[MCN-L] V&A launches one million objects on line
Dear Perian, Thank you for sharing a real-world use case with us. It's going to be really interesting how the new site shapes up against these sorts of sophisticated searches. One of the features we're most excited about in this release is that we're making available the taxonomy information from our Collections Management System in the web interface. We've done this in two places. On the full record page, there are now a list of "explore related objects" links which bring back objects with the same taxonomy term. We also added in a "Narrow your results" feature on the search results page which shows the most commonly occuring taxonomy terms for a set of search results. So the good news is that we've now got a working model for sharing the subjects, categories, places etc. online. As the site develops we'll be going to look at other ways of enriching that information further. We've done a fair bit of work (not yet released) on text mining technologies so that we can cluster objects around categories suggested by the free-text information in the catalogue records. And we're also looking at collective intelligence, seeing how those categories might be suggested by the behaviour of users on the site. best wishes, Richard Morgan >>> "Perian Sully" 15/09/2009 17:09 >>> Dear Gail: My merry band of costume historians use the V&A's website regularly, and they were very excited by this release. I haven't had a chance to browse through, but I noticed that one of the limitations that was present on the old site is still present in this iteration (or appears to be). Basically, we tend to do large search groups within a narrow era. For example, when looking for costumes from the late-18th century, it's easy to specify the date range, but we often have to search separately "dress", "gown", "textile", "shoes", "pet-en-lair", "chemise", "grande habit", "caracao", etc. when really a broader category search within that date range would be helpful. Does your database backend have an option for field groups, subject, or category searches, so that a range of items can be retrieved in one swoop? Really, really looking forward to fishing through your collections again. Best, ~Perian Perian Sully Collections Information Manager Web Programs Strategist The Magnes Berkeley, CA -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Gail Durbin Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 10:41 AM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] V&A launches one million objects on line Some of you may have seen this on Twitter but if not this is just to let you know that the V&A has launched a Beta version of Search the Collections where we have moved from 55,000 object records on line to over a million. The temporary address is www.vam.ac.uk/cis-online . There is still a way to go but we would welcome comments and ways to improve what we have there now. The technical work for this has been done by Richard Morgan, the V&A web technical manager, and his team and he will be able to answer any of the more technical questions. Mark Hook on the content side has worked with the designers, The Other Media, on the user interface. Our Collections records staff under Heather Caven have done a lot of work preparing the records to go live. The project has been about using what we already had so the project draws text from our collections information system and images from the digital asset management system and aims to make the presentation and functionality as user friendly as possible. We have tried to make sure visitors see the best records first. And as information is added to our records so the site will get better. We are working on making the browse function smoother, introducing text mining, making the mapping function work more accurately and adding some less conventional options to the browse. There will be an API and we hope to add an element of crowd sourcing. In the longer term there will be saved searches, lightboxes and more linking, among other things, but some of these items will have to wait until we have completed our more general website redesign in the Autumn of 2010. For now it feels like we have made a major digital leap forward which is good for visitors and provides a foundation for many other web facilities. Gail Durbin Head of V&A Online __ Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design Until 18 October 2009 at V&A South Kensington Admission Free Wonderland - Fairytales, Myths and Legends from Around the World 26 September 2009 - 10 January 2010 at the V&A Museum of Childhood Admission free Keep in touch - visit www.vam.ac.uk and sign up for our regular e-newsletter - --- The information contained in this message is confidential and intended only for the individual named above. If you are not the intended recipient, or r
[MCN-L] rights question
