ARLIS Students and Trainees blog

John Campbell Trust bursaries

2012-01-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

The John Campbell Trust is a charitable trust whose purpose is to help in the education and development of information professionals by providing grants, scholarships, bursaries and awards.
Three bursaries are currently available, which can be very benefical to aid studying and for attending conferences. Further details can be found on the CILIP website, including how to apply:

http://www.cilip.org.uk/about-us/medalsandawards/john-campbell-trust/Pages/default.aspx

Forthcoming STC event: 'Taking the Plunge: Art Librarianship as a Career Option'

2012-01-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

'Taking the Plunge: Art Librarianship as a Career Option' will be held this year on Saturday 3rd March at the National Gallery's Educational rooms in London.

This workshop aims to introduce those interested in a career in art librarianship to the diversity of the sector, the kind of work and roles involved, as well as the current job market and how to enter the profession.

This year's event is full to the brim with speakers working in a variety of art and design libraries, who will talk about their experiences in art librarianship, their job roles and career paths. There is a session on enhancing your CV, and a tour of the fantastic National Gallery Library.
This event is aimed at students, trainees, library assistants and anyone interested in a career in art and design librarianship.

Highlights include:

Librarianship in a private academic institution: Natasha Held, Christie’s Education

Working with Special Collections: Richard Daniels, University of Arts, London

Starting out: the lowdown from a recent graduate: Sarah Maule, Ravensbourne

Film collections: Sarah Currant, British Film Institute Library

Museum/Gallery Librarianship: Joseph Ripp, National Gallery, London

Booking is now open and will be closing on 20th February, and early booking is advisable as this is a popular event. A full programme, further details and booking forms can be found on the ARLIS website:

http://www.arlis.org.uk/events.php?link=2

National Libraries Day: February 4th, 2012

2012-01-10T04:40:00.000-08:00

A national day to celebrate libraries was launched last year in May, and takes place across the UK on February 4th, 2012. As mentioned on the official website, "it will be the finale to a week of events that will celebrate libraries and librarians, and highlight the importance of reading". Hooray!
There is lots more information on how to get involved and what events are happening on the website:

http://nationallibrariesday.org.uk/

ARLIS/ UK & Ireland Conference Student Bursary

2012-01-06T02:43:00.000-08:00

ARLIS Conference Student Bursary

Applications are invited for a single fully-funded place* at the annual conference for a full-time or part-time student working for a first degree or post-graduate qualification in librarianship and information studies.
This year's conference will be held in London:

From Beijing to Bloomsbury:
Art Librarianship in an Olympic Year

Woburn House Conference Centre, Bloomsbury, London
Wednesday 27th -29th June 2012

The conference themes are wide ranging, from cultural aspects and visual representations of the Olympics through to collaboration and our digitised future. The British Library, the many historic libraries of the University of London, the Wellcome Trust and the new University of the Arts Central St Martin’s campus are all nearby. Visiting these, and other important institutions will be part of the ARLIS UK experience. For more details, see our website: www.arlis.org.uk

To apply for the award, please submit the following by Friday 30th March 2012

1. A completed application form (see: www.arlis.org.uk or from the address below);
2. A résumé listing educational background, employment history and professional activities.

It is not a prerequisite of the award that the applicants are members of ARLIS.

*N.B. The award does not include travel costs and the winner must confirm in writing that he/she is able to meet the requirement of conference attendance. The recipient will be expected to submit a post-conference report to the ARLIS/UK & Ireland Council

The decisions of the Council and the Grants Panel shall be final, and no correspondence regarding these shall be entered into. The Council reserves the right to make no award if no suitable application is received.

Application papers should be returned to: Business Manager, ARLIS/UK & Ireland, The National Art Library, V&A, Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL. Tel: 020 7942 2317 Email: arlis@vam.ac.uk

ARLIS/ UK & Ireland Annual Conference International Delegate award

2012-01-06T02:13:00.000-08:00

ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference

From Beijing to Bloomsbury:
Art Librarianship in an Olympic Year
2012

Applications are invited for a single fully-funded place* for delegates from outside the UK and Ireland to attend the ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference

International Delegate Award
Woburn House Conference Centre
Bloomsbury, London
27th - 29th June 2012

To apply for the award, please submit the following by Monday 9 April 2012:

1. A completed application form (see: www.arlis.org.uk or from the address below).
2. A résumé listing educational background, employment history and professional activities.

