n the teaching and collecting of the visual
arts, perhaps the two greatest frustrations are gaining access to disparate
collections and aintaining a set of high-quality reproductions of theworks.
One-of-a-kind works are available only
where they reside and must be viewed in the form of a reproduction everywhere
else. As a result, small colleges and universities with limited resources
struggle to maintain, catalog, and share their specialized collections.
In contrast, larger institutions must
manage multiple collections and servethe needs of thousands of users, from
students to curators.
Collaboration among institutions has been
frustrated in the past by technology limitations, leading to extraordinary
duplication of effort using extremely fallible tools. Some of us can recall
slide presentations in the classroom when a jammed carousel or a misplaced slide
interrupted art history presentations.
Happily, the World Wide Web and digital
imaging technology have revolutionized the way institutions can access and
utilize the visual arts. Thanks to digital imaging technology, students,
scholars, and librarians now have instant access to a wealth of high quality
images.
One key provider in this area is Luna
Imaging Inc., which develops "digital slide carousels" in the form of
client/server digital imaging services and software for libraries, museums,
universities, and foundations.
Founded in 1993 with support from the J.
Paul Getty Trust and Eastman Kodak, Luna specializes in quality image banks that
reside in a feature-rich digital environment. Luna Imaging sells both services
and software. Smaller institutions with only one or two modest collections may
choose the service route, preferring to pay Luna to develop a collection for
them.
The conversion service transfers source
materials into digital form, digitally capturing data from film, print, or
original source material, with an emphasis on maintaining a consistent and
faithful image. Luna technicians color-match to targets or match to the
qualities of the original piece, compensating if need be for loss of color or
clarity in the reproduction. Luna also offers project planning and management
services along with image bank development.
Larger institutions with more extensive
collections may choose to purchase Luna Imaging’s Insight software, which allows
on-site staff to build an image bank.
Insight is client/server software that
facilitates development, management, access, and use of digital images via the
Internet.
Highly searchable and scalable, the
Insight tool allows users to search digital catalogs and compare, sort,
organize, and save images for particular applications.
Insight purchasers can choose from three
versions of the software. With the Insight Hosted option, appropriate for small
collections of fewer than 5,000 pieces, the digital image bank resides on Luna
Imaging’s server and is called forth as needed. Insight Hosted comes with
predefined templates and a limited number of user profiles.
Insight On-Site and Insight Apex are
client-hosted options that manage large collections at the institution itself
and offer more features and flexibility. On- Site is for single collections,
whereas Apex is designed for the large user with multiple collections to
manage.
According to Megan Marler, product
manager for Luna Imaging, Insight is easy to install and learn. Their training
sessions last only two days. For the end user, Insight boasts a number of search
features. Users can search by thumbnail, specific name, or general category.
Categories are defined on site, so each
institution can determine categories that make sense for the particular
collection at hand. For instance, a map collection would require search
functions by country or region, and a collection of paintings would require the
ability to search by artist and period.
Insight will display the textual metadata
for any item on demand with a simple point and click of a mouse, and that
information can be displayed in multiple languages. The software comes with
built-in security features
