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Response
to "Criteria for the Hiring and Retention of Visual Resource Professionals"
January
27, 1997
Margaret
N. Webster
The
Knight Visual Resources Facility
College
of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Office
of the Dean, Sibley Dome
Ithaca,
NY 14853
Dear Ms.
Webster:
After careful
review of "Criteria for the Hiring and Retention of Visual Resource
Professionals," adopted by the Arts Libraries Society of North America
(ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association (VRA) in 1995, the governing
Council of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) at its meeting on
24 January 1997 declined to endorse the criteria nor recommend their use
by SAA members.
In addition
to textual and electronic records, archivists manage diverse forms of
visual materials -- including photographs, moving images, works of art,
maps, graphic materials, and visual ephemera -- in a variety of public
and private settings, such as governmental, academic, institutional, and
corporate archives. Indeed, the Visual Materials Section of SAA is devoted
to the particular concerns of its more than 400 member archivists, all
of whom are professionals with collection-management responsibilities
for visual resources.
The "Criteria"
document begins by describing a broad context for its guidelines:
Visual
resources collections exist in academic institutions, research collections,
museums, archives (emphasis added), public libraries, governmental
agencies, corporations, and small private institutions such as historical
societies. The management of these collections includes the acquisition,
classification, and maintenance of visual materials...
With no
other definition provided for "visual resources" or "visual
resource professionals," the document thus suggests that the criteria
presented are applicable to a diverse group of professionals -- including
archivists -- with responsibility for the management of visual materials.
In reality, however, the document is directed towards academic librarians
with responsibility for collections of art-related visual resources that
are not original materials; for instance, copy slides and prints.
While the
guidelines may be appropriate for professionals employed in academic visual
arts programs, they are not appropriate for visual resource professionals
employed in an archival setting or charged with the responsibilities comparable
to those of a visual materials archivist. The educational needs of visual
materials archivists, for example, are more complex than those specified
in the current criteria document, as can be seen by examining the SAA's
professional education and training criteria: the Guidelines for the
Development of a Curriculum for a Master of Archival Studies Degree
and Guidelines for the Development of Post-Appointment and Continuing
Education and Training (PACE) Programs (currently in draft form).
Both documents are enclosed.
It is our
hope that any future revision of the criteria or any new guidelines that
may be developed by the Task Force on Visual Resources Professional Issues
clearly define the type of professional to which they apply. If the guidelines
are intended to reflect the needs of all archivists, the active involvement
of visual material archivists should be sought early in the development
of the guidelines.
The SAA
and its Visual Materials Section would welcome the opportunity to work
with ARLIS/NA and VRA on issues of joint concern, and I would be happy
to put you in touch with the appropriate SAA contacts.
Sincerely
yours,
Susan E.
Fox
Executive
Director
cc: Penney
DePas, ARLIS/NA
Joseph
A. Romano, VRA
Judi
Hoffman, Chair, SAA Visual Materials Section
enc.
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