The winner must confirm in writing that he/she is able to meet the requirement of conference attendance. The recipient will be expected to submit a post-conference report to the ARLIS/UK & Ireland Council. The decisions of the Council of ARLIS/UK & Ireland and its Grants Panel shall be final, and no correspondence regarding these shall be entered into. The Council of ARLIS/UK & Ireland reserves the right to make no award if no suitable application is received.

*NB The award includes full board but does not include travel costs.

Application papers should be returned to the Business Manager at the address below by the Deadline Friday 9th April 2012.

For further information on the Annual Conference 2012 please check
the ARLIS/UK & Ireland website - www.arlis.org.uk
or contact:
The Business Manager, ARLIS/UK & Ireland,
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum,
London, SW7 2RL, United Kingdom
Email: arlis@vam.ac.uk

Workshop review: An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources, Monday 5th December 2011

2011-12-09T02:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Jennifer Laurenson, Graduate Trainee at the Courtauld Institute of Art, for providing the following report on 'An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources':

This year’s workshop took place at the National Art Library on the 5th December. The event was a chance for some to update their skills in enquiry work or for those new to art librarianship, like myself, to get a thorough introduction to the wealth of art and design resources available.

The day started with a presentation by Bernadette Archer from the National Art Library (NAL) which served as a good introduction to enquiry work within an art and design institution and more specifically about the NAL. It was particularly interesting to hear how replacing individual email addresses with links to a web-form run by RefTracker has improved the way the NAL handle enquiries. The use of a web-form has improved how online enquiries are received and recorded, allowing more efficient use of staff time and producing statistics at the click of a button. Another insightful aspect of the session was seeing actual enquires and responses from the NAL, showing the types of questions they receive and how the NAL put enquiry handling techniques into use.

The second talk, given by Vicky Brown from Oxford University, explored visual resources in an academic environment. She spoke of the advantages and disadvantages of analogue visual resources, like slides, used in the past and brought us through to the present and the abundance of digital resources available now. Resources available to us today range from image database subscriptions, to in-house resources, to the - practically limitless - internet. Vicky made it clear that this is a time when people with visual literacy skills are vital to guide people through the maze of resources out there and as art librarians it was important to keep informed and to future-proof yourself.

We then went down into the NAL and took part in a practical session to use the resources we had heard about earlier. The group was split into pairs and asked to think about how we would respond to various enquiries, using physical and electronic resources in turn and discussing our findings afterwards. The session was extremely helpful in putting the ideas of the morning into practical use and discovering new resources.

In the afternoon we heard about supporting students with dyslexia in art and design enquiry work from Andrew Callen of Salford University. He explained the various difficulties that dyslexic students may face and how academic libraries could try to overcome these problems. The solutions ranged from actions that individuals could do when at the enquiry desk, like avoiding jargon and writing down long shelf numbers for students, to larger changes like introducing a spellcheck feature for online catalogues or colour/picture coding alongside classification systems. This interesting session also brought up some unexpected issues with online navigation; some students with dyslexia have issues with ‘sequencing’ or remembering the steps necessary to get to a particular outcome.

At the end of the afternoon we had the opportunity to look behind the scenes with a tour of the National Art Library. This was a fantastic end to the day and we saw some treasures of their collection. The day was incredibly thought-provoking and useful in a practical sense, as I will certainly be able to use a lot of the advice and recommendations that were mentioned throughout the day.

Jennifer Laurenson
Graduate Trainee Library Assistant
Courtauld Institute of Art

Volunteer opportunities at the National Portrait Gallery, London

2011-12-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

The National Portrait Gallery's Heinz Archive & Library in London has a number of volunteer opportunities available at present.

These positions help to develop and maintain the Archive & Library's resources and include helping to index portraits from published materials, look after image files and periodicals, and retrospective cataloguing of the library's book collection.

The closing date is Friday 20th January, and details can be found on the following link:

http://www.npg.org.uk/about/jobs/heinz-archive-and-library-volunteer-opportunities.php

An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources

2011-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to everybody to spoke at and helped out at our event on Monday 5th December; 'An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources'. The event went well and we hope the delegates who attended found it an interesting and enjoyable day.

