News

The ARLIS NA/New York Programming Committee is planning a mini-conference which will include of series of free events each Wednesday in October. Our vision is that the series will kick off with a happy hour on October 6th (details forthcoming), followed by two lunchtime lightning round sessions (October 13th, 20th). These events are open to members and non-members. 

Participants will have an opportunity to share works in progress and materials in their collections, new initiatives, etc. The lightning round presentations will be no more than ten minutes in length and may include slides (slides are optional). 

Presentations may discuss, but are not limited to, the following topics and themes:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives

• Digital Projects

• New research tools

• Research instruction advances

• Collections

• Libraries and COVID-19

• Professional development/new professionals

The mini-conference will close on October 27th with a session on professional development and/or skills for new professionals. Please use our Google form to submit lightning presentation proposals by September 7th, 2021. Accepted submissions will be notified by September 10th, 2021. 

In addition, feel free to use the Google form to submit questions or reach out directly to Missy Brown, our Programming Coordinator, at mbrown6@pratt.edu.

Hello! 

The Nominating Committee for the 2022 ARLIS/NA New York Chapter’s Executive Board would like to invite you to self-nominate for an open Executive Board position. Serving on the ARLIS/NA New York Chapter’s Executive Board is a great way to get more involved with the chapter and the national organization, gain leadership experience, network with fellow art information professionals, and build your resume. 

We are currently looking to fill the following positions:

• Vice Chair/Chair-Elect 
• Treasurer 
• Membership Coordinator
• Chapter Mentoring Liaison
• Student/Early Professional Liaison
• Social Media Coordinator

To learn more about the responsibilities of each position, please read the descriptions below. Membership in both the New York Chapter and ARLIS/NA are required to serve on the Board. Board terms begin on January 1, 2022. 

If you are not currently a member of ARLIS/NA or the New York chapter, we still encourage you to apply. The ARLIS/NA New York Executive Board will sponsor selected candidates who are not yet members or are currently a student or unemployed by covering the cost of ARLIS/NA and ARLIS/NA New York dues. If financial hardship is preventing you from joining ARLIS/NA and applying for the Executive Board, please let us know when you apply so that we can work with you. 

You can read about the history of the New York chapter and see who is currently serving on the Executive Board on our website. If you have questions about a specific position, we encourage you to reach out to the existing person in that position or Giana Ricci, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, at giana.ricci@nyu.edu. 

To nominate yourself for a position on the Executive Board, please email your CV and a short statement of interest (200 words or less) to giana.ricci@nyu.edu by September 15th, 2021. 

Thank you for your time, and we hope to hear from you! 

Sincerely, 

The Nominating Committee for the 2022 ARLIS/NA New York Chapter Executive Board

Giana Ricci, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, ARLIS/NA New York
Lori Salmon, Institute of Fine Arts Library, New York University
Sumitra Duncan, Frick Art Reference Library 

Open Position Descriptions:

The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect   

The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect (VC-CE) is a one-year term with a three-year commitment (after one year, they succeed as Chairperson, and then Past Chairperson). The VC-CE acts as the chief executive officer in the event the Chairperson is unable to serve, assists the Chairperson in the preparation of meetings, assembles and serves as chair of the nominating committee for the following year’s Board and the Celine Palatsky travel award committee. The VC/CE is responsible for reviewing the Chapter By-laws and other documents, checking for consistency. They also update and post the roster of Executive Board members since 1973. 

Treasurer

The Treasurer is a two-year term and is responsible for handling all financial accounts of the chapter. The Treasurer disburses funds as directed by the Executive Board and receives the membership dues from the Membership Coordinator. The Treasurer reads a financial report at each Executive Board meeting and files a summary report on finances at the end of the year. They provide proof of yearly tax payment at close of fiscal year to ARLIS/NA and may also exhibit the books and accounts to any member of the society upon request.

Membership Coordinator (Member-at-Large)

The Membership Coordinator is a two-year term. The Membership Coordinator maintains the ARLIS/NA New York membership database.They receive and process individual membership applications and renewals, answer membership inquiries, confirm receipt of payment, forward dues payments by check to the Treasurer. The Membership Coordinator drafts messages for current and potential ARLIS/NA New York members, which are posted on ARLIS/NY-L, sent to area library and information science schools, and other contacts as necessary. They also provide quarterly reports on membership statistics, including the number of current members and breakdown of membership types.

