At 07:00 PM 12/20/96 -0500, you wrote: >Please forgive me if this is a question that has been asked before.... > >I recently heard about a type of camera that can be hooked up directly to a >computer and used to shoot images of collection items and load them directly >into a database - without the annoying process of scanning and downloading. > Does anyone have any information on these, or know where I can find out >more? About 6-8 months ago PC Magazine devoted an entire issue to digital cameras--the theory and rating specific brands. However, this was aimed towards the casual consumer (cost generally under $2000), not the exacting reproduction requirements of the museum world. For evaluation of the high-end of digital cameras (costing $10,000 +), you might investigate a periodical called Photo-Electronic Imaging. I've subscribed to it for about 5 months and they have not in that time done a cover story specifically on digital cameras, but they have probably done one in the last year. Contact the computer department of your closest university, or maybe the graphics market specialist of a really good computer store can help you. A lot of newspapers are now moving towards digital photography as well--call the photo editor of a large urban newspaper for info. One of the cool things you can do with digital photos is string them together into a quick-time movie, as if you were walking around the object. The user can either play the movie all at once, or only view selected angles by using the mouse as a "hand" to click-and-hold the virtual object, and turn it him/herself. I'd like to hear more from museums who have successfully documented their collections this way! Julia Moore Indianapolis Art Center