VRL Policies
Use of the Visual Resources Library
PURPOSE OF THE COLLECTION
The UNC Visual Resources Library is owned and maintained by the Art Department of the University of North Carolina. Unlike the Art Library or other campus libraries, it does not receive special funding or grants for the purchase of new materials and equipment; it is entirely funded by the Art Department, and its primary purpose is to serve the teaching needs of the Art Department faculty. It is a teaching facility rather than a study facility, and for this reason the Art Department must restrict the use of the facility by other departments and agencies. No fee is charged for the privilege of using this facility; we do, however, ask our patrons to please be aware that, because there are many users, the guidelines, which follow, have been established specifically to serve and protect the needs of our teaching faculty.
Any UNC-based user may access our online digital image collections, 60,000 images and growing, in ARTstor at www.artstor.org or via the UNC Libraries digital resources page. ARTstor also contains several million additional images from many different national and international collections, all of which can be used under the terms of fair use in classroom teaching, lectures, and presentations. The VRL offers additional training and support for using ARTstor in the classroom and in research. Please contact the Visual Resources Curator for further assistance with utilizing ARTstor.
HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
WHO MAY USE THE FACILITY (in order of priority):
- Art Department faculty members and Ackland Museum teaching staff (priority over all other patrons)
- Classics Department faculty members
- Art Department graduate students (for teaching and seminar presentations)
- Classics Department graduate students (for seminar presentations)
- Faculty members from other departments at UNC Chapel Hill
- Graduate students from other departments at UNC Chapel Hill
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO THE FOLLOWING PERSONS:
- Former Art Department or Classics Department faculty members
- Art Department Alumni
- Ackland Museum docents
- Visiting lecturers or scholars, including those from the National Humanities Research Center
- Art Department undergraduates in upper level courses (100 or above) who have been assigned classroom presentations
- Other individuals who have received permission and training directly from the Visual Resources Curator
RESTRICTIONS
- The Slide Collection is not open to the public.
- The Slide Collection is not open to other institutions, including branches of UNC in other cities, except by special sharing arrangements for the use of online collections in ARTstor.
VRL EQUIPMENT
- Scanners: Anyone who receives training may use the scanners in the VRL. We have flatbed, oversize and film/slide scanners. Use during opening hours will be conditional upon prioritizing staff utilization of the computers.
- Software: VRL computers are equipped with specialized image-processing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Gigpan Stitch, and Agisoft Photoscan. As with the scanners, use during opening hours will be conditional upon prioritizing staff utilization of the computers.
- Portable Digital Projectors: Digital projectors are available for classroom use by Art Department Faculty members and T.A.’s. Projectors must be requested in advance directly from the Visual Resources Curator, as demand for their use is high and must be scheduled. All projectors should be borrowed immediately prior to class and returned immediately after class. Projectors may not leave Hanes Art Center for any reason. Projectors also cannot be checked out for exhibition use, which is too long a time period to keep a projector out of circulation when classes are in session.
- VRL Computers and Projection Screen: The VRL space may be used for class sessions, makeup or alternate exams, or digital humanities workshops. Any of these activities must be scheduled in advance with the Visual Resources Curator so that staff schedules can be re-arranged to accommodate the special facility use. Currently all of the facility computers are PCs, but we will be acquiring Macs in the next departmental computer allotment.
ACQUISITIONS
New Slide Acquisitions
New digital images for the VRL collections in ARTstor may be created, purchased, or donated. Purchases of commercially available images can be made at the recommendation of faculty members or the Visual Resources Curator and are dependent upon the availability of funds.
Requesting New Slides
A New Acquisitions Order Form is required to process new images. As of this time, a separate order form is required for each type of original to be duplicated as slides (i.e. a new form for each book, set of slides, group of photographs). The form for requesting new images is available on our webpage at https://art.unc.edu/art-history/facilities/visual-resources-library-2/. If the original is a book currently available from Sloane Art Library, then VRL staff will obtain the book. Otherwise, originals must be included with the order form at the time of submitting the order.
Orders can be emailed to the Visual Resources Curator or delivered to the VRL in Hanes Art Center 214.
All originals will be returned immediately after the order has been processed.
Turnaround time for orders
Standard orders are processed over a two-week period. Large orders (50 or more images) may require additional time. The turnaround time is somewhat dependent upon the overall workload, which is especially heavy just prior to and during the first month of a new semester. At such busy times, orders submitted for the standard turnaround period will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. All orders must be dated so the VRL can prioritize if necessary. Please plan slide requests adequately in advance of needs, as the VRL is not currently capable of accommodating rush orders.
GRADUATE STUDENT USE OF THE VISUAL RESOURCES LIBRARY
An equipment and software orientation is required of all graduate students.
After Hours Use of the Slide Collection:
With the permission of the Visual Resources Curator, graduate students can be given after-hours access to the VRL (via code to the door lock). However, any graduate student planning to use the facility after-hours should alert the curator in advance, for security reasons, and use should occur with the door locked and closed at all times. Do not admit anyone you do not know to the VRL. Please identify yourself to anyone who may already be working in the room when you enter.