Digital Libraries and Initiatives: Digital Libraries for Museums

Digital Libraries for Museums

A museum can develop a digital library accessible on the Web similar to the TFAO Digital Library. TFAO defines a digital library as a "integrated set of services for acquiring, cataloging, storing, searching, protecting, and retrieving information in a digital format. Digital libraries are a collection of a large number of digital records and files, comprising various types of material and media, that are organized, managed and stored in distributed information repositories and accessed through computers. Digital libraries can include converted media or original material produced for the World Wide Web."

Trends

A growing number of museums are publishing on their web sites digital images of art objects in their collections. When a museum creates a catalogue of digital images and descriptions of the art objects contained in its collection it is creating a significant part of a digital library.[1]

Other materials converted from analog to digital media can include:

• annual reports
• articles and essays from member magazines and newsletters [2]
• audio and video
• gallery guides, wall text, label copy, object images, collection catalogues (with or without illustrations) and other descriptive material relating to temporary exhibits [3] and long-term exhibits

Museums are increasingly publishing original materials in audio, illustrated audio and video format. Other creative projects can be developed and placed in digital libraries. For example, Purdue University created Women Artists of the American West, an Internet course and interdisciplinary resource which includes numerous essays.

Getting Started

TFAO suggests that museums:

• review TFAO's Digitizing Initiatives to gain a sense of initiatives that are underway in order to facilitate optimal allocation of internal resources and to avoid redundancy. [4]
• analyze methods, ranking systems, and human assets deployment regarding selection and processing of: (1) out of copyright, (2) out of print / in copyright, and (3) in print / in copyright texts, in the context of obtaining permissions from external copyright holders.
• research options and capabilities regarding in-house versus outsourced digitization processes to allow for cost-effective and orderly growth of the online collection.
• study TFAO's Methods and Costs, which provides a guide to unit costs for digitization of texts.[5]

Notes:

1. The conversion of analog photos of art works to digital images, or original digital photography of art works, followed by cataloging and online assess, has been a focus of American museums and cooperative image libraries for several years. Examples of joint image repositories are ARTstor and AMICO Library. For texts, JSTOR is an archive of backfiles of traditional serials, excluding museum catalogue essays and other texts. Access to the contents of these three services is fee-based. Some museums are recently publishing on their web sites texts from contemporary exhibition catalogues, checklists and even PDF images of exhibition brochures and catalogues.

2. See Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art's Digitalization Project including Contemporary American Sculpture Exhibition, June 17 - October 2, 1916; An Exhibition of Paintings by George Bellows, September 11 - October 5, 1919. Also see back issues articles from American Art (magazine of the Smithsonian American Art Museum). American Furniture provides full text of articles for the years 1993-1996 from the Chipstone Foundation. Ohio History is the scholarly journal of the Ohio Historical Society. In fall 2002, Ohio History converted from a print subscription publication to an online journal, bracketing years from 1887 to 2000, available free of charge. Numerous artists, including Robert S. Duncanson, John P. Frankenstein, J. T. Turner, William Thomas Mathews, Thomas Walker Cridland and Thomas Cole are noted in articles.

3. See from Laband Art Gallery at Loyola Marymount University [Links at http://www.lmu.edu) found expired as of 2/13 audit. TFAO is saving the citation for your reference]:

• Ruth Weisberg's "Sisters and Brothers" installation; introduction by Gordon L. Fuglie; essay by Andrea Liss
• William Keith: His Life and his Art - The Saint Mary's College Collection; essay by Ann Harlow
• "The Drawing Group" An Emerging School of Los Angeles?; exhibition catalogue with essay by Gerald M. Ackerman
• Contempo-Italianate: American Impressions of Italy; exhibition catalogue with essay by Mary-Kay Lombino
• Independent Spirit: The Art of Mabel Alvarez (1891-1985); exhibition catalogue with essay by Will South

4. Digitization projects are expanding at a rapid pace. Google Print, the Google/Stanford/Harvard/U. Michigan project, the Million Book Project, Gutenberg, and commercial publisher projects are examples. The timing and scope of these projects will influence the direction of a museum's digitization program.

5. TFAO provides financial assistance for digitization and online publication of scholarly texts. For information please click here.

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