The IP SIG meeting in Portland is going to consider the possibility of getting together and working on a fair use best practices for museum collections, along the lines of what the documentary film makers have done: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/bestpractices.pdf. Other "industry groups" have banded together as well: there's safety in numbers and consensus (if you can reach it) and it might be a way for us not to have to reinvent the wheel at each institution. Deb Wythe Brooklyn Museum deborahwythe at hotmail.com > Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:46:03 -0400 > From: RealW at CarnegieMuseums.Org > To: mcn-l at mcn.edu > Subject: Re: [MCN-L] rights question > > Hi everyone, > > This is a timely discussion for us as we are looking ahead to a redesign > of our web site and online collection. > > I believe that a few museums have taken the position that publishing > copyrighted images, in "thumbnail" size only, on their online > collections, is fair use. I don't know if they publish thumbnails of > copyrighted works only after a reasonable effort to secure permission, > or whether they simply publish them without asking. I believe they > arrived at their policy with legal counsel. > > I don't think there is any commonly-accepted definition of what > constitutes a thumbnail that would pass a fair use test (100 pixels? 250 > pixels?). > > I'd be interested to hear your opinions: is this approach is an emerging > trend in the museum field, and/or is there is an emerging understanding > in the field regarding what a "thumbnail" is? > > Our own legal counsel has suggested that it would be difficult to make > generalized policies about which images could be published under this > kind of approach; they recommended we consider each case on its own > merits--not exactly what we were hoping to hear. In many ways it boils > down to a risk assessment. > > Will Real > Carnegie Museum of Art > Pittsburgh PA > > -Original Message- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of > Eve Sinaiko > Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:02 PM > To: 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' > Subject: Re: [MCN-L] rights question > > > > > On Sep 14, 2009, at 2:29 PM, Weinstein, William wrote: > > > > We are evaluating our policy regarding obtaining rights for images of > > works we publish in our online collection section. The issue of what > > to do with works where there is an apparent copyright holder that can > > either not be contacted or does not respond to repeated permission > > requests. Does anyone have a position of what to do regarding works > > in this particular state of limbo? > > > > Bill Weinstein > > > Bill, legally if you do not have permission, you may not use the work. > > There is no mechanism in US copyright law to help you. However, if > > you are based in Canada, there is an unlocatable copyright owner > > provision which can help you just in that circumstance. And it is > > possible that you can use it if using a Canadian work (though I would > > have to double check to see who is eligible if you are not in Canada.) > > > > Lesley > > > > Lesley Ellen Harris > > lesley at copyrightlaws.com > > www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com > > > I think this is an incomplete answer. I'm not a lawyer, so I can only > speak to how many publishers and museums are addressing this question in > practical terms, on the ground. If I've gotten any of the legal aspects > wrong, please correct me. > > There are two kinds of "in limbo" works: 1) Those known still to be in > copyright or probably in copyright (because they are not very old), for > whom no rights holder can be found; and 2) those whose rights holder > ignores repeated efforts to obtain permission. > > The first group are Orphan Works (OWs)--works still in copyright for > whom no known rights holder can be found. Congress has been working on > legislation to deal with OWs for several years. Last year the Senate > passed an OW bill, but the House version died. It's uncertain whether > the bill will be revived any time soon or not. Absent an OW law, users > must consider whether they may assert fair use. (At museums, a common > type of OWs are archive photos of objects, where the object is out of > copyright but the photo is not, the photographer's name is missing, and > the museum has no document to indicate that the photo was made as a work > for hire.) > > The second group includes works where the copyright holder has been > found and is not responding, or works where it's not absolutely clear > who the rights holder really is (e.g., two different nephews of a dead > artist both claim to own the rights, or a work by an artist may have > been made while he was on staff somewhere and therefore be a work for > hire). > > For the second group, as for the first, fair use may be an option. One > also has to evaluate whether the use one wants to make of the work is > prot
[MCN-L] Test
Please do not reply (apologies) = Sam Quigley VP for Collections Management, Imaging & Information Technology / Museum CIO Art Institute of Chicago 111 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60603 312-443-4772 www.artic.edu
[MCN-L] Social Media Policies