Here's a few pictures taken of the 'Enquiry Referral work: specialist sources and practical session' held in the lovely National Art Library at the V&A Museum, and of the talk given by Andrew Callen of Salford University on 'Supporting students with Dyslexia in art and design enquiry

work'.

Workshop: An Introduction to Art and Design Reference Resources

2011-11-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

The next Students and Trainees Committee workshop will be held at the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London on Monday 5th December 2011.

'An Introduction to Art and Design Reference Resources' is aimed at those wishing to update their skills in art and design enquiry work or those new to the world of art librarianship.

The day features presentations from leading art librarians, who will provide up-to-date information on key print and electronic resources and strategies for effective enquiry work. New to this year’s programme is a session on tailoring enquiry work to students with dyslexia. There is a significant practical element to the workshop, allowing delegates to put into practice the skills and knowledge acquired on the day.

The event is held in the prestigious surroundings of the National Art Library within London´s spectacular V&A Museum, and the day closes with a behind-the-scenes tour of the extraordinary collections of this library.

Highlights of the day include:

Enquiry Work in an Art and Design Museum: Bernadette Archer, National Art Library

Visual Resources Enquiry Work in an Academic Environment : Victoria Brown, Oxford University

Supporting Sudents with Dyslexia in Art and Design Enquiry Work : Andrew Callen, Salford University

The deadline for booking is Tuesday 22nd November but early booking is advisable as places fill up rapidly for this invaluable training and networking event. Please use attached programme to book a place, or visit the ARLIS website (http://www.arlis.org.uk/index.php) or click on the link below:

http://www.arlis.org.uk/events.php?link=2

This is a workshop run by the ARLIS Student and Trainees Committee. For more information on this event and forthcoming visits and workshops please see Arlis website www.arlis.org.uk and click on 'Events'.

For up to date information on forthcoming workshops and free visits
please see the online ARLIS/UK & Ireland Events Calendar 2011 at
http://www.arlis.org.uk/

Conference Review - ARLIS NA and VRA Joint Annual Conference

2011-04-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

The second joint conference of the Visual Resources Association and The Art Libraries Society of North America, titled ‘Collaboration: Building Bridges in the 21st Century’, was held this year from 24th-28th March in Minneapolis. I had the opportunity to attend this conference thanks to the generous ‘Kathe Hicks Albrecht Travel Award’ which is presented to a first time attendee. The VRA offers a number of awards every year in various categories and is particularly keen to encourage international delegates. In fact this year saw a marked increase in those attending from abroad with delegates from the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Qatar, to name a few.

There were over 500 delegates in attendance and we had all registered for our events in advance, packing-out our 4 days using the fantastically designed schedule or SCHED, which can still be visited at http://vraarlis11.sched.org/. The conference began on Thursday with practical workshops and tours of the twin cities Minneapolis, and St. Paul. This was a really great way to ease into the conference, by tasting the culture of the cities and getting some useful skills straight away. The workshops and tours were also a great way of getting to know fellow delegates at the start of the conference. I attended the morning workshop Bridging your online content to your users which provided techniques for improving use of the online resource ‘LibGuides’ (http://libguides.com/community.php?m=i&ref=libguides.com). LibGuides is a widely used resource in North America but is in the embryonic stages of introduction to the UK, currently only used by only a handful of universities and colleges, so this was a great opportunity to get a head start with a comparatively new tool. The Architectural Gems of St Paul tour in the afternoon encompassed ‘gems’ such as the astonishing art deco interior of the City Hall, the James J. Hill House and the State Capital building. The tours were very informative and conducted by knowledgeable guides from the Minnesota Historical Society. The first day finished with an opportunity to get dressed up and socialize at the Founders’ Féte Fund-Raising Event which was held at The Gale Mansion.