Social Media Coordinator  

The Social Media Coordinator develops innovative and creative media content across social media platforms, proposes a creative strategy in collaboration with executive Board members, and creates and maintains relevant social media accounts. They set up routine tasks and activities for all social media outlets, all while keeping track of social media trends and innovations. They deliver reports at Board meetings with statistics and results for each account. The Social Media Coordinator may serve for a maximum of five consecutive years.    

Student/Early Professional Liaison

The Student/Early Professional Liaison is dedicated to providing support to students and emerging professionals in art librarianship. The Liaison helps to build networking and professional development opportunities, through happy hour events, tours, and workshops. The Student/Early Professional Liaison may serve for a maximum of five consecutive years.   

Chapter Mentoring Liaison

The Chapter Mentoring Liaison oversees all aspects of the Chapter’s Mentoring Program: recruiting and matching mentees and mentors, providing readings, handouts, and other tips and recommendations. They also periodically check in with mentees and mentors, providing advice, ensuring that the program is successful for the participants. The Chapter Mentoring Liaison may serve for a maximum of five consecutive years.  

Thanks to everyone who attended the joint NYTSL/ARLIS Virtual Program on Inclusive Description held on Wednesday, May 26th! A recording for the event is now available for those who couldn't make it.  To view the slides for each presentation please click on the links below:

Inclusive Description at Columbia University Libraries: From “Change the Subject” to Action SLIDES
Matthew C. Haugen, Rare Book Cataloger, Columbia University Libraries
Michele Wan, Special Collections Cataloging Librarian, Columbia University Libraries

"Changing the Subject” at Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library SLIDES
Tomasz Kalata, Metadata Manager, Cataloging, BookOps (BPL/NYPL)
Steven Pisani, Assistant Director, Cataloging, BookOps (BPL/NYPL)

User-Driven Reparative Archival Description at New York University SLIDES
Weatherly Stephan, Head of Archival Collections Management, NYU Libraries

To learn more about inclusive description in libraries please consult the following resources:

Anchor Archive Zine Library Zine Thesaurus: A customized thesaurus of subject terms to describe zines in their collection.  

The Cataloging Lab: " a place for anyone who cares about library cataloging to experiment with making our controlled vocabularies and classification better"

"Experimenting with Controlled Vocabulary: Using the Cataloging Lab to Shape LCSH" (Webinar recording): "This webinar will provide a crash course in the process of submitting LCSH proposals as well as introduce the Cataloging Lab, a wiki where anyone can collaborate to suggest headings additions or revisions." 

CaMMS Subject Analysis Committee (ALA): A committee that studies " problems and recommend patterns, methods, and tools for optimizing subject and genre/form access to information resources, with an emphasis on classification and controlled vocabularies used to organize information." 

The ARLIS/NY Board congratulates chapter member Deborah (Debbie) Kempe on receiving the 2020 ARLIS/NA Distinguished Service Award!  To learn more about Debbie's contributions to art librarianship please see this official press release from ARLIS/NA. 

NYTSL and ARLIS/NY are pleased to announce a joint virtual program on the topic of current projects on inclusive description here in New York City.  

The event will take place on Wednesday, May 26th from 2-3:30 pm.  To register please go here: https://www.nytsl.org/event-4311386

Inclusive description seeks to use libraries’ metadata to bring forward the perspectives of marginalized communities and increase the discoverability and use of resources related to those communities.  The 2019 documentary film Change the Subject brought widespread attention to this issue with its story of Dartmouth students who advocated first to Dartmouth’s libraries and then to Congress about officially changing the Library of Congress subject heading “Illegal aliens” to “Undocumented immigrants.”  While this effort has not yet been successful at the national level, individual organizations are now undertaking their own projects to remediate this specific subject heading and other harmful language in their catalogs and finding aids. 

Please join us to hear presentations and Q&A from three organizations on their current work.