Hello Matthew: I remember from last month, quite a few messages were posted regarding this topic. I know I learned a lot. Here's a link to the MCN-L archive. To find the messages, do a search in your browser for the word "policy": http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/2009-August/thread.html Adam Carrier Audiovisual Technician II Digital Media & Exhibit Technology Department The Mariners' Museum 100 Museum Drive Newport News, Virginia 23606 Phone (757) 952-0431 Fax (757) 591-7335 acarrier at MarinersMuseum.org www.MarinersMuseum.org America's National Maritime Museum -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Matthew P. Stevens Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 2:49 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Social Media Policies We are developing a social media policy to govern our employee's use of social media when it comes to communicating organizational issues. Has anyone created such a policy? Examples? Thanks, - Matthew Stevens Adventure Science Center 800 Fort Negley Blvd Nashville TN 37203 Direct: 615-401-5064 Fax: 615-862-5178 http://www.adventuresci.com ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] rights question
One thing you should include would be notice that if the artist or heir does not want the work on line that they contact you and you would remove the image. Frank E. Thomson, Curator Asheville Art Museum PO Box 1717 Asheville, NC 28802 fthomson at ashevilleart.org www.ashevilleart.org 828.253.3227 tel 828.257.4503 fax Celebrate 60! Raffle tickets now on sale! Click here to find out more! -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Eve Sinaiko Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 2:02 PM To: 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] rights question > Hi everyone, > > This is a timely discussion for us as we are looking ahead to a redesign > of our web site and online collection. > > I believe that a few museums have taken the position that publishing > copyrighted images, in "thumbnail" size only, on their online > collections, is fair use. I don't know if they publish thumbnails of > copyrighted works only after a reasonable effort to secure permission, > or whether they simply publish them without asking. I believe they > arrived at their policy with legal counsel. > > I don't think there is any commonly-accepted definition of what > constitutes a thumbnail that would pass a fair use test (100 pixels? 250 > pixels?). > > I'd be interested to hear your opinions: is this approach is an emerging > trend in the museum field, and/or is there is an emerging understanding > in the field regarding what a "thumbnail" is? > > Our own legal counsel has suggested that it would be difficult to make > generalized policies about which images could be published under this > kind of approach; they recommended we consider each case on its own > merits--not exactly what we were hoping to hear. In many ways it boils > down to a risk assessment. > > Will Real > Carnegie Museum of Art > Pittsburgh PA In my experience as a print publisher of art images, your counsel is right, because fair use is always case-specific and contextual. As a result, I don't think the courts are going to establish a definition of "thumbnail" or "full-size," although one recent decision does give an example of the size of a "typical" thumbnail (see below). Further, it's important to remember that pixel size and resolution aren't the only means of determining fair use--an image may in many cases be published under fair use even if it is very large and very high-res--depending on the context of the use. Conversely, a small thumbnail might in some unusual situation not be fair use. Nevertheless, there are at least 3 appeals court decisions that affirm that thumbnails (however measured) have a strong fair use claim. Although they don't define the word, they use similar language--small size and reduced resolution. I think it's also worth noting that "full size" is as ambiguous a term as "thumbnail." What is a non-thumbnail/full-size image of the Mona Lisa? The size of the scan of the original painting? The size of the screen that views it? Courts on the whole are not looking at technical measures like pixels or dpi; from case to case the scale of an image might differ and fair use still be asserted successfully, depending on the other factors. Still, here's some language from three of the most relevant court decisions: Kelly v. ArribaSoft (2003) http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/cyberlaw/KelllyvArriba%289C2003%29.ht m: "To provide this service, Arriba developed a computer program that "crawls" the web looking for images to index. This crawler downloads full-sized copies of the images onto Arriba's server. The program then uses these copies to generate smaller, lower-resolution thumbnails of the images. Once the thumbnails are created, the program deletes the full-sized originals from the server. Although a user could copy these thumbnails to his computer or disk, he cannot increase the resolution of the thumbnail; any enlargement would result in a loss of clarity of the image." Perfect 10 v. Google (2007) http://fairuse.stanford.edu/primary_materials/cases/perfect10google.pdf: [Footnote 4]: "A "thumbnail" is a lower-resolution (and hence, smaller) version of a full-size image. Thumbnails enable users to quickly process and locate visual information. For example, users of Google Image Search are presented with a set of thumbnails that are potentially responsive to their search queries. Because thumbnails are smaller in size, more of them can be displayed at the same time on a single page or screen. Users can quickly scan the entire set of thumbnails to locate the particular full-size image for which they were looking. P10 repeatedly objects that the term "thumbnail" is a misnomer, even going so far as to point out that the thumbnails displayed by Google can be up to eight times the size of a person's actual thumbnail. Pl.'s Zada Reply Decl. ? 54. "Thumbnail," it argues, conveys the false impression that smaller, lower-resolution images are not useful in and of
