The attached might be of interest to some MUSEUM-L readers. It was originally posted to a moderated listserv for art historians. J. Trant Consultant, Arts Information Management Phone: (416) 462 9404 48 Wolverleigh Blvd, Fax: (416) 462 0960 Toronto, ON M4J 1R7 Canada Email: [log in to unmask] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 15:38:38 EDT From: John Sunderland <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple recipients of list CAAH <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Abstracts-Computers and the History of Art, Vol.4 Part 1 COMPUTERS AND THE HISTORY OF ART - ABSTRACTS The Journal is published by Harwood Academic Publishers GmbH in association with CHArt. Harwood Academic Publishers P.O. Box 786 Cooper Station New York, NY 10276 USA or: P.O. Box 90 Reading Berkshire, RG1 8JL England Managing Editor: John Sunderland Courtauld Institute of Art Somerset House Strand London WC2R 0RN e-mail: [log in to unmask] VOLUME 4. PART 1 (published 1993) Issue Editor: John Sunderland Article Title: "Computers and Medieval Art: the Case of the Princeton Index." pp. 3-16 by Brendan Cassidy - Director of the Index of Christian Art, Princeton University Abstract: This paper describes the Index of Christian Art at Princeton University and provides an outline of the computerized database that has been developed for the Index archive. The second part of the paper focuses on three particular issues that complicate the computerization project: 1. the fact that our area of special- ization is medieval art, 2. that our main concern is with iconogaphy, and 3. that the Index is an archive of images. Article Title: "Past 'Imprecision' for Future Standards: Computers and New Roads to Knowledge." pp. 17-32 by Kim Veltman - Director, Perspective Unit, McLuhan Program, University of Toronto, Canada Abstract: This paper maps out some of the dramatic consequences of the electronic revolution that is changing our basic assumptions about knowledge and culture. The new technologies are transform- ing both the categories for and contents of knowledge. This is changing our perceptions of culture and of the institutions which contain and sustain it. Article Title: "Teaching Databasing to Art History Students." pp.33-39 by Paul Stirton - Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Glasgow Abstract: This paper outlines the aims and methods of a short introductory course on databasing which is offered to junior honours students in the History of Art Department at Glasgow University. Under the guidance of CTICH (The Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for History with Archaeology and Art History), the course adopted the format of other undergraduate courses developed for his- torians using the Paradox v3.5 database package. Data for the course was derived from the published records of the Norwich Society of Artists. The paper will also suggest ways in which databasing might be used to develop new areas of teaching and research in the History of Art. Article Title: "Recent Developments in the Use of Computers in Art and Design in Schools." pp. 41-43 by Alan Treherne - Advisory Teacher for Art and Design in Schools, Leicestershire Local Education Authority Abstract: This paper reflects on some of the advances made in educational computing over the last decade. Many of the early limitations resulting from fairly unsophisticated hardware and software for schools have now diminished and recent introductions such as CD- ROM, video digitisers and image scanners have opened up many new avenues in creative art work and the study of art history. What is now required to capitalise on this technical progess is sustained in-service training of teachers to help them realise the enormous potential of the new technology. Article Title: "Desktop Animation: Enter the Dragon." pp. 45-48 by Steve Roberts - Senior Professional and Technology Officer, Science Museum, London Abstract: The more powerful and feature-packed the software, the harder it is for programmers to act with restraint. This paper outlines some of the pitfalls that can trap the unwary as well as giving some examples of good Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) and intelligent desktop animation practice. Article Title: "CD-ROM Publishing: A Publisher's Perspective." pp.49-53 by Ian Jacobs - Director of the Macmillan (Publishers Ltd) Dic- tionary of Art This article is based on the Paper delivered at the December 1991 CHArt Conference, although it has been updated in the light of developments since then. An analysis and evaluation is made of the CD-ROM market in publishing with particular focus on large works of reference. Article Title: "Electronic Publishing and Research in Art History." pp. 55-63 by Margo Kabel - Computer Specialist at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC Abstract: Recent advances in computer technologies have the potential to greatly facilitate the study of the arts and humanities. Software available now allows both researchers and the public to access via computer a new kind of publication, that may include not only text, but also images, audio and full motion video. The most pop- ular medium used to distribute these electronic publications is the CD-ROM. This paper discusses how CD-ROM publications are dif- ferent from both printed publications and traditional automated databases, using the CD-ROM of the National Portrait Gallery Permanent Collection of Notable Americans as an example. Article Title: "Conservation and Computers: A Reconstruction of Inigo Jones's Original Whitehall Banqueting House, London c.1620." pp.65-69 by Vaughan Hart, Alan Day and David Cook - Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture at the University of Bath, UK Abstract: In this short paper a photogrammetric survey of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House, Whitehall, London and computer-aided design software (CAD) is used to visualise the original Banqueting House, prior to alteration. This points out the potential of CAD for building conservation in general, and for reconstruction by historians of ruined or recorded buildings. Article Title: "Semantic Structures: Building an Art-Historical Relational Data- base." pp. 71-74 by Hugh Marles - Senior Slide Librarian and Computer Officer, Staffordshire University, UK Abstract: This paper describes the development and implementation of a com- puter application to catalogue and provide access to a large slide collection on the history of art and design, using the 4th Dimension relational database system for Macintoshes. 4th Dimen- sion allows for the creation of relational structures common to advanced database packages of this type. This paper considers how these structures may be utilised in the history of art subject area, and suggests that the strength of relational databases in this field lies with their flexibility. At the risk of appearing to be simplistic, the paper seeks to evade technical specificity and aims to discuss the principles of application building in this field of knowledge. Although the development of the database application under discussion cannot claim to have been an espe- cially innovative project, the progess made does illustrate the potential of the inexpensive software packages which are now com- mercially available. Article Title: "The Anatomy of a Profession: Architects in Palestine during the British Mandate." pp. 75-85 by Gilbert Herbert and Ita Heinze-Greenberg - Architectural Heritage Research Centre Technion, Israel Institute of Technology Abstract: This article is a statistical study of the profession of the architect in Palestine during the British Mandate in the 1920s and 1930s. The study is based on data collected by the Documenta- tion Unit of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion: Israel Institute of Technology. The database records 595 people who lived in Palestine and worked there as architects.