vra 2012, emerging new roles, or how my job has evolved
DESCRIPTION
Presented by Stephanie Beene at the Annual Conference of the Visual Resources Association, April 18th - April 21st, 2012, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Session: Emerging new roles for VR professionals: research into and beyond the arts At a time of international financial instability, with positions constantly under threat, analogue collections facing forced closure and space at a premium, this session will hear from VR professionals who are reinventing themselves and evolving roles in changing landscapes, pushing into new disciplines and spaces. Each speaker will discuss the new roles they have taken on, either by accident or design and how their experiences are shaping their view of the VR profession in “the tens”. In many cases this has meant working across disciplines; making their professional presence felt in the classroom and the boardroom; developing new skills but in all cases, broadening their horizons through collaboration. Speakers will discuss supporting courses beyond traditional visual arts, design and art history; collaborating with libraries, IT and faculty in course development and delivery; working with artists and archivists to preserve and expose their work, collections and archives; building repositories; involvement in project funding applications; working in arts research and coordinating non-traditional research outputs. ORGANIZER: Stephanie Beene, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR MODERATOR: Victoria Brown, University of Oxford PRESENTERS: 1: Stephanie Beene, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR 2: Victoria Brown, University of Oxford, UK 3: Jodie Double, University of Leeds, UK 4: Catherine Worrall, University College Falmouth, UKTRANSCRIPT
Emerging New Roles for VR Professionals
Or How My Job Has Evolved & Strategies for Survival
Stephanie Beene
Visual Resources CoordinatorLewis & Clark College
Portland, OR
"If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet
the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do
not know enough to be pessimistic."- Hazel Henderson
How did I get here?Margo Ballantyne organized a Visual Resources @ Lewis & Clark. Her tenure lasted for 19 years.
The VRC moved administratively over to Watzek Library in 2005.
Aubrey R. Watzek Library, circa 1968
Upon my hire, the position was rewritten and the VRC physically relocated to Watzek Library In 2010, the VRC moved to a new space, which coincided with a larger Library space reconfiguration (the slides came over from the Art Dept.)
How did I get here?
The new VRC, late 2010
● I joined the ACRL IRIG VL AG in 2010 (oh, how we love acronyms!) Visual Literacy outreach & education, May 2011-current
● I became the Project Director of accessCeramics as Mark Dahl became Interim and then Acting Director of Watzek Library
● We began to plan for the migration away from MDID2 to ARTstor and a new home to showcase the Senior Studio Art Images Archive (1993-present)
How did I get here?
library.lclark.edu/seniorprojects
See what LC Senior art students have created
Jarré Lyman, Beneath the Waking Life, 2011
● My core "Librarian roles" expanded as we filled in for a Librarian on leave in Spring of 2011 & 2 Librarians were hired in interim
● We sought funding and kicked up collaborative efforts for accessCeramics, summer of 2011
● Shared Shelf migration began in Fall of 2011
● We lost a Librarian position in Fall 2011 while simultaneously adapting to a larger incoming class size
How did I get here?
Visual Resources Center
watzek library room 343
Not just for art majors Images and digital resources online and in person at the Visual Resources Center
library.lclark.edu/vrc
Events which forced evolution:○ Retirements, Library Director Jim Kopp's passing (2010),
one Librarian on leave for a semester (spring 2011), new hires
○ Losing a Librarian position (fall 2011)
○ Restructuring, Liaison roles shifted
○ Budget cuts
○ New leadership @ College (2010-2011), Library Director Search (2012)
○ New faculty, many more adjuncts (+ retirements, sabbaticals...)
○ Largest incoming class since the 1960s
How did I get here?
Welcome Watzek's two new Research and Instruction Librarians, E.J. & Darren
E.J. Darren
Promotion! Outreach!
● Faculty Technology Institute● Screensavers ● Through the faculty!● Through the students!● Through my colleagues● The Reference Desk● Guest talks● Word spreads● Attending events ● Searching for ways to collaborate (constant)
Interested in exhibiting your artwork in the Library?
library.lclark.edu/lib/ArtExhibitPolicy
Fill out an application online or drop it by the VRC
Elizabeth Strong, 2014 Laura Nash, 2013
Monroe Isenberg, 2013
● In many roles... you never dreamed of!
○ "Let me help you" - the increased need to collaborate
○ "The snowball effect" of outreach
○ "I'm stretched so thin!" & prioritization
○ Budgets, consolidation, & juggling
○ Diversifying: duties/liaison roles
You may find yourself...
