Description: This application proposes extending my previous exploration of high quality digital images of art and architecture for student research in art history and related disciplines. I have established (for myself, my students, and those to whom I have demonstrated high quality digital images) that computer technology makes possible, for the first time, image banks of high quality digital images, providing large numbers of images concentrated on specific subjects, which students can explore in detail, in a process of free exploration paralleling that of scholars when conducting first-hand research. A list of my publications reporting on this evidence is appended.
As far as I have been able to determine, no courses at Reed other than mine have taken advantage of the potential of high quality digital images (though I must check again with Steve Black and David Dalton), and only a few other colleges and universities have begun to make high quality images available to students. I feel there is great potential here for helping "to improve learning and scholarship for . . . students."
What is now needed is a variety of model projects, which faculty at Reed and at other colleges and universities can easily examine, to see if similar projects in their own disciplines would benefit their students and could be adopted for their classes. The steps proposed to accomplish this are described in the next section.
Regarding the technology necessary, there are three separate areas of technology for this project.
1. Computer set-up in my office where the model projects would, for the most part, be developed.
Although I should like very much to upgrade my PowerMac 7500 for increased speed, storage, etc., this would use up too large a portion of the equipment budget. It seems best to continue to use what I now have and to apply, under separate funding, for one of the next generation of Macs when they appear. Therefore there would be no hardware or software costs for my office.2. High quality computers with 17 inch monitors in the IRC.
The weak technological link at Reed for making high quality digital image projects available to students for class projects and independent research is the lack of adequate RAM and Video RAM in even the recently acquired PowerMac 7300 computers with 17 inch monitors in the IRC and its classroom. Without the addition of significant RAM and video RAM, the images would not have maximum pixel and color depth resolution and would appear too slowly. I have found that these lacks impede the natural process of browsing , zooming in to examine high quality details, comparing different images, etc., discouraging the type of free flowing research at which these projects aim. Therefore, it is essential that a portion of this grant, if approved, be set aside to bring several (5-7?) computers up to speed for high quality images. Depending on how much storage is available, it might be necessary also to add storage for the large files which high quality images demand.3. A World Wide Web site on the Reed server.
In order to make a few of these projects available as models for faculty at other colleges and universities, it will be important to have a select number of them available on the www. Marv Dunn tells me that this would probably not require any major expenditure or addition to the current Reed system, but that money would need to be budgeted for a database program and possibly some type of middleware.
Impact: Use of high quality image projects in regular credit courses would be up to the faculty teaching these courses. Humanities departments and staffs with whom I would consult to see if two or three cooperative projects could be developed are: Anthropology, Art History, Chinese, Classics, Dance, English, French, German, History, Humanities 110, 210, 229, and 239, Music, Religion, Russian, Spanish, and Theatre. Outside of regular courses, I should be happy to make model projects available for student use.
Implementation plan and timeline: Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1998
Although these are set out below as separate steps, there would be a fair amount of overlap.
Step 1
Consultations with faculty at Reed and at other institutions to bring
myself up-to-date on current uses, plans and hopes for the use of
high quality digital images in teaching. I am quite sure that there
is nothing in print providing this information, partly because I
receive regular phone calls consulting me on this subject. Sometime
during the year I would probably publish an article surveying current
and projected uses.
Step 2
Determination of a select group of model projects to be
developed.
Step 3
In some cases new slides would have to be taken and developed.
Selected slides would need to be custom scanned, manipulated with
Photoshop, and stored on JAZ cartridges. At this stage, I would
consult regularly with Michael Ester, my most knowledgeable authority
for high quality digitizing and the president of LUNA Imaging,
Venice, California.
Step 4
Groups of images would be formulated as four or five model projects
(depending on the results of my consultations, etc), and formatted in
different ways for student use. These would be made available either
as part of Reed courses (if requested by individual Reed faculty) or
as a campus resource. As in the past, I would consult with students
regarding what they found useful and what not. In formulating these
projects, I would consult with Greg Hahn, Reed graduate, MS from MIT,
and teacher of computer imaging at PNCA, who has offered to help
me.
Step 5
A few of these projects would be made available on the World Wide Web
and faculty at other colleges and universities contacted and
requested to examine them and give me responses. Because of the time
required for downloading, it might be necessary to make the images
available on the www only as preview images and medium size images,
providing high quality images on CDs for those faculty wishing to
examine the projects more thoroughly. For this stage also, Greg Hahn
would be my chief consultant.
Step 6
The results of the project would be described in a report and plans
for further development projected.
Relevant Publications
"Student Evaluation of the Usefulness of Computer Images in Art History and Related Disciplines," Visual Resources, Vol.XIII (1997), pp. 67-81.
"Images as Evidence in Art History and Related Disciplines," Museums and the Web 97: Selected Papers, ed. David Bearman and Jennifer Trant (Pittsburg: Archives & Museum Informatics, 1997), pp. 347-361.
"Rethinking Research: The Immense Potential of Museum Web Sites for Research." Museums and the Web: An International Conference (Los Angeles, 16-19 March 1997), posted on www site <http://www.archimuse.com/mw97>.
"Computer Images for Research, Teaching, and Publication in Art History and Related Disciplines," Visual Resources, Vol. XII (1996), pp. 19-51. Republished under the same title as a separate report by the Commission on Preservation & Access (Washington, DC: January 1996), 12 pages.