[MCN-L] rights question
> Hi everyone, > > This is a timely discussion for us as we are looking ahead to a redesign > of our web site and online collection. > > I believe that a few museums have taken the position that publishing > copyrighted images, in "thumbnail" size only, on their online > collections, is fair use. I don't know if they publish thumbnails of > copyrighted works only after a reasonable effort to secure permission, > or whether they simply publish them without asking. I believe they > arrived at their policy with legal counsel. > > I don't think there is any commonly-accepted definition of what > constitutes a thumbnail that would pass a fair use test (100 pixels? 250 > pixels?). > > I'd be interested to hear your opinions: is this approach is an emerging > trend in the museum field, and/or is there is an emerging understanding > in the field regarding what a "thumbnail" is? > > Our own legal counsel has suggested that it would be difficult to make > generalized policies about which images could be published under this > kind of approach; they recommended we consider each case on its own > merits--not exactly what we were hoping to hear. In many ways it boils > down to a risk assessment. > > Will Real > Carnegie Museum of Art > Pittsburgh PA In my experience as a print publisher of art images, your counsel is right, because fair use is always case-specific and contextual. As a result, I don't think the courts are going to establish a definition of "thumbnail" or "full-size," although one recent decision does give an example of the size of a "typical" thumbnail (see below). Further, it's important to remember that pixel size and resolution aren't the only means of determining fair use--an image may in many cases be published under fair use even if it is very large and very high-res--depending on the context of the use. Conversely, a small thumbnail might in some unusual situation not be fair use. Nevertheless, there are at least 3 appeals court decisions that affirm that thumbnails (however measured) have a strong fair use claim. Although they don't define the word, they use similar language--small size and reduced resolution. I think it's also worth noting that "full size" is as ambiguous a term as "thumbnail." What is a non-thumbnail/full-size image of the Mona Lisa? The size of the scan of the original painting? The size of the screen that views it? Courts on the whole are not looking at technical measures like pixels or dpi; from case to case the scale of an image might differ and fair use still be asserted successfully, depending on the other factors. Still, here's some language from three of the most relevant court decisions: Kelly v. ArribaSoft (2003) http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/cyberlaw/KelllyvArriba%289C2003%29.ht m: "To provide this service, Arriba developed a computer program that "crawls" the web looking for images to index. This crawler downloads full-sized copies of the images onto Arriba's server. The program then uses these copies to generate smaller, lower-resolution thumbnails of the images. Once the thumbnails are created, the program deletes the full-sized originals from the server. Although a user could copy these thumbnails to his computer or disk, he cannot increase the resolution of the thumbnail; any enlargement would result in a loss of clarity of the image." Perfect 10 v. Google (2007) http://fairuse.stanford.edu/primary_materials/cases/perfect10google.pdf: [Footnote 4]: "A ?thumbnail? is a lower-resolution (and hence, smaller) version of a full-size image. Thumbnails enable users to quickly process and locate visual information. For example, users of Google Image Search are presented with a set of thumbnails that are potentially responsive to their search queries. Because thumbnails are smaller in size, more of them can be displayed at the same time on a single page or screen. Users can quickly scan the entire set of thumbnails to locate the particular full-size image for which they were looking. P10 repeatedly objects that the term ?thumbnail? is a misnomer, even going so far as to point out that the thumbnails displayed by Google can be up to eight times the size of a person?s actual thumbnail. Pl.?s Zada Reply Decl. ? 54. ?Thumbnail,? it argues, conveys the false impression that smaller, lower-resolution images are not useful in and of themselves?or that they are less useful than their full-size counterparts. The term ?thumbnail,? however, has become the standard way of referring to the smaller, lower-resolution images central to this suit. In any event, the Court recognizes that thumbnails have been used for purposes independent of their primary function, as is discussed later. See, e.g., Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 336 F.3d 811, 815 (9th Cir. 2003)." and "Whether thumbnails are identical copies of their full-size counterparts is debatable. A thumbnail contains significantly less pixel data (and hence, less image detail) than does the full-size image.[Fo
