Doing Digital Art History: Redefining Art Librarianship

In response to developments in digital scholarship, many arts and humanities librarians find themselves racing to acquire technical expertise to help scholars take advantage of emerging tools and strategies. The three presenters in this session will examine ways to meet these challenges through the implementation of innovative digital tools and reimagined roles for librarians that supplement and complement existing models of scholarship and professional practice. Speakers will also consider professional development strategies, such as their participation in two summer institutes funded by the Getty Foundation. These institutes are aimed at helping art librarians learn alongside faculty to meaningfully engage with the tools and critical perspectives of digital humanities. They will also discuss work in progress on collaborative digital humanities projects. These opportunities situate librarians at the frontiers of scholarship as partners in creating and disseminating knowledge. Experienced librarians have already mastered many digital humanities building blocks. Susette Newberry will reflect on the Getty-sponsored “Rebuilding the Portfolio” institute and the importance of reframing expertise. She will also highlight the liaison librarian’s role in extending knowledge of digital art history through collaborations that embrace emerging modes of discipline-focused scholarship and pedagogy. The Getty-sponsored “Beyond the Digitized Slide Library” institute taught scholarly digital tools to art historians already working on various projects, as well as critical perspectives on what “doing digital art history” means. Lindsay King will talk about her work at the institute analyzing art-historical data in the Vogue Archive. Lyndsay Bratton will discuss strategies for navigating new iterations of art librarianship in the Digital Age, as shrinking budgets and changing technological landscapes inspire increasingly multilayered job titles. Her newly created role rooted in an instructional technology department throws into relief the challenges of bridging traditional and emerging professional identities. This recording is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). / Presentations: 1. Reframing the Portfolio at Mid-Career: Digital Humanities and the Liaison Librarian — Susette Newberry, Art Librarian, Assistant Director of Research & Learning Services, Olin & Uris Libraries, Cornell University 2. Digging into Digital Art History Data — Lindsay King, Public Services Librarian, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University 3. Art Librarian Recast — Lyndsay Bratton, Digital Scholarship and Visual Resources Librarian, Shain Library, Connecticut College

Related Event: ARLISNA 2015 Fort Worth Conference