Past ARLIS/NE Programs - Notes:
Portland Meeting - Friday, October 4, 1996
Maine College of Art

On October 4th over thirty ARLIS New England members journeyed to Portland, Maine for our first program in that state in over 10 years. Kristin Doty, Librarian at the Maine College of Art, and Anne Shankland, Art Librarian at Bowdoin College, were our hosts for the day. Past president Hugh Wilburn chaired the brief business meeting during which he noted the upcoming elections for Vice Chair/Chair Elect and Secretary/Membership Officer positions and introduced Robert Craddick, RISD, who is currently developing a Website for ARLIS/NE. The ensuing brief discussion concerned the type of information which members would find relevant as well as information which members might consider sensitive and therefore undesirable on a Website.

After the meeting the gathering divided into two special interest groups for informal discussions. The Bibliographic Instruction group had a lively discussion on bibliographic instruction issues, including how to orient patrons to the vast resources of the Web and the importance of including basic orientation to "traditional" resources. The Visual Resources group exchanged useful information on digital imaging, cataloging, and database development projects, such as the VR/VRMS group which has been meeting for the past year and now includes several visual collections in New England and New York. The discussion also covered image copyright issues and new or ongoing software development initiatives.

After a lunch break in picturesque downtown Portland, Kristin Doty lead the group on a tour of her school's new building, a former department store. The day's program ended at the Portland Museum of Art, where docents led tours of the exhibit "Picasso, Braque, Leger, and the Cubist Spirit, 1919-1939."

Sarah Dickinson, 12/2/96