Friday morning began with a lavish breakfast at the First time attendees and new members breakfast - a friendly introduction to the association and a chance to meet others new to the conference experience. After this the conference sessions began in earnest with back-to-back talks, plenary, panel discussions and meetings, all of which were of an incredibly high standard. One of the highlights of Friday’s sessions was Inside Out: Examining Studio Artists’ Perceptions, Representations, consisting of two stand-out presentations. The first examined the way in which studio based art students use art libraries at different points in their program. After surveying 200 students the speaker, Anna Simon (Indiana University), was able to offer some practical and insightful suggestions on how to enhance artists’ use of our collections. The second presentation by Henry Pisciotta, (Pensylvania State University Libraries) was an original and thought provoking consideration of a selection of artists’ works from 1962 which challenge and critique the traditional role and image of libraries, and fostered some interesting discussions. Friday concluded with a Welcome Party and Ice-breaker, held in the spectacular Herzog & de Meuron extension of the Walker Art Center, which included lots of delicious food and drink, an opportunity to chat with the other delegates and visit the current exhibitions ‘Midnight Party’ and ‘Sol Lewitt: 2D+3D’.

Saturday and Sunday saw more presentations, many of which introduced innovative pedagogical techniques developed by librarians to assist faculty to use collections in teaching and students in learning. Up-and-coming technologies were of course another major theme, but there was also a lot of useful advice on how to better use the tools we are already familiar with. Engaging New Technologies was a fantastic 90 minute, fast-paced example of this, with ten speakers providing and overview of the shift to Web 3.0, and numerous emerging teaching, learning and research tools. Over the whole weekend there were so many events that you couldn’t possibly attend everything of interest to you, nevertheless the conference provided an amazing opportunity to broaden my view of the profession, develop my knowledge base and skills, and network with fellow professionals. I would definitely recommend it to any art librarian or visual resources professional, at any stage in their career.

It is undoubtedly expensive to attend this event but there are a number of bursaries and awards available for students, international delegates, part-time library professionals and those in other categories. Further information can be found on the VRA website:
http://www.vraweb.org/

For information on the 2011 VRA and ARLIS/NA conferences (which will be taking place separately) please visit their websites.
ARLIS/NA website: http://www.arlisna.org/

Finally a report on the conference, including notes from each of the sessions will be appearing in a forthcoming edition of the VRA bulletin, further information can also be found on the VRA website.

Conference Session: 'Paving the way for an uncertain future: teaching art information management in the 21st century'

2011-04-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

A panel discussion entitled 'Paving the way for an uncertain future: teaching art information management in the 21st century' was held at the ARLIS NA and VRA Joint Annual Conference. This session dealt with many of the major issues facing students, trainees, and new proffessionals. Below are notes of two of the discussion points, dealing with the value of a second Masters in the current competitive job market, and the key skills of a 21st century librarian.

Question: What strengths of art information professionals can be leveraged or sold to both libraries and library students as assets in an increasingly digital arts and education environment?

Amy Lucker (Pratt Institute,New York) pointed out that in the last few years the growth of standards in still image, moving image, and sound have been huge. However the bibliographic field has had these for some 50 years, and although there is a move from AACR2 to RDA this is still a small set of new standards by comparison. Institutions are realizing that metadata management is actually the same as cataloguing and that people working with art information have metadata skills that apply to more than just bibliographic materials. University and museum libraries are hungry for people who understand image metadata and standards, so this is a huge skill that can be sold to a central library, especially if you are coming out of a department library.

Heather Gendron (UNC, Chapel Hill, USA) added that subject specialists also have a deep understanding of pedagogical issues such as how artists work, how they work in an academic environment, how art historians do research, how artists do research and expectations of students in curricula. Bauer added that the technological applications provided should enhance learning and must make the connection to an arts constituency and make it relevant to them, which is the remit of an arts professional. Further it is not necessary to have an exhaustive knowledge of all technologies but have enough knowledge to put the person with the right specialist.

Tony White (University of Indiana) agreed that the Metadata component, pedagogical knowledge, media fluency, and teaching and outreach are critical skills, as well as the curiosity to engage technology and promote it to faculty.

Question: Is a second Masters degree more or less important now?

