Please join us for the second session of lightning talks and final day of the ARLIS/NA New York virtual mini-conference on Wednesday, October 23, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The theme for the day will be Archives, Outreach and Literacy. Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link for the event. This is a free event for ARLIS/NA New York chapter members.
Schedule:
“Image Description, Alt-Text and Access in Zine Libraries and Special Collections”
Hanna Sheehan, Zine Library Accessibility Graduate Assistant, Pratt Institute Libraries
In this lightning talk, I will present the work I’m currently doing as the Zine Library Accessibility Graduate Assistant at Pratt Library, focusing on improving accessibility for blind and low vision users in zine collections. My responsibilities include creating descriptive alt-text for images, enhancing findability through diverse records and keyword functionality, and educating students about the significance of zines. I will discuss the challenges I face, such as generating alt-text as a blind user, and the opportunities for professional growth in navigating these accessibility hurdles. Key takeaways include the importance of radical dependency, fostering collaboration to enhance access, and how these practices can be replicated in other academic libraries to ensure inclusivity and representation. This talk will explore how my role can inspire others to rethink accessibility and advocate for inclusive practices in special collections, particularly for marginalized and disabled students.
“Pictures Run Riot: Developing a Graphic Novel Collection in an Academic Library”
Chris Jacobs, Evening & Weekend Manager, Pratt Institute Libraries
Over the summer of 2023, as part of my work as a Graduate Assistant in the Access Service department of Pratt Institute's Brooklyn library, I collaborated with librarian Holly Wilson on an effort to expand the school's collection of Japanese manga. I conducted research into similar collection development projects at comparable institutions, performed a circulation analysis to get an idea of the Pratt community's reading habits and built my expertise as a selector through research into the history of the artform. All of this information informed a list of thirty acquisitions, which were purchased by the library.
“Processing the Backlog”
Rachel Garbade, Assistant Archivist, Processing, The Museum of Modern Art
In October 2022, Rachel Garbade began processing The Museum of Modern Art Archives' backlog, a varied body of material consisting of both internal records and external donations. In this talk, Garbade will discuss her various workflows, giving the audience an understanding of how she determines if an accretion is added to an existing collection or if a small body of material becomes a new collection. She will highlight noteworthy additions to the following collections: Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers, MoMA Retail, Publications, and Other Sales Catalogs, Beaumont Newhall Papers, and more.
“Architectural Publications Run, Edited, and Authored by Minorities in the Field”
Flannery Cusick, Recent Graduate, MS/LIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
There is a long legacy of architects and architectural students turning to self-published journals and magazines to explore topics and prevalent issues that are innovative, progressive, or otherwise marginalized by professional spheres in the field. For the past several years, the UIUC Chapter of the National organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) has partnered with Ricker Library of Architecture and Art for the planning and programming of an annual symposium. In the winter of 2022, this partnership culminated as a library exhibition of student and professional publications run by minorities in the field, which was curated from Ricker Library’s own collections. This project advanced a more thorough exploration of the world and histories of architectural discourse authored, edited, and published by marginalized voices.
“Building an Online Exhibition for The New York Public Library”
Tereza Chanaki, Research Associate at the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
The Banned: Censorship and the Freedom to Read online exhibition, accompanied by a curriculum guide and temporary displays of material in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, explores censorship in the United States through four themed sections: Literature and Film, Sexual and Reproductive Freedom, Archiving Against Censorship and White Supremacy, and War, Colonialism and Protest. Each section offers a glimpse into a variety of materials in the Library’s collections, curated by four co-curators who worked together to bring different parts of the project into fruition. The project opened up my eyes, as an early-career individual, to the opportunities and challenges of producing an exhibition within a large research institution like The New York Public Library.
"Fashioning History: Digital Archives and Philately in Textile and Costume Scholarship"
A.M. LaVey, Librarian for Ukrainian Visual Culture, The Ukrainian Museum (NYC)
This talk will explore an archival case study on the use of postage stamps as primary sources in fashion, textile and costume scholarship. Often overlooked, stamps serve as a valuable visual documentation of fashion trends, traditional costume and culture values related to dress across different periods and regions. By examining stamps as historical artifacts, this presentation will demonstrate their potential to enrich FTC research, offering insights that complement other primary sources such as photographs and the garments themselves.
