Where Do We Come From?  What Are We? Where Are We Going?

Elizabeth Gushee, ModeratorBen KesslerMarcia Focht

The VRA at 25:  Understanding our Past & Framing a Future

Virginia KerrAnn Whiteside

Where do we come from?

Ben KesslerAmerican Red Cross

A History of the Visual Resources Association

Prehistory

Visual resources curators begin annual meetings at:

• College Art Association (CAA), 1968

• Mid-America College Art Association (MACAA), 1972

• Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), 1976

• Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), 1975

• Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art (CIHA), 1979

1968-1979

1973-74• We have no desire to separate from the CAA, but, staying in, we must work out a stronger and more formalized affiliation.• We should survey and publish on classification, storage, etc.• We should establish training centers with approved curricula...so library schools would not be the only accredited training.Nancy DeLaurier to Anne Coffin Hanson, CAA President, September 1973

• The [CAA] Executive Committee…feel that it would be wrong to make special arrangements with any group within the CAA. Once such a practice were begun it would create impossible administrative complexity and might well work against the aims of the organization.Anne Coffin Hanson, CAA President, in reply, November 1973

• Unless there is some structure to a professional group, accomplishment becomes mediocre. ARLIS/NA is providing the structure and the challenge to accomplish goals and create standards for the professionals who work with visual resources.Judith Hoffberg, Past Chairman, ARLIS/NA, early 1974

• A Visual Resources Committee shall be established within the CAA.Resolved at CAA Conference, January 1974

1975-76

Information kits 1975-76:

• Audio Visual Equipment (Nancy Schuller, University of Texas)

• Copy-Photographic Equipment and Processes (Gail Grise, Indiana University)

• Salaries and Budgets (Alice Holcomb, Northern Illinois University)

• Circulation Policies (Zelda Richardson, U. of New Mexico)

• Slide Label Typewriters (Eileen Fry, Indiana University)

• Reference Materials (Eileen Fry, Indiana University)

• Slide Mounting (Gillian Scott, Carlton University)

• Storage Equipment (Jane Goldberg, University of Illinois)

Visual resources as a branch of an overarching

discipline, i.e. art librarianship.

Visual resources based on subject knowledge and

specialized skills.

Get an MLS!

What for?

Use MARC and AACR2.

Good luck!

1977Statement on Professional Status for Curators/Directors of Visual Resources Collections for the Fine Arts (approved by CAA Board of Directors, October 1977)

• A qualified professional is mandatory for the efficient operation and development of a fine arts visual resources collection.

• The professional status of qualified visual resources personnel should be recognized. This status should require academic qualifications or their full equivalent, and carry a professional title; this status should be accorded a rank equivalent to that of other professionals in the institution with commensurate salary and benefits.

• Participation in the activities of national and regional organizations and attendance at related conferences is essential and, therefore, should be facilitated by the institution in every feasible manner.

The 1980s: Formation

1980

CAA VR Committee = ineffective

ARLIS = philosophical issues

MACAA = regionally limited

1980

1982

Organizational Plebiscite (presented to International Bulletin subscribers by Nancy Kirkpatrick, MACAA Secretary, Spring 1982)

1. Maintain the status quo 1

2. Make an existing group such as ARLIS or the Special Libraries Association the focus for all national VR activities.

11

3. Form an information clearinghouse to coordinate the VR activities of other organizations

1

4. Form a new and separate nationwide VR organization

29

Total 42

1983

1984-1988

1988-1990

Development of tools for standards (MARC advisory committee, AAT workshop).

First look at electronic imaging projects (Kathy Cohen, Howard Besser).

