Digital Images and Art Libraries in the Twenty-First Century

Book excerpt: Increase your knowledge of the digital technology that is essential for art librarianship today! Digital Images and Art Libraries in the Twenty-First Century is your key to cutting-edge discourse on digital image databases and art libraries. Just as early photographers tried to capture the world to make it accessible, now information professionals in art libraries and art museums are creating and sharing digital collections to make them broadly accessible. This collection shares the experience and insight of art information managers who have taken advantage of digital technology to expand the coverage and scope of image collections and improve access to previously difficult-to-locate information. In Digital Images and Art Libraries in the Twenty-First Century you will learn step-by-step what goes into the planning and creation of these “digital global museums” and what advances are still being made in this rapidly evolving discipline. The pros and cons of these ventures are thoroughly examined, as experts take you through the theoretical and practical issues they have faced along the way. Digital Images and Art Libraries in the Twenty-First Century will help you gain a better understanding of: image censorship Web filters user expectations the comparative impact on the viewer of surrogate images versus artifacts databases as an in-class teaching and learning tool You can also read in-depth about the existing digital image collections ArtSTOR and OhioLINK Digital Media Center (DMC) as well as the specific art library materials being considered for these collections. Find out what it takes to catalogue these materials and how the proliferation of digital images is changing the profession of art librarianship. Digital Images and Art Libraries in the Twenty-First Century is a thorough and highly specialized book suitable for expert librarians and visual resource curators, but its straightforward style also makes it suitable for beginners and students interested in library and information science programs.