Speakers:

• Inclusive Description at Columbia University Libraries: From “Change the Subject” to Action: Matthew C. Haugen, Rare Book Cataloger, Columbia University Libraries and Michele Wan, Special Collections Cataloging Librarian, Columbia University Libraries
• "Changing the Subject” at Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library: Tomasz Kalata, Metadata Manager, Cataloging, BookOps (BPL/NYPL) and Steven Pisani, Assistant Director, Cataloging, BookOps (BPL/NYPL)
• User-Driven Reparative Archival Description at New York University: Weatherly Stephan, Head of Archival Collections Management, NYU Libraries

Due to the COVID pandemic, NYTSL and ARLIS/NY are offering access to this virtual program free of charge.  Please consider supporting these organizations by becoming a member or by sending a donation on their respective websites.

The ARLIS/NY Board acknowledges that many of the organizations represented by members in this chapter operate on unceded Indigenous land, specifically the homeland of the Lenape peoples.  

The Board has compiled a list of resources to honor this group and to encourage its members to establish Indigenous land acknowledgements as a standard practice at their respected institutions.  

• Brooklyn College: Libguide on Indigenous Studies at Brooklyn College

• Brooklyn Public Library: “On Native Land” (blog post)

• Land Acknowledgement Bot: “an SMS and Facebook Messenger bot leveraging data from Canadian not-for-profit, Native Land, who ask that people use the data carefully because confirmation by nations is pending and they are updating data weekly.”

• The Lenape Center:  “Since 2008, [the] Lenape Center based in Manhattan and led by Lenape elders has created programs, exhibitions, workshops, performances, symposia, land acknowledgment and ceremonies to continue our Lenape presence. We push back against our erasure and seed the ground with Lenape consciousness for the next generations.”

• Native Governance Center- “A Guide to Indigenous land acknowledgement” 
  
  

• Native Land Digital: “Native-Land.ca website run by the nonprofit organization Native Land Digital. We are guided by a Board of Directors and an Advisory Council. Our funding comes from friendly organizations and individual donors.” Their mission is to “ map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see the history of their countries and peoples,”
  
  

• New Museum: Land Acknowledgement
  
  

• New York State Library: Native American Materials 
  
  

• New York University: Guide to Indigenous Land and Territorial Acknowledgements for Cultural Institutions 
  
  

• Pratt Institute: Native American and Indigenous Peoples Resource Guide (Compiled by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) 
  
  

• Princeton University: Guide on Land Acknowledgements
  
  

• United States Department of Arts and Culture: Honor Native Land: A guide and call to acknowledgement 

ARLIS/NA New York is thrilled to announce this year’s awardee of the Celine Palatsky Travel Award for attendance at ARLIS/NA's virtual annual conference.  

Joey Vincennie is a graduate student at Pratt Institute working towards an MSLIS and an MA in History of Art and Design. He is currently writing his MA thesis on the curation of Franklin Furnace’s Window Works series from 1976 to 1984 under the supervision of Professor Martha Wilson. Joey will graduate in May and looks forward to a future in art librarianship.  

Joey will be presenting “How do art librarians art book fair?”: Art Book Fairs as Collection Development at this year’s annual conference (virtual).  

This year’s award committee was Janna Singer-Baefsky, Missy Brown, and Samantha Deutch.  

Please join us in congratulating Joey.   

Looking forward to “seeing” you at this year’s virtual annual conference.  

With best wishes,  

Samantha Deutch, she/her/hers  
Chair, ARLIS/NA New York  

The Nominating Committee is pleased to nominate the following candidates for positions opening on the ARLIS/NA New York Board: 

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Giana Ricci 

Giana Ricci is the Librarian for the Fine Arts at New York University. She received her MA in Art History from NYU's Institute of Fine Arts and her MLIS from the Palmer School of Information at Long Island University through a dual-degree program. Before entering her current position at NYU in July of last year, Giana has held positions at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives, and the Frick Art Reference Library. Some of her interests include artists' books, diversity, and equity in the field of art librarianship, and the intersection of arts and social justice. 