Gendron carried out an analysis of institutions a few years ago for a core competencies project and found that the number of job descriptions that included a second masters as a requirement were very few. While it is definitely required a lot in Visual Resources and Museum Librarianship, many in academic librarianship do not have a second Masters. Gendron would argue that it is not required for most academic positions, and Gendron herself does not have a second Masters but rather an undergraduate degree in Studio Art. She advises students that a second Masters represents a huge financial and personal commitment and it is possible to find a job without this.
However Lucker cautioned that a survey of job postings now as opposed to a few years ago indicates a significant change and it is also necessary to take into account that there is much more competition now, and in many cases the person with the second degree wins out.
White agreed with Lucker. Having chaired a variety of job search committees in the past he found that candidates having a dual degree go in the preferred pile. Unless other candidates have specialized skills such as languages or are studio artists applying for studio programmes they do not progress further. Because the job market is very competitive he advises students who want to be art librarians to get the dual degree. He also drew attention to the policy at NYU, in which those without the dual degree are placed on a 9 year tenure track instead of a 7 year track, and are expected to get the second Masters degree whilst completing all the requirements for tenure. He commented that it is very difficult to do all this simultaneously. For those students who cannot afford it he recommends they do the specialization, get involved in ARLIS, and start publishing so they have a professional network and they can start building opportunities.
Ken Soehner (Pratt Institute, New York) commented that the second degree has a legitimizing value in terms of gaining respect from faculty and he also tells students that they should pursue it, but they should definitely find alternative funding rather than funding it themselves if possible. However he also feels that while it is good to have special knowledge in an additional subject, it does not necessarily benefit the library. Rather it is more important to have technological, language, management, project management and budget skills. He advocates getting away from specialization and towards the ‘deep generalist’.

Full notes from the session will be published in a forthcoming edition of the VRA Bulletin, details of which can be found on the VRA website at:

http://www.vraweb.org/

Conference Photos - ARLIS NA and VRA Joint Annual Conference

2011-04-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

The State Capital building

Interior of the State Capital building

' Welcome Icebreaker Reception' at the Walker Arts Center

Lunch at the Hilton Minneapolis Ballrooms

'Vendor Slam' featuring Artist's Books

Student Bursary Award for the ARLIS 2011 Conference

2011-04-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

This years ARLIS/UK & Ireland Annual Conference ‘Weaving New Futures: collaboration and reinvention in the digital age’ is being held at the University of Leeds from 13-15th July 2011 and is fast approaching. As always the conference has a great deal to offer students, trainees and all who are interested in a career in art librarianship, with opportunities to network and acquire new skills and knowledge.

The Student Bursary Award is once again available to full or part-time students working towards a first degree or postgraduate qualification in Library and Information studies. The generous award enables one student per year to attend the conference free of charge (excluding travel costs). The bursary extends to those enrolled on a course at any point in the current year – so students commencing their qualifications in September are still eligible to apply, and we would encourage you not to miss out on this opportunity.

Further information can be found on the ARLIS website at:

http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2

Please check the awards page on the ARLIS website for the application deadline (normally early May):

http://www.arlis.org.uk/awards.php?link=2

CANCELLED: Taking the Plunge 2011, Saturday 5th March, 2011

2011-02-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the above event has had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The ARLIS Student and Trainees Committee apologises for any inconvenience and disappointment that this causes.

We hope to reschedule the day and will contact all once this has been arranged. Delegates who have already sent payment by cheque will have their cheques returned to them this week.

Once again we apologise for any inconvenience we may have caused you.
ARLIS STC

Forthcoming STC event: "Taking the Plunge: art librarianship as a career option"

2011-02-05T06:59:00.000-08:00

"Taking the Plunge: art librarianship as a career option" will this year be held on Saturday 5th March 2011 at the National Gallery in London. This popular event is aimed at students, trainees, library assistants and anyone interested in a career in art & design librarianship. Highlights of the day include:

An academic librarian - Peter Winning, London College of Fashion
How to create the perfect CV - Infomatch
Working with special collections - Richard Daniels, Stanley Kubrick Archive
Working solo in art & design librarianship - Rachel Brockhurst, Crafts Council
The lowdown from a recent graduate - Richard Swales, University for the Creative Arts

The day will end with a tour of the National Gallery library.

We are keeping bookings open this year right up until the 28th of February but advise you to book early as places fill up rapidly for this event. A programme and booking details for this event can be found on the ARLIS website at:

http://www.vads.ac.uk/arlis/events.php?link=2

Photos from the STC's Art & Design Reference Resources Workshop

2011-02-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Below are some photos from the STC's annual workshop entitled ' An Introduction to Art and Design reference resources', which was held at the V&A National Art Library on the 6th December 2010:

Travel Awards for 2011 joint VRA & ARLIS/NA conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota

2010-11-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

The VRA Travel Awards have been announced for attendance at the 2011 joint VRA & ARLIS/NA conference which is taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 24-28. The deadline for receipt of applications is 30th November, 9am (USA Central Time).

