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image use guidelines/help - slides

updated mon 3 jan 11

 

Frank Gaydos on sun 2 jan 11


Paul,=3D20

I'm positive the Art historians had to pay for all the slides they use in t=
=3D
heir lectures. It is a one time fee but not free in any case.=3D20

We are=3DC2=3DA0have switched=3DC2=3DA0over to all digital format at School=
and the=3D
Art History folks are using a service called 'Artstor'. Not free.=3D20

http://www.artstor.org/index.shtml=3D20



And, as for slides, scanning at home is way less accurate than having then =
=3D
done professionally. The pros have very expensive, high resolution high spe=
=3D
ed, scanners.=3D20





Frank Gaydos=3D20




Frank Gaydos=3D20

Vince Pitelka on sun 2 jan 11


Frank Gaydos wrote:
"I'm positive the Art historians had to pay for all the slides they use =3D
in their lectures. It is a one time fee but not free in any case. We =3D
have switched over to all digital format at School and the Art History =3D
folks are using a service called 'Artstor'. Not free. And, as for =3D
slides, scanning at home is way less accurate than having then done =3D
professionally. The pros have very expensive, high resolution high =3D
speed, scanners."=3D20

Hi Frank -=3D20
We are talking oranges and apples here. A random individual preparing a =
=3D
personal lecture about influences on their own work, or for that matter =3D
on the history of ceramics, can harvest images from a wide range of =3D
sources online and elsewhere without violating any copyright laws - it =3D
is generally acknowledged "fair use." Big universities must follow =3D
guidelines and rules that only apply in that situation, for the same =3D
reasons that they must obey and enforce the dictates of the =3D
"environmental health and safety" department to a degree that often =3D
seems completely absurd and unnecessary. Much of the reasons for =3D
subscribing to services like Artstor have to do with the convenience of =3D
making such a broad database of imagery available to all of the faculty =3D
in an art department - that is a wonderful service worth a lot of money. =
=3D
In many cases, the images shown in art history classes are of artwork =3D
owned by specific museums, and for use in a university library the =3D
museums often expect a fee, and they accomplish that by licensing the =3D
images to companies like Artstor, or by selling image sets to libraries =3D
and other entities. =3D20

The whole world of image-use is changing. If you go to www.flickr.com =3D
and search for almost any artwork, you can often find high-resolution =3D
images shot by someone with a decent camera visiting the museum that =3D
owns the work. There are museums that do not allow photography, but =3D
most do as long as you are not using a flash. Once the images are =3D
available on flickr, it is impossible to control the legalities of use. =
=3D
Universities are still obliged to follow the guidelines of their legal =3D
advisors, but for the rest of us, flickr and Google images represent =3D
fantastic databases of wonderful imagery. Also, many museums and =3D
private collections have to come to recognize the importance of free =3D
exchange of information, and are putting high-resolution images of their =
=3D
work online for free use. In ceramics, the www.accessceramics.org site =3D
is a good example, put up by the Lewis and Clark College Library - a =3D
collection of contemporary ceramics including high-resolution images, =3D
available for use by anyone. =3D20

If you were to randomly select an art historian and ask where their =3D
imagery comes from, they would likely tell you that it all comes from =3D
so-called "legal" sources like Artstor, but the reality is that they are =
=3D
harvesting imagery from online sources for the simple reason that it is =3D
there and is so convenient, and no one can possibly police it. This =3D
situation is leading to far greater access to information and imagery, =3D
and that is a very good thing. =3D20

And regarding the slide-scanning, saying "Scanning them at home is way =3D
less accurate than having them done professionally" is an unsupportable =3D
generalization. Whether you get good results in your home or office =3D
depends entirely on the quality of the scanner. My Minolta gives =3D
extremely high-resolution scans, as does the Nikon we have at school. =3D
Bill Merrill mentioned the very high-resolution scanner he has. For =3D
those who do not have access to such a scanner, then the commercial =3D
services certainly make good sense.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu=3D20
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka