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

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!

Introducing 'The Hatchery' from Glasgow School of Art Library

The Glasgow School of Art Library has just launched its new website showcase The Hatchery:
http://www2.gsa.ac.uk/library/hatchery/the-hatchery_01.htm

You can use The Hatchery to discover how artists, writers and creatives have used GSA's library collections to inspire, challenge or expand their practice.  From interventions into their spaces, to installations amongst their shelves, many have used their collections to explore and challenge artistic, cultural and philosophical themes and preoccupations.

Thanks again to SVAG recording secretary Duncan Chappell (Academic Liaison Librarian, GSA) for this information!

Slide collections as archives

Archive Interventions is an Art History and Visual Studies PhD project and blog at the University of Manchester, looking at slide collections as valuable archives.

This coincides with an increasing interest across the Art Libraries Society UK membership list in the value of archiving slide collections and not disposing of them as apparently obsolete. 

It will be interesting to track this project and see what can be learned from it.

Thanks to the ACADI list for raising awareness of this project:

http://archiveinterventions.wordpress.com/

http://archiveinterventions.wordpress.com/about/

Art Researchers’ Guide to Edinburgh

Art Researchers’ Guide to Edinburgh:

Edited by Kerry Eldon & Rose Roberto, ISBN 978-0-9562763-2-2

Published by Art Libraries Society UK & Ireland (ARLIS), June 2012

For the past year a group of ELISA members have been contributing to the Art Researchers’ Guide to Edinburgh which will be published this month by the Art Libraries Society UK & Ireland (ARLIS). It is the second in a series after the Art Researchers’ Guide to Leeds was published last summer. The handbook describes the major libraries and repositories in Edinburgh with art and design resources. It allows readers to more fully explore the city, and direct them to the most appropriate libraries and archives to suit their research needs.

Special features include:

•a city-wide map

•at-a-glance navigation icons

•a time-saving subject index to collections

•a peek into each place with full-colour images

The guide will be launched at the ARLIS Annual Conference in the University of London on 28th June 2012 but it is now available to pre-order at a special pre-conference price of £5 (regular price £6.50) from http://www.arlis.org.uk/resources.php?link=1 or by emailing l.blackman@vam.ac.uk

GSA Library launches Creative Research mini-site

Glasgow School of Art Library has just launched its brand-new mini-site, 'Creative Research'.

"Discover how artists, writers and creative practitioners have used the collections of GSA Learning Resources to inspire, challenge or expand their practice. From interventions into our spaces, to installations amongst our shelves, our collections can be used to explore and challenge artistic, cultural and philosophical themes and

preoccupations.

'Creative Research' brings together a number of case studies, images and artist testimonies to explore how practitioners have used, played with, and deconstructed the Library's spaces and collections."

The resource is freely available online at:

http://www2.gsa.ac.uk/CreativeResearch/creativeresearch_01.htm