The Medium the Newsletter of the Texas Chapter of Arlis/Na Volume 24 Number 2 Sum:Mer 1998
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THEMEDIDM SUMMER 1998 1 THE MEDIUM THE NEWSLETTER OF THE TEXAS CHAPTER OF ARLIS/NA VOLUME 24 NUMBER 2 SUM:MER 1998 President's Column The Texas Tech University Libraries are looking forward to hosting the 1998 annual meeting of the Texas Chapter of the Art Libraries Society ofNorth America. We would like to invite all members to attend the annual meeting on October 15-17, 1998. The planning committee has created a program that should be of interest. Web addresses for the various web sites relating to the tours planned are listed ·with the registration information to browse prior to your visit. The annual meeting will be held in the Formby Room of the new Southwest Collection/Special Collections Building. Registration for the annual meeting is on Thursday afternoon between 2:30 and 3:30p.m. On Friday, the Formby Room is the location for our annual business meeting and a buffet lunch. In accordance with the discussion at our informal meeting in Philadelphia, we have tried to arrange sessions and tours that were requested. Dr. Lois Swan Jones has agreed to offer a workshop entitled, "The Challenge of Finding Art Information on the Internet." The workshop will draw from her expertise developed while researching, Art Information and the Internet, due to be published by ORYX Press in September. Karen DeWitt is working on two tours. The first is a tour of the architecture of Texas Tech, including the Southwest Collection Building, scheduled for Thursday afternoon. She has also scheduled a special tour of the Ranching Heritage Center (RHC) for Friday afternoon. Karen will also discuss sources for architectural information pertaining to the area. After the RHC, we will walk next door for a tour of the Texas Tech Museum. Saturday morning should be a treat with a tour of the Lubbock Lake Landmark, a state historical park that includes an archaeological dig and museum. Because the Lubbock Lake Landmark visit will require transportation from the University, we will need an accurate count of those attending. We are currently scouting restaurants for the Thursday evening dinner and the Chapter dinner on Friday evening. We hope that everyone can attend. We have tentatively reserved a block of twenty rooms for ARLIS/TX members at the Lubbock Inn, which is a few blocks west ofthe University on 19th Street. Members must call the Lubbock Inn by October 1 in order to receive the discount rates. Please identify yourselves as ARLIS/TX Members. Bonnie Reed, Fine Arts Librarian Texas Tech University Libraries Lubbock THE MEDIUM SUMMER 1998 2 Also, the computer section was officially The Medium disbanded. The news is actually positive. Because computers are so much of all The Newsletter of the Texas Chapter our lives, the section felt it was no longer of the Art Libraries Society of North needed as a standing committee. America. http://wv.. vv.ncosoft.com/~mford/arlistx The Board spent the final portion of its Summer 1998 meeting in a brainstorming session about Volume 24 Number 2 the future configuration of the Society. We Regional Reps--along with other Editor: Chia-Chun Shih Kimbell Art Museum Board members--would like to see 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd. ARLIS more a "grass roots" Fort Worth, TX 76107-2792 organization. This means, at least conceptually, that all Society issues For subscription information, contact should be fostered and driven by the Sam Duncan rank-and-file membership. The strategic Amon Carter Museum 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd. plan( s) have served ARLIS well. Fort Worth, TX 76107-2695 However, the Board is looking at electronic models of professional societies, resulting in a cost savings and efficiency of member access. As part of From the Regional Representative this plan, we always solicit member input. How could an "electronic The ARLIS Executive Board has been ARLIS" meet your needs better? busy over the summer. The Vancouver conference planning is going exceedingly Speaking about the ARLIS website, well, with as many changes to the since meeting with the Texas chapter last "conference paradigm" as traditional year, I've been appointed the interim scheduling--not the least of these being administrator for the website. We're the return of a "hospitality suite." I hope keeping website administration in the everyone in ARLIS/TX will take South (following Ed Teague's advantage ofthe Vancouver conference's developing work), but will be looking for spectacular location, unusual a permanent administrator. During this programming, and, of course, quality interim period, I'm making internal conversations, which will certainly be a changes to the web to allow it to run part of this year's conference. (Don't faster (which many members have forget to scan the web page at: already commented upon) and easier for http://w\\W.lib.dukc.edu/lilh'/arlis/confcrcncc.ht