PRESS RELEASE August 31, 1994 For Release: Immediate Contact: Philippa Calnan, Director, Public Affairs Dale Kutzera, Public Affairs Associate The J. Paul Getty Trust 310-395-0388 phone 401 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 900 301-395-5289 fax Santa Monica CA 90401-1455 GETTY ART HISTORY INFORMATION PROGRAM LAUNCHES INITIATIVE ON DIGITAL-IMAGING STANDARDS SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP) has announced the formation of an international Imaging Initiative to address issues related to the use of digital images in the arts and humanities. The Initiative will foster the development of standards necessary to ensure that scholars, teachers, students, and the general public have access to images of art and cultural objects over electronic communications networks. "The 'information superhighway' offers the possibility for improved access to our artistic and cultural heritage," said Eleanor Fink, director of AHIP. "This potential can only be realized, however, if common approaches are developed for the recording, storage, and distribution of electronic visual information. The Imaging Initiative's goal is to bring the full benefit of digital imaging to the arts and humanities for the purposes of research, education, and enjoyment." Recent technological developments make it possible to transmit and view digital images over computer networks, but many barriers remain to universal access. In March of this year, AHIP brought together representatives from the various constituencies involved in the issue--including image providers (museums, libraries, and archives), legal experts, and computer network specialists--to identify these barriers and pinpoint areas were AHIP could act most effectively. Three principle concerns were recognized: * Standards: Currently, there are no common standards for the description, capture, storage, and transmission of images within the arts and humanities community. This results in both technological and qualitative barriers to universal access: existing databases cannot be easily linked, and their content--both text and images--may not meet the high standards scholars require. Networked collections, accurate description, and high image quality and resolution are needed to build the critical mass of images necessary to change effectively the teaching and research methods used in the arts and humanities. "We stand on the brink of fulfilling the 15th-century humanist Erasmus' dream of 'a library with no limits other than the world itself,'" said Stuart Lynn, president of the Commission on Preservation and Access. "A key challenge is to ensure that the exacting requirements of the humanities and the arts are clearly articulated and recognized, and are not submerged by the overlapping, but often less demanding standards that support commercial interests. I am pleased AHIP's Imaging Initiative will work toward this goal." The Imaging Initiative will work to form a common understanding of who uses digital images, how they use them, and the image quality they require. This effort will also include the development of standards for describing a digital-image file -- which includes what was scanned (photo, slide, or the actual work), how it was scanned, and at what resolution--ensuring that scholars can evaluate the digital images they use in their studies. * Intellectual Property Rights: Many image providers see electronic access to their collections as a great opportunity to reach new audiences, yet the issues related to compensation and the intellectual property rights of digital images remain largely undefined. How can images be distributed over networks without compromising their integrity? How can we ensure they will not be distorted or altered? How can institutions manage the use of their images for commercial purposes? What are appropriate mechanisms for managing rights to use images and compensating rights holders for their use? The Initiative will develop and test a model for the licensing of images of works of art, setting up a mechanism for the reliable distribution of images that preserves image integrity and prevents misuse. "The ability to transmit images can add a vital new dimension to electronic information networks," said Lyn Elliot Sherwood, Director General of the Canadian Heritage Information Network. "Finding the appropriate means to compensate creators and institutions for this use of their intellectual property will be critical to our collective success. We look forward to an active collaboration with AHIP in this exciting and timely endeavor." * Common Vision: Currently a wide range of technical options are available to information providers, yet few serve the long-term goals of universal access. Museum directors and library administrators are often ill-informed about computer technology, its potential, and its hazards. They require more information about the research and educational potential of digital imaging, the compromises involved in choosing an imaging system, the implications of networked communications, and the costs and benefits involved. "There is the need for a coherent plan, endorsed and understood by the broad community concerned with images and art information, that describes a coordinated, effective campaign to improve and expand access to this information," said James Michalko of the Research Libraries Group. "It is very gratifying that the Imaging Initiative has embraced this goal as part of their mission." The Imaging Initiative will develop a tutorial with noted digital-imaging expert Howard Besser to inform image providers about the benefits and challenges of electronic imaging. The resulting information will be distributed through brochures, fact sheets, white papers, and as an interactive site on the Internet where users can work through materials, make comments, download reports, and view samples of digitized art. AHIP's Imaging Initiative will be managed by Jennifer Trant, a specialist in arts information management who has worked for several major institutions including the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. She authored the report of the Art Information Task Force entitled Categories for the Description of Works of Art, and was also responsible for the informational content of a major CD-ROM publication of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural drawings. "AHIP exists to facilitate a common understanding of the application of new technologies to art historical problems," said Trant. "This can't be done by a single institution; the Initiative must work cooperatively with the current efforts of other organizations. For the network to work for us, the community has to work together. Our goal is to find shared solutions to common problems, which will make it possible for the arts and cultural heritage communities to harness the potential of the communications revolution." Jennifer can be reached by phone at 310-451-6381, by fax at (310) 451-5570, or by email at [log in to unmask] The Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP), one of six operating programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Seeks to make art-historical information more accessible to scholars and researchers through the use of advanced computer technology. It does so by promoting common perspectives and standards among international institutions and organizations on projects in three general areas: coordinating vocabularies to facilitate consistent data entry and retrieval; providing bibliographic services; and assembling art historical databases. AHIP plays a catalytic role in helping to focus attention on the collective challenges facing the information community in the coming decades. Among AHIP's projects are the Art and Architecture Thesaurus, the Bibliography of the History of Art, the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, the Provenance Index, the Witt Computer Index, and the Getty Study of Online Searching by Scholars. # # #