Secretary: Cindy Wolff 

Cindy Wolff received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Emmanuel College (Boston, MA) and received her Master's in Library and Information Science from Queens College, CUNY. She has worn many hats in various library settings, mostly in technical services and collection management. She has also worked in Pratt's School of Information in administrative and advisory capacities and taught a knowledge organization course. Her art library experience includes working at MoMA and Pratt Institute. She is currently working as Processing Administrator in the Technical Services Department of Pratt Institute. Cindy has been a member of ARLIS/NY since 2002 and previously served on the Board as Member-At-Large for Membership. She is happily looking forward to serving as Secretary. 

Programming Coordinator (Member-At-Large): Missy Brown 

Missy Brown received her MSLIS from Pratt Institute in 2009 and has worked at Pratt since 2013, currently as Assistant Professor and Cataloging and Metadata Librarian. Prior to coming to Pratt, Missy worked as a Project Coordinator at the Brooklyn Museum on a 3-year grant-funded IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services) project where she oversaw the digitization of historical documentary photographs of Brooklyn. When not cataloging, Missy can be found making raku ceramics and zines. 

Social Media Coordinator: Mitsuko Brooks 

Mitsuko Brooks is a third-semester graduate student pursuing a Masters of Library and Information Studies and a Certificate in Archives and Preservation of Cultural Materials at Queens College. She was awarded The American Library Association Spectrum Scholarship (2020), Queens College's Graduate Student Endowment Scholarship (2019), and was a student council member of Queens College's Asian/American Center (AAC) (2019). She holds an M.F.A. in Painting & Drawing from UCLA and a B.F.A. from Cooper Union School of Art. Mitsuko is a Part-Time Reference Librarian at Cooper Union Library and has interned at Asian American Art Centre's Artist Archive. Her interests are in serving Asian American organizations and the digitization of art archives. 

Student/Early Professional Liaison: Abigail Walker 

Abigail Walker is the Serials Receiving Assistant at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts Library, where she contributes to various technical and public services. Before her work in libraries, she worked in museums and conservation labs. Abigail graduated in May with her MSLIS from Pratt Institute and is particularly interested in critical information literacy and approaches to reference and instruction in art libraries. 

News Editor: Allison Grillo 

Allison Grillo received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah and received her Master's in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute. She is a reference and research librarian for the law firm Herrick Feinstein, and works closely with members of the firm's Art Law department. Before that she worked at Practising Law Institute contributing to their ongoing digital archives project.

Members of the 2020 Nominating Committee are Samantha Deutch, Billy Kwan, and Emily Walz. The slate is now open for review by the Chapter membership. Please submit any comments to Nominating Committee chair Samantha Deutch at deutch@frick.org by December 31st. Per Chapter Bylaws (Article IV, section C--available here: https://www.arlisny.org/bylaws), the slate will be considered elected by acclamation if no comment is received. 

Thank you for your participation! 

Samantha Deutch 
Chair, 2020 Nominating Committee 

Apply now for the Celine Palatsky Travel Award! Applications are due on January 15, 2021. 

The ARLIS/NA New York Chapter is pleased to offer the Celine Palatsky Travel Award to support professional development including attendance at the 49th annual conference, Convergence = Collaboration + Créativite, hosted in Montreal, Canada in May, 2021.

ARLIS/NA New York’s executive board recognizes that this year, with COVID, an emphasis on “professional development” and candidates are encouraged to apply for opportunities outside of the annual conference. 

This is a great opportunity for students and new members who would like to become more involved in the organization, and we encourage you to apply!

For more information about the conference, please visit: http://arlismoq.ca/arlis-2021/.

Eligibility: 

• Must be a member of both ARLIS/NA and ARLIS/NA New York Chapter. 

• Must not have full institutional support. 

• Must not be an ARLIS/NA New York Chapter board member. 

• Must not have won this award in the past five years. 

How to apply: 

Send your resume or CV and a letter of application by email (as Microsoft Word or PDF attachment) to Samantha Deutch (deutch@frick.org). Your letter of application should explain your interest in art information professions and describe how you expect to benefit from your attendance at the conference or other professional development opportunities. If you receive partial institutional support, specify the amount. Please include the name and contact information of one professional reference.