A preliminary conference schedule of workshops and sessions has been posted at: http://vraarlis11.sched.org/ and information about costs is posted here: http://www.vra-arlis2011.org/

Generous financial support is available for members' attendance:

Up to six Tansey fund awards of $250 to $850 each.
The Kathe Hicks Albrecht award of $850 (for a first-time conference attendee)
The Gallery Systems award of $800
Two New Horizons awards of $850 each. These awards are aimed at members in the following categories: solo VR professionals, part-time VR professionals, geographically isolated VR professionals, VR professionals in smaller institutions, and/or first-time attendees
The Davis Art Top-up award of $250
The Joseph C. Taormina Memorial Travel Award of $250
A New Horizons student travel award of $300, for a full-time student enrolled in an accredited degree program and considering a career in visual resourcesOne international award, amount as yet to be determined.

The application form will be available on the VRA website from October 29: http://www.vraweb.org/ under What’s New. Before you apply, PLEASE READ "Travel Award Rules and Guidelines", "Tips for VRA Travel Awards Applicants", and "Types of Travel Awards", all linked here as PDFs: http://www.vraweb.org/organization/committees/travel/index.html

A review of 'The Next Generation' - the 2010 ARLIS Conference in Edinburgh

2010-09-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

This year I was lucky enough to be sent to the ARLIS annual conference in Edinburgh by my workplace, and I thought it might be useful to reflect on what happened there, what I learned and what I thought of the experience.

This was my first professional conference since qualifying as an information professional, and so it was with some trepidation that I filled in the application form as I had no idea what to expect. However before I travelled to Edinburgh I was able to check out the conference blog (http://arlisconference2010.blogspot.com/) and Twitter archive (http://twapperkeeper.com/hashtag/arlis2010) to see what I’d be doing and who I’d be meeting, which was really helpful.

Firstly, it seemed expensive – so expensive that there was no way I could have afforded to go unless my workplace was prepared to sponsor me, which luckily they agreed to do. If you are currently studying for your library qualification it is well worth applying for the ARLIS Student and Trainees conference bursary, which pays for one student to attend the conference. There is a similar bursary for international delegates, so if you are reading this from outside the UK then you could also apply for a funded place this way. In terms of value for money though, the ARLIS conference would be hard to beat. There were talks, workshops, visits and social events timetabled in for almost every moment of the two and a half days, often with the option of choosing the speaker you most wanted to hear. I very much enjoyed the opening keynote speech by Roger Wilson from the Glasgow School of Art, in which he reflected on his career in art education and how it has been shaped by successive governments and their agendas. This was followed by two fantastic talks by Nicola Osborne of Edina and Sophy Smith from DeMontfort University. Nicola’s talk was in many ways the highlight of the conference for me, centring on new technological developments that librarians could exploit to improve their services. Nicola’s presentation was made using Prezi, which made a welcome change from the usual Powerpoints and provided the perfect visual accompaniment to her thoughts on QRcodes, crowd sourcing, Twitter and user generated content. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Dean Gallery for a drinks reception and a fabulous opportunity to view their collections when the building was closed to the general public. After a lively dinner we were treated to an excellent lecture by Margaret Stewart from Edinburgh College of Art on the similarities between Edinburgh and Athens (more than you might at first think!)

Day two was similarly packed, with sessions on artists’ books and archives by an archivist and a practising artist, followed by a visit. I chose to see the Special Collections Centre of Edinburgh University, which houses a fascinating collection of antiquarian books and artworks. After lunch we had a choice of breakout sessions, and I attended sessions led by Duncan Chappell of Glasgow School of Art who talked about developing online modules in information skills for art and design students, and by Leigh Garrett of VADS who explored the issues behind funding and running digital collections. After dinner the evening was rounded off with a talk by the charismatic poet Alec Finlay who joined us afterwards for drinks in the bar.

