Visual Resources Association
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Visual Resources Association: Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research and Study
No full textThis Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study describes six uses of copyrighted still images that the Visual Resources Association (www.vraweb.org) believes fall within the U.S. doctrine of fair use. The six uses are: 1) preservation (storing images for repeated use in a teaching context and transferring images to new formats); 2) use of images for teaching purposes; 3) use of images (both large, high-resolution images and thumbnails) on course websites and in other online study materials; 4) adaptations of images for teaching and classroom work by students; 5) sharing images among educational and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study; and 6) reproduction of images in theses and dissertations
Special Bulletin #8: Directory of AAT Users
No full textSeveral years ago the idea was raised of compiling a users' directory for the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, in order to help the AAT staff understand the types of organizations using the Thesaurus and thus provide effective services to AAT users and respond to their needs. The ultimate goal of the directory was to share, in published form, the information collected among the current users of the AAT, in order to promote networking and the exchange of information. After the publication of the first edition of the AAT in 1990, it was obvious that the number and diversity of AAT users was growing rapidly, but the AAT staff found keeping track of who was using the Thesaurus and how a challenge. Consequently, the idea of compiling a user database was born. This database would contain not only profiles of the various organizations using the AAT but also information on their cataloging and indexing practices
VRAB Volume 8: Issue 3, 1981
No full textIn this issue:
Conferences to Come
Profile
University of Texas, Austin Department of Art Slide and Photograph Collection
Ask the Photographer
Conservation
Photographic Journals
Positions Open
Professional Changes
Professional News
Microforms
Slide Market New
Endless Images: A SoCal Summer Mini-Conference: Endless Images
No full textThis article reports on the Endless Images mini-conference that took place on August 14 and 15, 2016, in Laguna Beach, California, and provides concise summaries of each presentation. Three professional organizations—the Visual Resources Association (VRA), the Society of California Archivists (SCA), and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)—sponsored the event. The goal was to bring together professionals from each of these like-minded organizations to showcase their digital projects and explore the connections in their work. Twenty presentations in two sessions and a lightning round highlight both the challenges and solutions that characterize the current digital projects landscape across all disciplines.
Acknowledgements:
VRA, SCA, and ARLIS/NA would like to express sincere appreciation to Jennifer Martinez Wormser, Christa Jech, and the student assistants in the Dennis and Leslie Power Library at LCAD who organized, implemented, moderated, provided tours, refreshments, and hosted the Endless Images mini-conference. Thank you to Antoinette Avila, from the UCI Libraries, for assisting with the moderating too
About DAMS Time! Asset Management to Streamline & Achieve Strategic Institutional Goals
No full textThrough a digital asset management system (DAMS), institutions can more efficiently retain and supplement critical rights information in the image files’ metadata as well as manage multiple image sets, such as museum objects, non-collection images, archival content, and document management (DM) collection. Implementation of a DAMS can streamline image management and in turn expand partnerships with external distributors of collection images, by drastically decreasing the amount of additional work for both parties. However, further efficiency can be achieved if an institution also has a document management system in place. Through document management, all non-media IP content generated by an institution can be retained in an organized, central, and efficient system that numerous staff members can reference and utilize. This article outlines the process by which the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) researched various DAMS and DM options, eventually partnering with Piction for the implementation of both, and undertook a major copyright research project, which in conjunction with Piction increased content distribution and the introduction of Open Access (OA) imagery via the IMA's website.