the membership to use. I welcome m!). The dates are March 25-31, 1999. comments, even caustic, to make the website a better source of information. The ombudsman position for ARLIS has The ARLIS/South region is blessed with been deleted. Those of you looking for two of its three chapters having web Mr. (or Ms) Fix-It-For-ARLIS are pages. A good agenda item for our pointed to past presidents (currently, Lubbock meeting might well be what Roger Lawson) or any board member. changes the ARLIS/TX website needs to THE MEDIUM SUMMER 1998 3 make it fit the needs of the chapter more. CDLC entered into a reciprocal It's fun to scan the other ARLIS sites agreement with Texas Christian and see how they arrange information. A University that allows CDLC members to big thanks to Margaret for maintaining use TCU's automated library system this site. (DRA). As a result, researchers will have electronic access to the combined I look forward to seeing all of you in collections of the three art museum Lubbock and Vancouver. The vibrancy libraries through the Internet, beginning of the Society depends upon its chapters. in the fall of 1998. Please continue to call or write me if you have comments or ideas for your As an aggregate collection, the libraries professional Society. of the Amon Carter Museum Kimbell ' Art Museum, and Modern Art Museum Sincerely, ofF ort Worth constitute one of the strongest bodies of art history materials Lee Sorensen in the Southwest. The collections, which South Regional Representative contain over 64,000 titles with at least ARLISINA 3,000 new titles added per year, are augmented annually by a materials budget of approximately $1 00,000. Of Cultural District Library Consortium the 1,245 serial titles held, 185 are Launches DRA on the Web foreign. In addition, the CDLC libraries Recognizing that cooperation between house 121,000 microforms of rare and libraries is the key to providing better hard-to-find materials. Six full-time staff access to collections, the librarians of the members administer these collections. Amon Carter Museum, Kimbell Art Museum, and the Modern Art Museum Since the CDLC's collections reflect the ofFort Worth formed the Cultural nature of their parent institutions, there is District Library Consortium (CDLC) in very little overlap in holdings. The Amon December 1996. CDLC's primary goal Carter specializes in American art and has been to introduce technology in photography, the Kimbell in European innovative and efficient ways that will and Asian art, and the Modem in improve internal and external access to American and European modern and the unique resources of the Cultural contemporary art. District institutions. The CDLC libraries are rich in materials The CDLC and museums in the Cultural not often found in an academic library District have long enjoyed a close environment, including auction relationship with Texas Christian catalogues and price indices, exhibition University. Beginning in the fall of 1998, catalogues, and commercial dealer TCU will inaugurate a master's program catalogues. In addition, the CDLC in the history of art, and the creation of libraries contain special formats such as the CDLC grew out of our desire to artist vertical files, ephemeral materials, support TCU in its important initiative. archives, microforms, and visual In January 1998, the members of the resources dealing with the history of art. THEMEDITJM SUMMER1998 4 Enthusiasm for the project has run high, cooperative project comes from the with strong support not only from the Harvard Map Collection, the museums• administrative bodies but also Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the from TCU. It has been a win-win Mass. Assoc. of Regional Planning situation: we needed access to their Agencies, MassGIS, and Environmental technology, they needed access to our Systems Research Inc. Next, Paul Cote, collections. Through careful planning and GIS Specialist, Harvard Graduate School hard work on behalf of everyone, we of Design, demonstrated their .. Boston have achieved our goal of improving Metropolitan Area CD .. project which access to our resources. includes data from digitized aerial photographs, scanned US Geological Milan R. Hughston, Librarian maps, and street outlines from the Amon Carter Museum Boston Sewer Commission. After lunch in Harvard Square, Hugh Council ofPlanning Librarians' 3 !fh Wilburn (Frances Loeb Library), Annual Conference Report provided an architectural tour of the Harvard campus. This was followed by a Planning Data in the New Electronic presentation by Ardys Kozbiat Manager Age, the Council of Planning Librarians• of the Property Information Resource 39th Annual Conference was held in Center, Harvard Planning and Real Boston and Cambridge, April 3-6, 1998. Estate. This project to digitize Harvard•s This was my first CPL conference and I building plans and project records, and was fortunate to have been granted a link them to interactive maps, even conference travel award.