Arlis Conference Dublin 2017

This is my report for the Arlis conference, which I also submitted to the Cambridge Libraries Newsletter (doesn't include the edits they made). With the year now corrected (oops).

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ARLIS Conference Dublin 2017: [R]evolution: Re-imagining the Art Library

The Art Libraries Society (Arlis) conference took place at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin this July. Always a glamorous and intellectually stimulating conference, this was no different; the Irish contingent put on an amazing show, ably assisted by the many wonderful galleries and libraries Dublin has to offer.

Francis Bacon's Studio, at Dublin City Gallery

 Popular themes this year included discussion of space, in its physical and digital sense, and of the library as the potential third space. One particular highlight was Daniel Payne of OCAD University in Toronto and his talk in the dissonance between perceived space, cognitive space and physical space, and how harmonising these can lead to a sense of place rather than space. Another was an excellent lightning talk from Nicole Lovenjak, one of the authors of the recently published The State of Art Museum Libraries 2016 White Paper – fascinating, if rather depressing, reading. She had recently worked as a consultant on the planned closure of Dayton Institute Library and dispersal of its contents, and had effectively rescued archives of unique material which might otherwise have been lost.

This was also my first foray into conference speaking, so I gave a lightning talk entitled Doing More With Less – which certainly seemed to strike a chord with the audience! It led to lots of interesting conversations with all sorts of librarians, so I’m grateful for the opportunity (and that’s another thing to tick off on my bucket list!).

The Cathach, the earliest extant example of Irish
writing (c.560-600AD), at the Royal Irish Academy

And it wouldn’t be an art libraries conference without taking in at least one art exhibition, so we enjoyed a prosecco reception and a special viewing of Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting at the National Gallery, and visits to places like the Royal Dublin Society, Chester Beatty Library, the Royal Irish Academy and Dublin City Gallery, which houses Frances Bacon’s studio. Sheer indulgence!

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So yes. Maybe you didn't spot it, but I GAVE A PRESENTATION. Me. Okay, only a lightning talk, and not a terribly brilliant one at that, but the important thing is I got up in front of my peers and delivered something with the assumption that I would be imparting information that they hadn't heard before. Take that, imposter syndrome!

It was good, although in hindsight I probably dwelt too much on the problem rather than the outcome, meaning a lot of people came up to me to offer sympathy rather than congratulations. However, in all of that, I got a tweet (look! I quote: "#neverknew"!):

Now pow how wow matrix #arlis2017 #neverknew

— Andrew Gray LUV (@OrangeShovels) July 12, 2017

And even better, the director of Arlis himself asked me for advice on something. Score!

Next step was to write about it publicly: Cambridge Libraries Newsletter ✔
And I mentioned it to the assistant director here, and she suggested I write something about it for the UCM Blog. It's not going to be a conversation with a woolly bear, but they might still publish it...