Message-Id: <199608290032.TAA00526@library.wustl.edu> Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 10:24:00 PDT From: Yves Turgeon <mailto:YTURGEON@NLA.GOV.AU> Subject: Images1 To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
The National Library of Australia has recently launched 'Images1', an image database on the World Wide Web. The following description was published in the July 1996 issue of the National Library of Australia' Gateways magazine [http://www.nla.gov.au/2/pubs/gw/22/22.html]:------------------------------
IMAGES 1 launched
The National Library has launched the first stage of IMAGES 1, the online documentary image database on the World Wide Web.
IMAGES 1 contains more than 13 000 digitised images of Australian pictorial works including watercolours, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs and constitutes a sample of the images available in the National Library's Pictorial Collection. Additional images will be added as conversion of new acquisitions and older materials proceeds.
IMAGES 1 is the first product of the National Library's digitisation strategy, the objective of which is to provide enhanced access to the National Library's collections and better preservation of original works.
The images found in IMAGES 1 originated from two projects: the APOLLO Videodisc Project and the Portraits Project.
In the APOLLO Videodisc Project, completed in 1992, approximately 12 000 images from the Pictorial Collection were reproduced onto a videodisc. The images are predominantly from the 19th century and include portraits, ships, landscapes, historic events, flora and fauna. These images have been digitised and constitute at present the core of IMAGES 1.
The Portraits Project, initiated in July 1995, had as its objective the digitisation, at very high resolution, of all the original portraits in the Pictorial Collection. In addition to these portraits which include a large number of caricatures a selection of photographs of well-known Australians and portraits of all the Australian prime ministers were scanned. All the original works of Augustus Earle held at the National Library were also included. Altogether, more than 1,500 items were digitised under contract by Scott Four Colour Print of Perth, WA, using PhotoCD technology. The PhotoCD masters were used to create low resolution copies for inclusion in IMAGES 1.
The development of IMAGES 1 was managed by the Systems Projects Branch, headed by Diana Dack, under the guidance of the Portraits Project Committee which included the Pictorial Librarian. Yves Turgeon oversaw the scanning process and Michael Ledwidge was responsible for the creation of the database and the programming of the search interface. Assistance was also provided by the National Library's Photographic Section.
All original works have complete bibliographic entries, including subject headings. Most of the photographs have been catalogued as collections and are not indexed individually. Access is through the title (the name of the collection), the photographer, the accession number or a broad subject, usually the geographic subject eg. Gundagai.
The photographic collections which have been added to IMAGES 1 to date are as follows:
. Cazneaux Collection . W.H. Corkhill Tilba Tilba Collection . Caire Collection . A.C. Butcher & D.I. Bell Collections of Gundagai . Meredith Collection . Mandurama Collection . Portraits by Greg Weight, David Franklin, Monte Luke, Mark Strizic, May Moore, Athol Shmith
IMAGES 1 is accessed via the Internet using a World Wide Web browser. Two search forms are available: a simple form, where novice users type one or more keywords; and a more advanced form that allows experienced users to combine keywords from specific bibliographic fields.
The images can be viewed online as thumbnails (small images for quick identification) or as medium resolution JPEG graphics, a format supported by all graphical Web browsers. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holders, the high resolution digital masters are not networked and copyright notices are displayed prominently.
High resolution digital or photographic copies of most images can be ordered directly from the National Library by paying a fee. For those images where the original is still in copyright, clearance must be obtained from the copyright holder before any use is made of the image. Originals can still be viewed at the National Library.
IMAGES 1 can be found at:
http://www.nla.gov.au/images1/
For more information, contact Diana Dack on (616) + 262 1425 mailto:[ddack@nla.gov.au]
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Yves Turgeon SPOC, Access Technologies Systems Projects Branch National Library of Australia Canberra ACT 2600 Tel (616) + 262 1643 Fax (616) + 273 5081 e-mail mailto:yturgeon@nla.gov.au