As affiliated organizations, the VRA and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) have jointly held two annual conferences and several regional conferences and events, as well as collaborating in areas such as education, research, and publishing. Members of both the VRA and ARLIS/NA are generally interested in exploring ways to better leverage our common ground while maintaining the identity of each organization and meeting the specific needs of its members. At the 2011 joint VRA + ARLIS/NA conference a well-attended and very lively open forum was held for individuals interested in exploring future collaborations between the two organizations. This event, being offered at both of the 2012 VRA and ARLIS/NA conferences, seeks to continue that dialog in a structured way by providing a collaborative stepping-stone. Panelists will present various partnership models based on their experiences, the findings of the ARLIS/NA VRA Joint Task Force on Collaboration, and members’ feedback from last year's joint conference. Some models will outline the smaller steps for efforts that have already been implemented successfully, such as joint chapter meetings. Others may propose larger steps, such as creating a permanent steering committee to facilitate collaborative initiatives or recommending that the two organizations formally establish a regular joint meeting schedule. The session will conclude with an invitation to the audience to weigh in on these ideas in an "open mic" brainstorming discussion. The presentations and discussion will include both advantages and disadvantages to increased collaboration between the two organizations. The panel will administer a survey to solicit audience feedback following the session, and later prepare a report for both organizations' Executive Boards.
CO-ORGANIZERS:
- Greta Bahnemann, University of Minnesota
- Elaine Paul, University of Colorado Boulder
- Greta Bahnemann and Elaine Paul, former members of the ARLIS/NA-VRA Joint Task Force on Collaboration, will provide a brief introduction to their experiences investigating organizational collaboration.
- Mark Pompelia will describe his perspective having served on the VRA executive boards during both the 2002 and 2011 joint conferences. This will include a basic history, organizational identity, commonalities and differences, finances and other practicalities, lessons learned and, just as important, lessons forgotten.
- Elizabeth Schaub will discuss the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management (SEI), a successful joint project of ARLIS/NA and the VRA Foundation. SEI uses a collaborative model where members from both organizations work together to serve on the Implementation Team responsible for planning and executing all aspects of the institute. She will also discuss an idea she put forward during the leadership breakfast at the 2011 joint conference in Minneapolis suggesting our organizations consider creating a Think Tank group that would examine emerging trends that might impact the educational and cultural institutions where the majority of our members are employed.
- Rebecca Moss will discuss her organizational role in the Minneapolis joint conference between ARLIS/NA and VRA, and her experiences at a local level, where the VRA Midwest and ARLIS/TC chapters have put on joint chapter meetings.
- Jeanne Keefe will discuss her experiences with organizing and attending joint regional meetings between VRA Upstate New York and ARLIS/Western New York , ARLIS/New England and chairing the ARLIS/VRA Summer Educational Institute for two years.
- Audience will be invited to respond with a brainstorming discussion about next steps.
