The ARLIS/NA New England Chapter is pleased to announce that Abigail (Abi) Sweeney is the recipient of the chapter’s 2020 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference Travel Award. Abi has been working at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design since 2006, and is currently serving as the vice-moderator of the Art and Design School Library (ADSL) Division of ARLIS/NA. At the 2020 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference, she will be stepping into her new role as moderator of the division. During the conference, Abi and the current moderator will be reviewing their progress to date on a comprehensive report of the ADSL Division, to include current and ongoing challenges. In particular, Abi will be covering her findings on issues related to staffing and professional development. The final report is scheduled to be presented at the 2021 conference in Montreal.
The ARLIS/NA Annual Conference Travel Award will help defray Abi’s expenses related to attending the 2020 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. We would like to extend our thanks to our chapter’s donors, whose contributions help make this award possible.
Are you looking to fund a new project? Or are you doing research related to art librarianship intended for publication or presentation? Or, maybe you have your eye on a conference you would like to attend?…
Apply for the Wolfgang Freitag Professional Development Award for $1000 in award funding to defray the costs associated with a variety of professional development activities.
Apply by Friday, November 8, 2019 by sending application materials to John Schlinke, ARLIS/NA New England Chapter Past-Chair, jschlinke@rwu.edu. Applicants will be notified of results by Wednesday, November 20, 2019.
ARLIS/NA New England Chapter members are eligible to apply for the chapter’s annual travel award. One applicant will receive $1,000 to help cover registration, travel, and lodging expenses.
To be considered, please complete the application form by Friday, November 8, 2019. Applicants will be notified of results by Wednesday, November 20, 2019.
Read on to learn about Lyndsay’s conference experience…
I was so grateful to receive the New England Chapter’s travel award this year to attend the Art Libraries Society of North America’s 48th annual conference in Salt Lake City. In addition to benefiting from the wealth of knowledge shared in a wide variety of sessions and enjoying the fantastic tours and receptions at local arts institutions we have all come to expect at our organization’s annual meetings, it was also important that I attend the conference in my third and final year as Media Editor on the Society’s Editorial Board. Besides being able to capture and share the conference events on ARLIS/NA social media channels, it was an opportunity to work with the incoming Media Editor for a seamless transition.
The highlight of the sessions I attended this year was the It’s About Time: Open Educational Resources and the Arts panel with speakers Shira Loev Eller of George Washington University Libraries and John Hilton III of Brigham Young University (co-moderated by Ian McDermott of LaGuardia Community College Library and Emily Coxe, RISD Librarian and ARLIS/NA New England Chapter’s treasurer). The speakers shared useful statistics and resources on the benefits of OERs, where to find them, and how to promote them on our campuses. Of particular note, George Washington University Libraries is achieving faculty buy-in for OERs by asking liaisons to have a conversation about them with at least one professor per semester and contribute to a shared spreadsheet to document these outreach efforts and identify interested faculty with whom to follow up. The interest has all been garnered without grants or stipends, although the library is now hoping to develop an incentive program to build capacity in this area. During the break-out portion of the session, I was part of a discussion about the potential for ARLIS/NA to develop a resource guide to OERs in the arts. Given the financial need for and pedagogical benefits of increased OER adoption throughout higher education, such an effort would be a great contribution by the organization.
Lyndsay at the site of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty.
Outside the sessions, the conference provided a great opportunity for representatives of participating institutions in Yale University Press’s Art & Architecture ePortal pilot this past year to meet with representatives of the database project at a breakfast event. We heard about next steps, as well as new features and publications in development, and we had the chance to meet with other participating members. I was also lucky to snag a spot on one of the two Spiral Jetty tours with guide extraordinaire Hikmet Loe. This perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the famed earthwork did not disappoint. Furthermore, the poster sessions and exhibitors were outstanding this year. At these and other meetings and events during the conference, I met new colleagues and learned about some exciting initiatives in the field.
I would like to thank the New England Chapter and the travel award committee for this opportunity to attend the annual conference on a travel award. I look forward to reconvening at this year’s chapter events and in St. Louis next spring.
About Lyndsay: Lyndsay is the Assistant Director for Digital Scholarship and the arts subject librarian at Connecticut College.
About the ARLIS/NA New England Chapter’s Annual Conference Travel Award: The Travel Award is intended to encourage the professional development of ARLIS/NA New England Chapter members by supporting travel to the ARLIS/NA annual conference. Money for this award is generously donated by ARLIS/NA New England Chapter members.
The ARLIS/NA New England Chapter is pleased to announce that Lyndsay Bratton is the 2019 recipient of the Chapter’s ARLIS/NA Annual Conference Travel Award.
Lyndsay is the Assistant Director for Digital Scholarship and the arts subject librarian at Connecticut College. The broad scope of her position is easily nurtured by the range of offerings at the annual conference, including programming in digital scholarship, research instruction in the arts, and visual resources. Lyndsay has served on the ARLIS/NA Editorial Board as the Media Editor since March 2016. While attending the conference in this role, she will be documenting and sharing the annual conference through ARLIS/NA’s social media channels.
This award will help defray the expenses related to attending this year’s ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. We would like to extend our thanks to our Chapter’s donors, whose contributions help make this award possible.