Task force to draft standards for professional status

1988-1990

The 1990s: Codification

1990-1995

Special issue of Visual Resources: an International Journal of Documentation entitled “On Professionalism,” Edited by Becky Hoort (Gordon & Breach, 1990, VI: 4)

VRA/ARLIS Joint Task Force on Professional Issues First convened 1992, Margaret Webster, chair

Criteria for the Hiring and Retention of Visual Resources Professionals Adopted by the ARLIS/NA Executive Board and the VRA Board of Directors August & June, 1995; revised in October 2002

1990-1995

“Beginning with this fall’s membership renewals, we will be including a place for you to list your electronic mail address…The VRA now has a LISTSERV address to which anyone with access to the Internet can subscribe.” Christine Hilker, VRA Bulletin (Summer 1991)

1990-1995VRA Data Standards Committee (1993, Linda McRae, chair) :

Areas of investigation

Data elements• Categories designed to carry specific units of information in automated records, e.g.: Creator, Title, Date

Descriptive practice• Ways in which descriptive information is represented in each category, e.g.: proper way of designating “Follower of”

Interpretive practice• Ways of assist in the translation of visual information into language when concrete descriptive information is lacking, e.g.: guidelines for applying subject terms

Authoritative sources• Standards that inform the choice of terms that apply to a category of information, e.g.: ULAN, AAT, LCSH

Formats• Standards that define technical specifications, formats, and protocols for the exchange of text and image data, e.g.: MARC, SGML, TIFF, JPEG

1990-1995Conference on Fair Use (CONFU), 1994-96, participating organizations:American Association of Community Colleges American Association of Museums American Council of Learned Societies American Society of Media Photographers American Society of Picture Professionals Art Libraries Society of North AmericaAssociation of American Publishers Association of American Universities Association of Art Museum Directors Association of College and Research Libraries Association of Research Libraries Coalition of Consumer's Picture Rights College Art Association Consortium of College and University Media Centers Corbis Corporation Creative Incentive Coalition The J. Paul Getty Trust Instructional Telecommunications Council Library of Congress/National Digital Library Project Medical Library Association National Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities National Initiative for a Networked Cultural HeritageNational Science Teachers Association Picture Agency Council of America Special Libraries Association

U.S. Copyright Office Visual Resources Association

1995-2000OBJECT CATEGORIES

Object TypeTitlesDimensionsMaterialsTechniquesDatesSubjectsRepository Name Repository PlaceRepository NumberSiteLarger Entity NamesNotes

CREATOR CATEGORIESCreatorNationalityCulture

SURROGATE CATEGORIESView DescriptionImage TypeImage OwnerImage Owner Number Source

WORK CATEGORIESWork TypeTitleMeasurementsMaterialTechniqueDateRepository NameRepository PlaceRepository NumberCurrent SiteOriginal Site Style/Period/Group/MovementCreatorRoleNationality/CultureSubjectRelated WorkRelationship TypeNotes

VISUAL DOCUMENT CATEGORIES

Vis. Doc. TypeVis. Doc. FormatVis. Doc. MeasurementsVis. Doc. DateVis. Doc. OwnerVis. Doc. Owner NumberVis. Doc. View Description Vis. Doc. SubjectVis. Doc. Source

Core 1.0 (1996) Core 2.0 (1997)

1995-2000

The Acquisition and Use of Images in Non-Profit Educational Visual Resources Collections Published by the VRA Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (Kathe Albrecht chair), 1999.

Copy Photography Computator (for determining intellectual property restrictions and fair use) Developed by Allan Kohl, released 2001.

1995-2000

The 2000s:Transformation

2000-2007

2000-2007

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2000-2007

Art Libraries Society of North America 30th/ Visual Resources Association 20thJoint Annual Conference. St. Louis, 2002 

2000-2007

Administrative improvements:• Office of Vice President divided into two positions (Conference Arrangements & Conference Program).• Membership Coordinator becomes paid position.• Executive Board position created for Public Relations and Communications Officer.

with thanks to the VRA Presidents:Christine Sundt (1982-1988)Eleanor Fink (1988-1990)Carla Johnson (1990-1992)Christina Updike (1992-1994)Sandra Walker (1994-1996)Joseph Romano (1996-1998)Jenni Rodda (1998-2000)Ann Whiteside (2000-2002)Elisa Lanzi (2002-2004)Kathe Hicks Albrecht (2004-2006)Virginia (Macie) Hall (2006- )

…and (who have seen it all)Helen ChillmanEileen FryMargaret Webster

and a very big thanks to:

Leigh GatesMartine Sherrill