Friday morning was even busier, with four talks on digital collections and copyright before we all headed off home. I think it would be fair to say that I found the conference pretty exhausting, and my only gripe would be that we didn’t get much time to see the amazing city of Edinburgh. However, in terms of the brilliant programme, great company and comfortable surroundings I’d recommend anyone to try to get a place on next year’s conference in Leeds. From a professional point of view not only were the presentations interesting and sometimes revelatory, but the networking opportunities alone are worth the price of the conference. Fingers crossed I can persuade work to send me next year!

This post was contributed by Jennie-Claire Perry, currently a member of the Students and Trainees Committee. The conference took place at the University of Edinburgh from the 14-16 July 2010. Jennie's images from the conference can be seen on the post below.

Images from 'The Next Generation' - the 2010 ARLIS Conference in Edinburgh

2010-09-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Change of Date for STC Workshop

2010-09-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

‘An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources’ will now be taking place a week later than previously advertised. It will be held on the 6th December 2010 at the V&A National Art Library. For further information please see our last post (July 21st) below.

Upcoming STC workshop - 6th December 2010

2010-07-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

The ever popular STC workshop entitled ‘An Introduction to Art & Design Reference Resources’ will again be taking place at the V&A National Art Library on Monday 6th December 2010. The workshop will deal with all areas of arts enquiry work including academic library resources and enquiry referrals. The practical sessions will also provide delegates with an opportunity put their newly acquired skills to immediate use. This event will be of interest to library students, trainees, library assistants and anyone interested in a career in art librarianship or in updating their skills.

Further information, the programme and booking details will shortly appear on the Arlis website at:

www.arlis.org.uk/

Below are images from last years event.

Art and Design Reference Resources Workshop November 2009

2010-07-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hollywood Librarian: Take II

2010-02-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

Following the popularity of the first 'Hollywood Librarian', the Stuart Hall Library will be holding a second free all day event on Monday 1st March 2010 10:30am - 5pm.

The day will look at representations and misconceptions of librarians in film, literature, and the media, and will include a panel discussion and two film screenings. Attendance is free, and refreshments and lunch will be provided.

To book a place please contact bookings@rivingtonplace.org
For more information visit the librarys blog at: http://www.spokenskins.blogspot.com

Hollywood Librarians Event

2009-09-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

On 14th September 2009 the Stuart Hall Library is holding an all day event as part of their 'Spoken Skins' series, exploring representations and misconceptions of the library profession within institutions and in popular culture.

The event includes a screening of the documentary ‘The Hollywood Librarian’ followed buy a discussion, and ending with a screening of the popular cult library film ‘Party Girl.’ Attendance is free, but you need to book. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

For further information and booking please visit http://www.spokenskins.blogspot.com

One-Day Conference at the National Gallery

2009-08-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

The London Museums, Librarians and Archivists Group are running a one-day conference on 10th September 2009, entitled:

'Not Museum Pieces? – The Developing Role of Archivists and Librarians in Museums'

Addressing the future development of Museum/Gallery libraries and archives, the conference will also look at the impact of emerging technologies and web applications.

The student ticket is priced at £10. The study day will surely be invaluable for those wishing to enter this area of librarianship.

The conference will run from 10am - 5pm and will be held in the Sainsbury Wing Theatre. The programme can be found at:

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/calendar/lmlag-conference-programme

Further details are on the National Gallery's website, under 'What's On':

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/

Treasured Art Library In Cornwall

2009-08-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Western Morning News published this great article (June 2009) about a Cornish public library art collection created by gathering discarded books from other libraries. Now counting over 6,000 items, it is consulted by researchers from all around the county and beyond. The article also contains a interview with Cornwall's Art Librarian Liz Le Grice, who is also the library's custodian.

Read online at:

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/features/Unique-art-library-treasure-cherish/article-1085692-detail/article.html

Showcasing your collections workshop 5 June 2009

2009-08-04T03:32:00.000-07:00

Linda Newington from the University of Southampton talks about inspiring collections

Student Bursary place at Arlis Conference

2009-04-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

This years Arlis Annual Conference will celebrate the Society’s 40th anniversary. It will take place from 15 - 17th July 2009 and will be held at Cambridge’s Clare College. This will be a great opportunity to network with professional colleagues and learn about current issues in the art library sector in an informal and stimulating environment.

