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Network access to visual information: a study of costs and uses1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Howard Besser
Howard Besser*
Affiliation:
UCLA School of Education & Information Studies, 241 GSE&IS Bldg, Box 951520, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520, USA
*
Email: howard@sims.berkeley.edu, http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/
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Abstract

This paper summarizes a subset of the findings of a study of digital image distribution which focused on the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project (MESL) - the first large-scale multi-institutional project to explore digital delivery of art images and accompanying text/metadata from disparate sources. This Mellon Foundation sponsored study evaluated the costs, infrastructure, and efforts involved in implementing the MESL project, as well as user reaction to functionality. The study also examined costs of running analog slide libraries and compared these to costs and functionality associated with digital image distribution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , 2000 , pp. 5 - 9
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1981

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Footnotes

1.

Text of a paper delivered at the Open Session of the Section of Art Libraries at the 65th IFLA General Conference in Bangkok, 1999.

References

1. Text of a paper delivered at the Open Session of the Section of Art Libraries at the 65th IFLA General Conference in Bangkok, 1999.Google Scholar
2. Besser, Howard. ‘Image databases: the first decade, the present, and the future’. In Digital image access and retrieval (Papers presented at the 1996 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, March 24-26, 1996), edited by Heydorn, P. Bryan and Sandore, Beth. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, p.11–28.Google Scholar
3. Stephenson, Christie and McClung, Patricia, eds. Delivering digital images: cultural heritage resources for education, and, Images online: perspectives on the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project. Los Angeles: Getty Information Institute, 1999. (Reviewed in Art Libraries Journal vol.24 no.4 1999, p.55–58.)Google Scholar
4. Besser, Howard and Stephenson, Christie. ‘The Museum Educational Site Licensing Project: technical issues in the distribution of museum images and textual data to universities’. In E.V.A. ’96 London (Electronic Imaging and the Visual Arts), edited by Hemsley, James. Hampshire, UK: Vasari Ltd., 1996, p.5:1–5:15.Google Scholar
5. Besser, Howard. ‘MESL implementation at the universities’. In Stephenson, Christie and McClung, Patricia, eds. Delivering digital images: cultural heritage resources for education. Los Angeles: Getty Information Institute, 1999, p.70–84.Google Scholar
6. Besser, Howard. ‘Comparing five implementations of the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project: “If the museum data’s the same, why’s it look so different?’”. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Hypermedia and Interactivity in Museums. Pittsburgh, PA: Archives and Museum Informatics, 1997, p.317–325.Google Scholar
7. Besser, Howard and Yamashita, Robert. The cost of digital image distribution: the social and economic implications of the production, distribution and usage of image data: a report to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Berkeley: School of Information Management & Systems, 1998.Google Scholar
8. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Imaging/Databases/1998mellon/ Google Scholar
9. Besser, Howard. ‘The MESL experience versus slide libraries: comparison and analysis’. Visual Resources vol. 14 no. 4 1999, p.477–499.Google Scholar
10. MESL University deployment is an overhead cost, not a per-image distribution cost. This type of deployment involves creating a set of tools that are needed, and the total costs within that cost center do not change if more images are added to the system.Google Scholar
11. Even though no costs for slide library training and outreach were reported, costs in this area would be extremely small when compared to the cost of training and outreach for a digital distribution system.Google Scholar
12. K-12 refers to Kindergarten through 12th grade or final year before college, i.e. 5-year olds to 17-18 year olds.Google Scholar
13. Currently most planned consortia are not really international due to differing intellectual property laws.Google Scholar
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