From: H-NET List on Art History/Die E-Mail-Liste fuer Kunstgeschichte im H-Net [mailto:H-ARTHIST at H-NET.MSU.EDU] On Behalf Of H-ArtHist (Livia Cardenas) Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 4:28 AM To: H-ARTHIST at H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: ANN: Call for Open Access to Digital Images
From: Dr. Christine von Oertzen [email protected] Date: 22 January 2009 Subject: Call for Open Access to Digital Images Call for Open Access to Digital Images The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), a co-initiator of the OpenAccess movement, has drawn up a set of best-practice recommendations concerning thescholarly use of visual media. The recommendations aimed at facilitating the scholarly useand publication of historical digital images were drafted following consultations withscholars and representatives of leading museums, libraries, image archives and publishers.The aim of the document is to create a network of mutual trust and cooperation betweenscholars and curators of cultural heritage collections with a view to facilitating access toand the scholarly use of visual media. The recommendations can be downloaded from theMIPWG website which currently features a detailed report on the initiative. The recommendations were prompted by the barriers encountered by those who wish touse and publish images of cultural heritage objects. High licence fees and complicatedaccess regulations make it increasingly difficult for scholars in the humanities to work withdigital images. It is true that the digitization of image collections has acted as a catalyst forscholarly research. However, archives, collections and libraries differ greatly with respectto the question of how, where and on what basis images may be used for scholarlypurposes. Moreover, their policies in this regard are becoming increasingly restrictive,especially when it comes to new forms of e-publishing. The MPIWG drew up its recommendations for facilitating the scholarly use of digital imagesfollowing consultations with international experts which took place in January 2008. Therecommendations call on curators and scholars to develop a mutually binding network oftrust. The aim of the initiative is to encourage stakeholders jointly to address the currentand future challenges raised by the digital age. The document urges curators to refrainfrom restricting the public domain arbitrarily and calls on them to accommodate the needsof scholars for reasonably-priced or freely-accessible high-resolution digital images - bothfor print publications and new Web-based forms of scholarly publishing. It exhorts scholarsto recognise museums, libraries and collections as owners and custodians of physicalobjects of cultural heritage and to acknowledge their efforts in making digital imagesavailable. Moreover, it urges them to take their role as guarantors of authenticity andaccurate attribution extremely seriously. Website: http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/en/news/features/feature4/ -- Diane M. Zorich 113 Gallup Road Princeton, NJ 08542 USA Voice: 609-252-1606 Fax: 609-252-1607 Email: dzorich at mindspring.com or dianezorich at comcast.net
