National Library of Australia  - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 72 | December 2004


Arts Libraries Society of Australia and New Zealand Biennal Conference

The biennial Arts Libraries Society of Australia and New Zealand (ARLIS/ANZ) Conference was held this year at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 8–11 September. Taking as its theme ‘What Makes us Special? Serving the Arts as an Information Provider’, the conference focused on a range of approaches to improving access to the information resources held by arts libraries, and addressed the particular challenges and opportunities that changing technologies present for librarians in the visual arts field. Two key issues raised at the conference were the need for slide libraries to eventually make the transition to digital databases as a result of the phasing out of slide technology by Kodak, and how best to provide access to ‘grey’ or ‘guerrilla’ resources in an increasingly digital environment.

The Art Gallery of NSW staff did a wonderful job of organising the conference. A cataloguing workshop for visual arts librarians, sponsored by the NLA, was held on the first day, and was following in the evening by the launch of the new ARLIS/ANZ website located at <http://arlisanz.anu.edu.au/>.

A number of excellent papers were delivered over the next two days by speakers from Australia and New Zealand. Particular highlights included the panel session  ‘Views from the Client Side’, where arts professionals recounted their experiences of, and approaches to, using arts libraries, and conference reports on New York and IFLA given by Joye Volker, Library Manager for Art, Music and New Media at the ANU, and Margaret Shaw, Chief Librarian, National Gallery of Australia, respectively. At the Annual General Meeting, held as part of the conference, Linda Groom, Director of the Pictures Branch, National Library was elected to the position of President of ARLIS/ANZ for 2005–06.

As always, the ARLIS conference provided a great opportunity to meet one’s peers and exchange information. The opportunity to tour the Gallery’s very impressive reference library and visit the marvellous exhibition of Imperial Chinese costume  were also greatly appreciated by conference attendees. The next ARLIS/ANZ Conference will be held at the National Library in 2006.
—Michelle Hetherington, Pictures Branch

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |


Gateways logo