For more information about the Celine Palatsky Travel Award, please visit: https://www.arlisny.org/Celine-Palatsky-Travel-Award. 

Dear colleagues,   

The Art Librarians Society of North America - New York Chapter is seeking members for two committees and six executive Board positions: Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Secretary, Programming Coordinator (Member-At-Large), Social Media Coordinator, Student/Early Professional Liaison, and News Editor.  

This year, in addition to looking for committee volunteers, we seek nominations (self-nominations are encouraged) for all open positions, even those who have been traditionally appointed by the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect (these are the Social Media Coordinator, Student/Early Professional Liaison, and News Editor positions).   

We are looking for members to serve on the Nominating and Celine Palatsky Award Committees. If you have been interested in taking on an ARLIS/NA NY leadership role and unable to commit to a Board position’s time requirements, serving on a committee is a great way to get your feet wet and learn more about our society.   

Due to these unprecedented times, and because membership in both the Chapter and ARLIS/NA is required to serve on the Board, the Board decided to wave chapter dues and sponsor national memberships for new board positions who are not yet members and are currently students or unemployed, and are selected to serve on the Executive Board.    

To learn more about our Chapter, see our history page and bylaws. To see who is currently serving on the Board, click here.   

For questions and all nominations (self, encouraged), please contact me directly at deutch@frick.org. Those interested will need to submit a cover letter and CV for committee work by Monday, October 5th; and, to serve on the Board by Thursday, October 22nd. 

Committee work will commence as soon as we fill the positions, and Board terms begin on January 1, 2021. The committee and open Board member positions are detailed below.  

With kind regards,  

Samantha Deutch 
ARLIS/NA NY, Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect      

Committee and Open Board Member Descriptions  

Nominating Committee members assist the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect in selecting the slate of candidates, which will be presented at the Chapter’s annual business meeting.     

Celine Palatsky Award Committee members are responsible for reviewing applications and determining the awardees for ARLIS/NA’s conference next year. For more information and past awardees, see the awards page on the Chapter’s website.  

The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect   

The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect (VC-CE) is a one-year term with a three-year commitment (after one year, they succeed as Chairperson, and then Past Chairperson). The VC-CE acts as the chief executive officer in the event the Chairperson is unable to serve, assists the Chairperson in the preparation of meetings, assembles and serves as chair of the nominating committee for the following year’s Board and the Celine Palatsky travel award committee. The VC/CE is responsible for reviewing the Chapter By-laws and other documents, checking for consistency. They also update and post the roster of Executive Board members since 1973.   

The Secretary   

The Secretary is responsible for the keeping of minutes of both Chapter and Board meetings and, after Board approval, submit them to the Web Editor for posting on the Chapter’s website. The Secretary is also responsible for balloting and counting votes cast and communicating the results to the Chapter.  

Programming Coordinator (Member-At-Large)  

The Programming Coordinator is responsible for coordinating ARLIS/NY events, including communication with third parties (i.e., museums, galleries, libraries, venues, etc.). They research new event ideas and propose them to the Executive Board for approval. They manage announcements, registration, and reminders for all events unless otherwise handled by another chapter member. The Programming Coordinator fields member requests for and questions about events.  

Customarily appointed (now open) non-voting Board positions. 

News Editor  

The News Editor manages and oversees the Chapter’s listserv with the exciting possibility of creating a Humanities Commons (HC) chapter WordPress site. In consultation with other Board members, the News Editor will have the opportunity to lead the charge and facilitate the creation and curation of ARLIS/NY’s HC page.  

Social Media Coordinator  

The Social Media Coordinator develops innovative and creative media content across social media platforms, proposes a creative strategy in collaboration with executive Board members, and creates and maintains relevant social media accounts. They set up routine tasks and activities for all social media outlets, all while keeping track of social media trends and innovations. They deliver reports at Board meetings with statistics and results for each account.    

Student/Early Professional Liaison

The Student/Early Professional Liaison is dedicated to providing support to students and emerging professionals in art librarianship. The Liaison helps to build networking and professional development opportunities, through happy hour events, tours, and workshops.