If you are a full or part-time student working towards a first degree or postgraduate qualification in Library and Information studies, you are eligible to apply for the Student Bursary Award. This generous award enables one student per year to attend the conference free of charge (excluding travel costs). For further information on how to apply visit www.arlis.org.uk/

The deadline for applications is Friday 8th May 2009.

Volunteering opportunities in art libraries

2009-02-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

There's plenty of opportunities out there, but unfortunately no definitive list or site. I found this one at the Courtauld - when I find more, I will post here:

http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/volunteering/index.shtml

Art and Design References Workshop November 2008

2009-02-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

Day in the life of....a college librarian/Assistant Director

2008-09-09T04:14:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

Well I thought I would set the ball rolling as the chair of the group. As a College Librarian and Assistant Director of Library and Learning Centres (Kent), I have a number of hats to juggle, which can be challenging....I am based in Canterbury and live in Maidstone, so I have a 40 minute journey to work, passing by lots of rolling hills and lots and lots of sheep - this usually makes for a relaxing start to the day, as long as I haven't been behind a tractor for the last 20 miles! I used to work in London for the University of the Arts, but the long commute was very draining and left very little time for unwinding from a busy day. At Canterbury, I share an allotment with work colleague, which breaks up my working day and means that I can focus on something else apart from work (note to all: work/life balance is very important!). Well on to my day - as I was out of the office yesterday, the first thing I do is check my email - gosh what a lot of emails I have! A good proportion of these are spam, so just leaves me with a few that should be able to deal with quite quickly. All done and dusted by 11am. Email Arlis administrator to let her know that I cannot attend Arlis Council meeting on Wednesday - just too busy....Get phone call from librarian at Maidstone to ask when the graduate trainee posts are starting - I ring up HR and they give me a start date. He also talks about the Herbert Read Exhibition which we are curating for January 2010. We have each been given an area of Herbert's life to research, which is proving great fun. We have a meeting scheduled with the Galleries Manager next week, so need to get the information together - all this stuff is being housed in a blog at the moment, which we will make live fairly soon. I then start thinking about preparing for the Graduate Diploma in Architecture inductions we have on Thursday - I don't liaise with many courses now that I am Assistant Director, but I like to keep my hand in. Spend the rest of the morning peparing the session outline for this....hoping to pop to the allotment at lunchtime. Write a "things to do" list before I set out. This includes writing up a report on a one day workshop I attended at De Montford University called "Open House for Learning Developers" (I am really interested in how librarians can better promote their role in information literacy and in particular, how this can be linked to employability), booking in Personal Development Reviews with all my staff and writing an induction programme for our new Graduate Trainee starting on the 17th September......... I also need to prepare for a presentation I am doing for the Higher Education Academy called "Mapping the Territory" which looks at the link between information skills and emp0loyability. (Note to all: Read Tara Brabazon's "University of Google")

Some key dates for your diary if you are a graduate trainee or wanting to get into art library work

2008-09-09T03:26:00.000-07:00

CPD Workshops

Applying to study library and information studies, 29 October 2008 - if you want to find out how to make a good application to library school, this one day workshop is a must - please click here: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=143&extmode=view&extid=306

An introduction to art and design reference sources, 10 November 2008 - this is an ARLIS one day workshop which takes place at the National Art Library - hear experiences of enquiry work in the art and design sector and do some practical enquiries yourself

Taking the Plunge, 7 March 2009 - ARLIS one day workshop. Opportunity to listen to experiences and ask questions of art librarians in museums, academic libraries, public libraries and private collections.

See Arlis website for more details of forthcoming visits and workshops. www.arlis.org.uk

Welcome to those of you starting a new career in art libraries or thinking of securing a job in the art library sector

2008-08-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello this is a brand new blog for all new students and trainees in the art library world. This blog has been set up by the ARLIS (Art Libraries Society) Students and Trainees Committee, so that we keep a log of useful links and advice for those of you new to the profession or wanting to get a job in art librarianship. We would love some interaction, so please free to join some of our discussions!

Looking forward to meeting you at some of the Arlis events . Check these out at http://vads.ac.uk/arlis/documents/events/events%20calendar%2020080806.pdf

Get blogging!
Annamarie
(Chair of the Arlis Students and Trainees Committee)