New toolkits for research data management in the visual arts

The Centre for Digital Scholarship at the University for the Creative Arts has launched toolkits resulting from the VADS4R project. This project delivered a series of workshops on research data management in the visual arts at the University for the Creative Arts, Glasgow School of Art and Falmouth University, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Over 186 postgraduates and researchers participated in the project from universities across the UK, exploring the nature of ‘research data’ in the visual arts and sharing their practice and tips for its effective management.

The CDS have launched the first in a series of online toolkits and videos introducing research data management in the visual arts. The tools are:

"How to avoid a data disaster":

https://xerte.ucreative.ac.uk/xertetoolkits/play.php?template_id=250

"Writing the AHRC Technical Plan":

https://xerte.ucreative.ac.uk/xertetoolkits/play.php?template_id=228

Amy Robinson of the CDS says: "We hope this will prove useful beyond the end of the project, and we would be really grateful to get your feedback and any suggestions whatsoever at the end of each toolkit (or by email)."

The CDS have also shared all the presentations and materials from the workshops on the project website at: http://www.vads4r.vads.ac.uk

UCA Research Online: http://research.ucreative.ac.uk

GSA announces launch of new website and online catalogue for GSA’s Archives and Collections

Glasgow School of Art have announced the launch of a new website and online catalogue for GSA’s Archives and Collections.

To visit the new website go to: http://www.gsaarchives.net/

Michelle Kaye, GSA Archives and Collections Project Officer said: 

"This is an exciting step for the Archives and Collections. By making our collections more accessible online, we hope to promote our magnificent holdings and facilitate the use of our archives and museum objects by both GSA staff and students as well as external users for the purposes of learning, teaching and research. This project has been kindly supported by Museums Galleries Scotland.

As a result of the fire which occurred in the Mackintosh Building earlier this year, physical access to our collections is limited and we are sadly currently unable to welcome researchers to our searchroom, so providing virtual access to our collections has become even more vital at this time."

You can sign up to the new blog at: http://www.gsaarchives.net/blog/

Call for speakers/poster sessions for the Museum Librarians and Archivists Group (MLAG) Conference 2015

Proposals are invited for the MLAG Conference 2015 presentations and poster sessions:

To be held on Friday 24th April 2015 at the Henry Wellcome Auditorium,

Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK.

*The D-Word: tips and tricks for digitising library and archive collections *

Providing online access to library and archive collections has never been more important for promoting and increasing awareness to our hidden treasures. At this conference we want to explore:

  * How museums and art galleries can start the digitisation process and demystify the often complex world of digitisation, no matter what your budget

  * Provide case studies from museums and art galleries who have begun digitising their collections, and highlight particular areas of interest or successes in these projects

You are invited to submit proposals for presentations or poster sessions. Proposals must be no longer than *250 words*. Proposals must be submitted by the end of *Friday 9th January 2015*. Selected

participants will be contacted by the end of January.

In your submission please include:

 1. Title

 2. Synopsis

 3. Indicate whether you would like to do a presentation, poster session, or both.

 4. If you would like to present please indicate how much time you would require (we are currently working on offering 20 or 40 min slots, but can be flexible with this).

Areas of interest are:

 1. How to get funding

 2. Digital preservation

 3. Copyright

 4. Technical processes – i.e. image capture, metadata creation

 5. Collaboration with other organisations

 6. Working with volunteers

 7. Crowdsourcing

 8. Producing guidelines and workflows

 9. Learning and outreach

10. Evaluation

11. Marketing

Presentations should give some context for the project and the collections they are digitising, but focus more on the practical side of projects.

Poster sessions are an opportunity to showcase relevant projects in an informal setting, giving attendees the opportunity to ask questions.

Participants will be chosen according to demonstrating one area of interest particularly well.

*Please submit your proposal via email to both:*

Jane Bramwell. Head of Library and Archive, Tate:

_jane.bramwell@tate.org_ 

Melanie Grant. Acquisition Services Manager, Wellcome Library:

_m.grant@wellcome.ac.uk_ 

Applications invited for research residency at ECA Library

Applications are invited for the second annual artist book maker research residency at ECA Library. This is an opportunity for a practising book artist to be in residence at ECA Library for 4 weeks in early 2015 in order to explore the ECA library collection, curate a display, and produce a new book work to be added to the ECA Library collection of 2000 artists' books.

More information about the residency and how to apply can be found on the ECA Library blog at https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/ecalibrary/

The deadline for applications is Friday 14th November at 12 noon.

Good luck!

SVAG survey features in new issue of SCONUL Focus online journal

The latest issue of SCONUL Focus, Issue 61, includes Glasgow School of Art Academic Liaison Librarian Duncan Chappell's report on the evolving collections management in SVAG member libraries, and the findings from the SVAG survey

You can access the report via: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/page/focus-6