[MCN-L] Social Media Policies
We are developing a social media policy to govern our employee's use of social media when it comes to communicating organizational issues. Has anyone created such a policy? Examples? Thanks, - Matthew Stevens Adventure Science Center 800 Fort Negley Blvd Nashville TN 37203 Direct: 615-401-5064 Fax: 615-862-5178 http://www.adventuresci.com
[MCN-L] rights question
Hi everyone, This is a timely discussion for us as we are looking ahead to a redesign of our web site and online collection. I believe that a few museums have taken the position that publishing copyrighted images, in "thumbnail" size only, on their online collections, is fair use. I don't know if they publish thumbnails of copyrighted works only after a reasonable effort to secure permission, or whether they simply publish them without asking. I believe they arrived at their policy with legal counsel. I don't think there is any commonly-accepted definition of what constitutes a thumbnail that would pass a fair use test (100 pixels? 250 pixels?). I'd be interested to hear your opinions: is this approach is an emerging trend in the museum field, and/or is there is an emerging understanding in the field regarding what a "thumbnail" is? Our own legal counsel has suggested that it would be difficult to make generalized policies about which images could be published under this kind of approach; they recommended we consider each case on its own merits--not exactly what we were hoping to hear. In many ways it boils down to a risk assessment. Will Real Carnegie Museum of Art Pittsburgh PA -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Eve Sinaiko Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:02 PM To: 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] rights question > > On Sep 14, 2009, at 2:29 PM, Weinstein, William wrote: > > We are evaluating our policy regarding obtaining rights for images of > works we publish in our online collection section. The issue of what > to do with works where there is an apparent copyright holder that can > either not be contacted or does not respond to repeated permission > requests. Does anyone have a position of what to do regarding works > in this particular state of limbo? > > Bill Weinstein > Bill, legally if you do not have permission, you may not use the work. > There is no mechanism in US copyright law to help you. However, if > you are based in Canada, there is an unlocatable copyright owner > provision which can help you just in that circumstance. And it is > possible that you can use it if using a Canadian work (though I would > have to double check to see who is eligible if you are not in Canada.) > > Lesley > > Lesley Ellen Harris > lesley at copyrightlaws.com > www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com I think this is an incomplete answer. I'm not a lawyer, so I can only speak to how many publishers and museums are addressing this question in practical terms, on the ground. If I've gotten any of the legal aspects wrong, please correct me. There are two kinds of "in limbo" works: 1) Those known still to be in copyright or probably in copyright (because they are not very old), for whom no rights holder can be found; and 2) those whose rights holder ignores repeated efforts to obtain permission. The first group are Orphan Works (OWs)--works still in copyright for whom no known rights holder can be found. Congress has been working on legislation to deal with OWs for several years. Last year the Senate passed an OW bill, but the House version died. It's uncertain whether the bill will be revived any time soon or not. Absent an OW law, users must consider whether they may assert fair use. (At museums, a common type of OWs are archive photos of objects, where the object is out of copyright but the photo is not, the photographer's name is missing, and the museum has no document to indicate that the photo was made as a work for hire.) The second group includes works where the copyright holder has been found and is not responding, or works where it's not absolutely clear who the rights holder really is (e.g., two different nephews of a dead artist both claim to own the rights, or a work by an artist may have been made while he was on staff somewhere and therefore be a work for hire). For the second group, as for the first, fair use may be an option. One also has to evaluate whether the use one wants to make of the work is protected under fair use (or in the UK, under fair dealing). The Stanford Fair Use Project has a very good, clear rundown of fair use and how it works: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/ind ex.h tml Fair use depends on the context of the use, so institutions should develop guidelines on fair use in consultation with legal counsel--both for using works in their own collections and for when others use works whose copyrights you control. In the last couple of years there have been some important court decisions strengthening the assertion of fair use for visual images. Thus, it's not always the case that one must not publish a work because the rights have not been cleared. Especially in the case of those OWs where it's pretty clear that there is no living rights holder, publication may be very low-risk. Fair use and fair dealing are US- and UK-sp
