With the transition of the VAN into an all-electronic format, we are pleased to announce a
complementary transition for the VAF bibliography. Initiated in 1979, the bibliography is a
running list of sources relevant to Vernacular Architecture studies containing
more than 28,000 entries. Beginning
this spring the complete bibliography will be available in a Zotero database VAF Bibliography. Developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for
New Media at George Mason University, Zotero is open-source reference software to manage bibliographic data and related
research materials. As a standard
bibliographic management tool it is capable of creating reference lists to be
used in footnotes and bibliographies. However,
individual VAFers need not worry about adding to the comprehensive list by
using Zotero, but we can all access the master Zotero list and extract sources for
our own uses. It can also be searched and
browsed as a standard bibliography. Additionally, Zotero is integrated with
WorldCat and other major databases. David
Bergstone initiated this project has been overseeing the herculean task of migrating
existing entries from FileMaker to Zotero.
At the same
time that the bibliography is going open-source digital, we are happy to
announce two new bibliographers, who will be working as a team to maintain it
and add new entries. The latest
additions will be reported in each issue of the VAN as in the past. The team consists of C. Ian Stevenson (charlesian@hotmail.com)
and Zachary Violette (zviolette@gmail.com).
Stevenson and Violette take over for Virginia Price, who has served as
bibliographer for a number of years.
 | |||
| Iam Stevenson, co-bibliographer |
C.
Ian Stevenson holds a Master’s Degree in Preservation Studies from
Boston University’s American and New England Studies Program, where his thesis
focused on the late nineteenth century comprehensive architectural program of two
interconnected railroads in rural Maine. He is Assistant Editor
for the Humanities and Administrator of the Loeb Classical Library and The I
Tatti Renaissance Library at Harvard University Press, where he has
contributed to the major digitization project of the century-old Loeb Classical
Library.
 |
| Zach Violette, co-bibliographer |
Zachary
Violette is a Ph.D. Candidate in the American and New England Studies Program
at Boston University, set to graduate in May. His dissertation, “Fantastic
Shapes and Unfamiliar Profiles: The Decorated Tenements of Boston and New York,
1860-1910” explores the intersection of class, ethnicity, and architectural ornament
in a building type common to major American cities. That project’s research
methodology involves adapting database and other Digital Humanities techniques
to vernacular architecture questions.
Please feel
free to send items for inclusion to either Ian or Zach.
