Visual Resources Association
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Review of "Rights and Reproductions: The Handbook for Cultural Institutions" (2nd ed.)
No full textThe second edition of Rights and Reproductions: The Handbook for Cultural Institutions provides an updated look at intellectual property, related laws, and appropriate use for cultural institutions. The authors provide a robust and clear explanation of relevant issues and serves a wide range of users employing the text as a reference work
Basics of Photogrammetry for VR Professionals: 3D Visualization of Cultural Heritage Objects
No full textPhotogrammetry, the process of creating 3D digital models from a series of 2D photographs, has the potential of making cultural heritage objects and collections more accessible. The low-cost and relatively easy-to-learn technique allows for the quick creation of highly-accurate 3D renderings of objects, from small statuettes, to entire buildings and historic sites. Several cultural heritage institutions, including the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution are already employing photogrammetry to provide greater access to their collections. And the technique was a key topic of conversation at a conference on 2D and 3D photography held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2017. This article describes all aspects of the photogrammetry workflow, from image capture and editing, to working with photogrammetry software such as Agisoft Photoscan, to editing and sharing 3D models on websites such as Sketchfab. The aim of the article, given the increasing importance of 3D visualization in the cultural heritage field, is to provide visual resources professionals with the knowledge necessary to begin their own experiments in photogrammetry
Translating Visual to Textual Resources: Editorial and Technological Support for Electronic Publishing
No full textThis article is an extension of a presentation that occurred at the 2018 College Art Association, Visual Resources Association affiliate session in Los Angeles. The session was entitled, “Shifting Sands: New Trends in Visual Resource Services.” It is a case study based upon the author's personal experience of twelve years working as the production editor for UC Irvine's Journal for Learning through the Arts. It is suggested that visual resources curators are well-positioned to support electronic publishing ventures. With the plethora of online tools supporting digital technology, there are opportunities for visual resources professionals to support more than the use of images at their institutions. Other examples of ways to expand a visual resources toolkit are provided that the author hopes professionals will find translatable to their situations.
Acknowledgements:
The author would like to acknowledge the wisdom and generosity of Professor Liane Brouillette, whose warm supportiveness, from doctoral research to current editorial/project management work has been unflagging
Scope Drift? More of a Sharp Turn: Visual Resources Director One Day, Architecture Librarian the Next
No full textWhen the position of Director of Visual Resources was transferred from the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (the School) to the University Libraries a dramatic scope drift occurred. There was a physical move down the hall within the School, from the Visual Resources Collection room to the Architecture Branch Library. The Director was reassigned as Visual Resources Librarian (with faculty status) and would run the Visual Resources Collection within the Library. Within a month, as the Architecture Librarian was moved across the street to run the Art Library, various subject librarian tasks were added to the Visual Resources Librarian job description. Training in reference interviews, selecting a mentor, and gaining access to collection development funds followed quickly, as did a new position title; the Visual Resources Librarian became the next Architecture Librarian. Although initially intimidated by the sheer numbers of databases and journal subscriptions, it became apparent that collection development skills, student employee supervision skills, budget management experience, image cataloging knowledge, and photography instruction sessions could all be applied to the new job as the Architecture Librarian. The growth of the image collection is one part of the architecture librarian’s job, along with all the other aspects of running the architecture branch library. The new librarian has been quite successful at this position, thanks to all the experience gained while running the School’s Visual Resources Center
Adventures in Crowdsourcing: A Digital Odyssey from Lower Manhattan to Google Earth to Build a Museum Without Walls
No full textcultureNOW has been developing a guidebook to the world outside thru smartphone technology to create a museum without walls. The exponentially growing digital collection currently contains about 18,000 sites, 52,000 images, 2550 podcasts, and 53 self-guided tours. 90 cities and arts organizations are partners to share their content. It is a collection that lives only in the cloud and can be accessed from everywhere, created by a group of ‘accidental librarians’ who are learning as they go about how to access and structure the content to reach its audience. It is very much a work in progress. These are some of our Adventures in Crowdsourcing
“Visual Indexes” and Standardized Storage for Large Collections of 35mm Slides
No full text35mm slide collections often overwhelm institutions that would like to accept them but do not have resources for item-level cataloging and access. An approach to storage and collection-level access by way of systematic sleeving and photography of groups of slides provides visual access to the image content of slides while maintaining the collection's physical safety. PDF format documents containing images of slide groups allows distribution and remote viewing of collection content without item-level cataloging or in-person physical inspection
Building a Statewide Archival Collaborative: The California State University Japanese American Digitization Project
No full textThis article summarizes the goals, processes, and experiences to date of a California State University Japanese American Digitization project. The Archives and Special Collections on 15 CSU campuses are identifying important Japanese American historical materials; digitizing and describing them at the item level; and, making them searchable, discoverable, and accessible on a central website that is readily available to scholars, students, and interested citizens throughout the United States and world-wide. Digital technology is bringing the geographically disparate CSU collections together in one online location, where additional contextual information and extended resources provide researchers with rich opportunities for finding and interpreting new information. CSU archivists not only want to improve access to humanities collections about Japanese Americans, but also to develop a sustainable model for collaboration amongst the CSU archival and library community that is extensible in the future.
Acknowledgements:
The CSU Japanese American project gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities with a Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Foundations grant (2014-2015) and the National Park Service with Japanese American Confinement Sites Program grant (2015-2017). The technical support and advice of the California Digital Library and Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project are also much appreciated. Thank you to all of the collaborating CSU archivists and a debt of gratitude goes to Tom Philo, Cataloger and Archivist at CSU Dominguez Hills, who has taken on more of the centralized work than originally planned
Developing a Practicum in Digital Collection Management
No full textEngaging student workers in digitizing and cataloging image collections can be difficult yet through the development of a practicum course, as described in this case study, students find the work deeply rewarding, which in turn benefits the collection. The following pages will describe how to create a course that better prepares students for careers in the arts and design world by educating students about the role of collection management
Olympic Rugby Champs for 92 Years! Tips for on-site high-volume digital capture
No full textThe digital imaging team at ACT 3 Partners describes the tips and techniques used to capture a special collection of 2000 photographs, negatives, news clippings, medals and other memorabilia on site at the University of California Davis Library
Visual Resources Librarian or Digital Library Practitioner? Reflections on the 2015 DLF Forum
No full textIn 2015, VRA and the Digital Library Federation (DLF) sponsored the first VRA/DLF Cross-Pollinator Grant to bring a member of VRA to the annual DLF Forum, held in Vancouver from October 26-28. The annual Forum features presentations and panels, workshops, and poster sessions, and is meant to bring together practitioners from a variety of institutions who are interested in the future of digital libraries, museum and archives services, and collections. This report offers reflections on the Forum from Andrea Schuler, the recipient of the 2015 VRA/DLF Cross-Pollinator Grant