Acknowledgements:
The authors would like to thank Maureen Burns, content editor, for the invitation to write for the VRA Bulleti
Serving the Inquisitive User: A New Look at Tried and True Tagging (and some AI) Strategies
No full textSupported by user surveys, interviews, and analysis of usage metrics across collections, Ithaka is exploring two separate methods by which to attach subject terms to Artstor metadata. Future user surveys and interviews will seek the feedback and guidance of Artstor users
The Rights Stuff: Ethical Decision-Making and Image Use in a Commercial Context
No full textThis article discusses ethical decision-making and image use in a commercial context. The author takes a historical perspective to better understand how the image provider world transitioned from analog to digital and has subsequently changed. Archivision, a commercial business that licenses a research library of 114,000 images of world architecture, urban design, gardens, landscapes, archaeological sites, and art in museums and public places is used as a case study to explore rights issues and better understand the vendor perspective. The author suggests that due to the decrease in image vendors over the last several years, it is worth considering licensing commercial content in order to meet the fourth fair use factor, that focuses on the effect of the use upon the potential market, to insure a vibrant and competitive marketplace for high quality images. Burns concludes that commercial and non-profit partners as well as visual resources curators can work together to insure that rich image resources continue to grow and remain accessible to the people who need them for research, teaching, and learning. Ethical decision-making and practices surrounding image use can insure that we all stay in business and contribute to the development of digital libraries for current and future learners
Preserving the Layers: Storage and Metadata for Geographic Information Systems
No full textThis paper is an introduction to maps created with Geographic Information Systems, or, GIS. It describes the makeup and uses of these electronic maps and goes on to describe how this material is cataloged, utilizing CSDGM and ISO 19115 standards. The paper concludes by chronicling a couple of pilot projects conducted at Smith College to store, catalog and retrieve these files
Maximizing Metadata: Embedded Metadata Tools
No full textArchives, libraries, museums, businesses, and individuals have fully embraced the digital era and the proliferation of digital assets abound. The challenge is creating, managing, storing, and sharing these assets. One way to make managing your digital files easier is by using the power of embedded metadata, which encodes data about the digital asset into the file itself. Embedded metadata helps reduce the difficulty of finding an image or audio file on your computer, no need to recall a lengthy URL or scratch your head trying to remember the original source to cite when using or publishing your images. Ensuring that those who might wish to use your images are informed of any copyright constraints and provided with contact information is more manageable than you might think. Embedded metadata enables functionality that streamlines and enhances your research and presentations by making images, video, and audio files searchable and sharable, with easy to identify content, sources, and rights.
This article was written to summarize a presentation with the same title at the Electronic Imaging and the Visual Arts conference in Florence, Italy, on Thursday, May 10, 2018. For more information about EVA, see: http://www.eva-london.org/international/. Additional information about this specific event can be found on the VRA (Visual Resources Association) blog at: http://vraweb.org/vra-members-at-eva-conference-in-florence/. The article will briefly cover the current standards and basics of embedding metadata. Then, three useful, time-saving tools developed by the VRA will be introduced. These tools can be used to create and manage embedded metadata, making your workflow much more efficient. The first tool is a custom XMP palette, which allows you to embed data into your digital files, either singly or in batches. The second tool allows for importing or exporting data from digital files using spreadsheets (perfect for all those digital humanities projects). The final tool allows for the creation of quick Powerpoint presentations, in which digital images and embedded metadata automatically load into the slides. All of this is made possible because of the power of embedded metadata, which makes digital images independent, self-defining, sharable, and flexible
Preserving and Integrating Conservation Photography at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields as the 2016-2017 VRAF Intern
No full textThe Clowes Collection of Old Master Paintings housed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (IMA) includes seventy-eight works by Flemish, Spanish, English, Dutch, and Italian masters, comprising some of the museum’s most important artworks. The IMA recently embarked on an interdepartmental project to create a new digital catalogue that will highlight the history of each piece. What makes this publication unique is an emphasis on the conservation history as documented in thousands of images, including X-ray, infrared, and UV photographs. In order to facilitate this project, it became necessary to bring together all conversation imagery regarding the Clowes Collection, apply appropriate metadata, create new metadata workflows for Conservation staff, and ingest the images into Piction, the museum’s DAMS. Over the course of six months, the author worked collaboratively with the Conservation, Photography, and Archives department at the IMA to integrate Conservation assets into Piction. This work involved consulting multiple standards for visual resource management, building a custom schema, creating a custom controlled vocabulary, and working with the DAMS vendor, all within a set time frame.
Acknowledgements:
The author would like to thank the Kress Foundation and the Visual Resources Association Foundation for whom this project was possible due to their generous funding. At the 2017 Visual Resources Association annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky, the author presented the following work as the VRAF Intern at the poster session. Sharing the experience, including the successes and challenges of the project, with others in the visual resources field provided the author with invaluable professional development growth. The practical experience gained from the internship not only solidified the author’s metadata skills, but gave her the opportunity to develop project management, communication, and training skills, all of which has been integral to her professional growth. She would also like to thank Samantha Norling, Tascha Horowitz, Anne Young, Annette Schlagenhauff, David Miller, Fiona Beckett, Erica Schuler, and the entire Conservation department at the IMA for their expertise and enthusiasm during this collaborative project