Collaboration is part of the vernacular of contemporary work. The value of multiple hands and minds is often treated as a given, and technology enabling the sharing of tasks and ideas over long distances improves continually. Yet the mechanics of collaboration are not always so simple: from recognizing a need to navigating the disparate cultures and technologies of our workspaces, collaborative work requires planning, cooperation, and insight.
This panel presentation introduces three collaborations that have taken shape on drastically different scales—from intercontinental to intra-institutional—resulting in partnerships that may live on beyond the projects that forged them.
Elisa Hansen and Marie-Laetitia Lachèvre will describe the discovery of an eighteenth-century manuscript that sparked a transatlantic research partnership between librarians and curators at the Ringling Museum of Art and the Palace of Versailles.
Kai Alexis Smith, Ann Roll, and Laurel Bliss will discuss the grassroots formation of a consortial collaboration of Arts & Performing Arts librarians across 23 California State University campuses. Reporting on an H. W. Wilson Research Award funded study, they will share their investigations into consortially-driven, arts-focused opportunities for teaching, collection development, and research support.
Whitney Tassie and Todd Samuelson will report on the first year of "Landscape, Land Art, and the American West," a four-year collaboration between the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library and Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). Meant to build a lasting structural partnership between Library and Museum, this project is jointly funded by the University and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and encompasses research initiatives, shared discovery platforms, teaching, and outreach. Presenters will share a case study centered on Nancy Holt's
Sun Tunnels, an iconic work of Land art in the Utah desert; they will discuss challenges and successes from the first year of grant activity as well as plans for the future.
These projects may be seen as examples of how to incite collaborations across a variety of institutions, and what those projects might look like as they mature. Time will be held for Q&A after presentations.
Learning Objectives- Attendees will gain insight into how a variety of collaborations are started and understand the breadth of opportunities that exist for such projects.
- Attendees will learn how success is measured across three different collaborative projects at three different levels of completion.
- Attendees will be encouraged to expand their own definitions of collaboration, thinking critically about scale, impact, and duration.
