The ARTStor image database is now available through the UW Libraries. ARTstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.

ARTStor is available at http://www.artstor.org, or can be accessed at http://www.artstor.org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/index.shtml from off-campus (you must log in with your UWNet ID). ARTStor can also be found on the Libraries’ Image Collections page at http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/images/, and in the UW WorldCat and Libraries catalogs.

ARTStor images can be downloaded for use in PowerPoint or other presentation tools, or images can be used within ARTStor’s OIV image presentation tool. ARTStor offers excellent online help documents through their web site at http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/Welcome_to_ARTstor_Help , including live email and phone support, video demonstrations, and printable help documents. You can also contact Jackie Belanger (jbelanger@uwb.edu), Reference & Instruction / Arts & Humanities Librarian, or Denise Hattwig (dhattwig@uwb.edu), Curator, Visual Resources, in the Campus Library with questions about ARTStor.

If you would like to receive updates about ARTStor features and content, and information about training opportunities and other support offered by the Libraries, please email dhattwig@u.washington.edu with “ARTStor update emails” in the header. You will be added to an ARTStor information email list.

Geolocation, also called geotagging, is the practice of associating a digital resource with a physical location. A photographer, for example, might include the longitude and latitude coordinates for where a picture was taken, allowing others to pinpoint that location on a map. Increasingly, geolocation is being applied to infrastructure components and end-user devices for the purpose of knowing where people are. This additional layer of location data can make resources much more useful to a broad range of users.

Link: http://www.educause.edu/node/163157

Flickr is a photo-sharing website where anyone can upload and tag photos, browse others’ photos, and add comments and annotations. Users can create photo sets and collections to manage content and participate in topical groups to cultivate a sense of community. Although Flickr is ostensibly for photos, the site might more aptly be described as a venue for sharing experiences and building relationships. The site provides the tools, but the value derives from the contributions of the user community — photos, comments, ratings, and organization — and the connections that the site facilitates between individuals. In this way, Flickr embodies what has come to be known as Web 2.0 technology.

Link: http://www.educause.edu/node/162592

Librarians at the Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses (Laura Barrett, Justin Wadland, and Amanda Hornby) collaborated on a guide that highlights the UW Libraries image databases, recommends websites that provide images free for educational use, and provides useful information on citing images and on copyright compliance. Image collections include: UW collections, general collections, advertising, architecture, art, history, maps, medicine, photography, and science.

Link: http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/images/