapter supports its members and rewards service with this award. I have made a point to contribute every year since I joined the chapter and encourage all members to support the growth of our chapter by doing so, as well. My attendance was required at four other out-of-town conferences during this year and the Lois Swan Jones Professional Development Award determined my ability to attend ARLIS/NA’s.

I have summarized below the content of each session I attended, all of which were informative and helpful.

Scalable digital projects: How to get started with a small digital project

Joan Beaudoin, a Ph.D. candidate and IMLS Research Fellow at Drexel University, was inspired by her work at the Free Library of Philadelphia to investigate digital project selection. She surveyed selection criteria at a number of libraries with scalable projects and assessed which criteria determine whether projects are implemented. Her findings showed that frequency of use and need for more access are the primary determiners. Process-related factors, such as available staff time, did not have the same impact.

Two unusual and successful project examples were then presented. Two Rhode Island School of Design librarians exhibited their digitized collection of large-format dazzle prints. Dazzle is a form of disruptive camouflage for British ships during World War I. A marine painter in the Royal Navy was given the opportunity to create dazzle patterns in order to protect ships from German U-boats. The project was sufficiently successful that the artist, Norman Wilkinson, was sent to assist the U.S. Navy with its own dazzle project. He hired a British Vorticist to oversee the ship painting in Liverpool. RISD’s collection of dazzle plans were formerly the possession of the U.S. Shipping Board, which used them to guide the camouflage of their own ships. The Fleet Library at RISD researched and scanned these very large plans and described their process and challenges during this session. They also developed a unique thesaurus of descriptive terms, in order to aid searching. Dazzle examples and project insights may be found at scalabledigital.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dazzle.pdf

The second project is a collection of 20th century Swiss posters digitized by Carnegie Melon librarians. The faculty and librarians use these posters to teach graphic design basics. A contact on the faculty acquires posters from a donor in Switzerland. The librarians scan and catalog the posters in Filemaker. The database is housed on the library’s server. The librarians have found a way to manage this process quickly and use low-resolution JPEGs, so the digitized surrogates cannot be used commercially. The posters, themselves, are still used by students and faculty, but the Filemaker database allows for easy searching and information organization.

What’s Hot and What’s Not: Trends in Technologies and Services in Libraries

Amanda Gluibizzi first listed the negatives: text-heavy PowerPoint slides, long lists of options without navigation, vital information that sits at the bottom of web pages, busy backgrounds, overuse of animation, and fonts that mimic historical scripts. She then presented her own mash-up of Ohio State University’s public art.

Adina Lerner spoke about another “hot” item: cloud computing. Cloud computing is the use of free web-based software funded by advertising dollars. She showcased well-known examples, such as Flickr and iTunes, as well as less known software like Shutterfly and Windows Live SkyDrive. Librarians with limited funds could become cyber nomads by using a host of free photo-editing, document management, email, and storage options. She cautioned that librarians must carefully understand opt-in and opt-out features of the service agreement in order to protect their content.

Megan Mackin talked about new technology and presentation options for OPAC’s. These include federated searching for images. API and automated metadata were also discussed. She also admonished most libraries for not hiring graphic designers to create their virtual image and noted that most programmers (librarian or otherwise) do not have a design background.

Hidden treasures redux: Government art resources in the 21st century

Jonathan Franklin recommended resources assembled and authored by Canadian government agencies. Selene Hinojosa did the same with Mexican resources and Stephen Patrick presented U.S. government art resources. Nearly all government documents are produced online now, including those dedicated to art resources. National libraries and arts funding organizations provide the bulk of these sites.

Icon or enclosure? The architecture of the Denver Art Museum

Before ARLIS/NA members departed for the conference party at the Denver Art Museum (the Big DAM party), they could attend this panel discussion on the merits of its architecture. Alan Michelson praised Daniel Libeskind’s vision, but identified many practical and safety problems with the building. A principal in the architecture firm that partnered with Libeskind to build the new DAM and the head of museum’s Community and Family Programs, on the other hand, saw many more positives emerge from this unusual structure.

Using numbers and stories for advocacy

Five librarians focused on the benefits of information gathering when advocating for library budgets, staffing, and programming. Jeanne Brown talked about the need to gather and present stories in order to change users’ perceptions about library services. Much of these are gathered after instruction sessions. She noted that statistics also tell a story and it is up to the librarian to interpret them as such. Laura Graveline detailed the assessment process used to develop a new library web site for Dartmouth College. An assessment process was used by Laura Schwartz at University of Texas at Austin’s Fine Arts Library, which resulted in confirmation of success, as well as a number of great new ideas. Rina Vecchiola used LibQual survey data to make much-needed changes at her branch library.

Plenary Speaker – Dr. David Silver

Dr. Silver spoke about the contemporary college student, the student’s relationship with technology, their self-perceptions, and need for collaboration. The lecture was entertaining, nonlinear, and occasionally philosophical. Interestingly, he also attended the ARLIS/NA conference and used the plenary to comment on the sessions he attended. He also took photographs of the assembly for his blog.

We asked…We listened…We changed…: The undergraduate study at the University of Rochester

An ethnographic study of undergraduate students conducted by a Rochester anthropology professor was used to develop and alter library practices on that campus. The study found that research instruction was extremely inconsistent and students lacked basic research skills. The findings were used to improve liaison services and provide more opportunities for partnership with faculty and support services. The findings also showed that students change topics to suit resources at hand, rather than seek out information on particular topics. Students first consult not with professors or librarians when conducting research, but with their parents. They also consult with librarians, but typically only if they already know them and after already beginning the research process. Many were uncertain what a librarian could do to help them and associate them only with printed material. The study found that students are very confident in their own research abilities and assume their inability to find resources means that information isn’t published. They also heavily use some library services and resources (such as the online catalog) and search beyond the first Google hits. In response, Rochester changed services and developed a successful theme, “Every class has its own librarian.”