All Things Visual: The University of Chicago Visual Resources Center

A recent modification to ARTstor’s policies now requires all users to log in before downloading images, whether on- or off-campus. The change was prompted by a need for more complete user statistics. From ARTstor:

This [log in] information – which includes the email that you use to register and a disciplinary affiliation – will help us better serve you and other ARTstor users:  The information will allow us to build future collections that best meet users’ needs. We will also use the anonymized data to provide feedback to museums and other collection providers, which plays a very helpful role in making the case for their broadly sharing their collections to the educational community through ARTstor.

The VRC continues to recommend that all ARTstor users register before searching for images. This will ensure access to all of ARTstor’s features, including image download.

For instructions on registering for ARTstor, please view ARTstor’s registration tutorial. You must either be on-campus or accessing ARTstor through the library proxy. If registering with your Cnet email address, please do NOT use your Cnet password (for security reasons). For information about other ARTstor updates, including new image collections, please click here.

Please contact VRC staff with any questions.

ARTstor recently updated features for the Fall 2011 quarter:

• Filter search results by Time Period, Classification, and Geography
• Choose the number of thumbnails displayed
• Mouse-over to view larger images
• Compatibility with Firefox 5
• ARTstor Mobile for iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone
• Batch download to PowerPoint

Additionally, new image collections include:

• The Freedman Gallery at Albright College
• Special Collections from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Thomas K. Seligman: Photographs of Liberia, New Guinea, Melanesia, and the Tuareg People
• Works by Andrew Spence

Check the ARTstor blog’s release page for more new releases, or see their Collections page for a full collection list. If you need help making the most of these collections and features, please contact the VRC to schedule an ARTstor training session.

UPDATE: ARTstor has also changed their download policy so that users must be logged in to download images. To register for ARTstor, click here and then select “Register” at upper right. If you choose to use your Cnet email address, do NOT use your Cnet password (for security reasons).

Are you looking for images to include in a class presentation or paper? The VRC is here to help!

ARTstor is a subscription library of nearly one million digital images from all disciplines. To access this database, click here. Next, click the orange Go button in the upper right corner.

You will need to login to access all of ARTstor’s features. If you have never registered with ARTstor before, click Register. You will need to provide an email address and a password. If you choose to use your UChicago email address, please do NOT provide your Cnet password (for security reasons). Select a password that you will remember.

ARTstor’s keyword search is available from the homepage. The default is to search all ARTstor collections at once.

You may want to conduct an advanced search. Under the keyword search box, click Advanced Search. You may search here by title and/or creator. Adjust Boolean operators at the left to narrow (“and”) or broaden (“or”) your search. You may also specify the geography, classification, and collection of sought images. You may specify date, but please keep in mind that art historical dates are not always included or accurate.

If you have found a relevant group of images but would like to further narrow your search, enter additional terms in the search box from the results page. Then be sure to select “Within this search result.”

You can also browse for images in ARTstor. One way to do this is by collection. From the homepage, under Browse click on Collection. Scrolling through the collections, you will get an idea of the kinds of images available in ARTstor. Click on the green folder with a plus sign next to each collection to further browse by classification. Keep clicking through to open a group of images in ARTstor.

You can also browse by Geography, Classification, or Featured Image Groups.

To search within a specific collection in ARTstor, you must browse to that collection, open the images, and then enter additional terms in the search box from the results page. For example, you might navigate to the Islamic Art and Architecture Collection by browsing, and then enter “technique” in the search box and specify “Within this category” to see images from the collection which illustrate technique.

Now that you’ve found some relevant images, you may want to return to them later. Use the Share > Generate image URL function to email yourself a link to individual images, or create an image group to access at a later time.

If you have any questions or would like to explore ARTstor further, helpful YouTube tutorials are provided. ARTstor’s Digital Library Help is always a good place to start when having technical difficulties.

To learn more about searching for images in ARTstor, please feel free to contact the VRC to schedule an appointment.

ARTstor is now available to registered users on mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad equipped with Safari 4+. ARTstor Mobile features include keyword search, image group access, flashcard view, and collection browse. For more information about ARTstor Mobile, click here and be sure to register for ARTstor.

ARTstor has partnered with the Visual Resources Collections at Skidmore College’s Lucy Scribner Library to digitize approximately 850 images of Pre-Columbian objects and sites from the Southwest United States, Central America, South America, Europe, and Egypt. These images were selected from a collection of over 8,000 slides created by alumna Moreen O’Brien Maser (Class of 1926). From 1938-1970, Maser traveled with her husband, Herman, to various archaeological sites and modern cities in the American Southwest, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece, Italy, and Egypt. Of particular note are the Mesoamerican images, which provide documentary evidence for sites that have been more fully excavated and/or damaged due to environmental and human degradation since being photographed by the Masers more than 50 years ago.

To browse the Moreen O’Brien Maser Memorial Collection, click here.

What’s the easiest way to share images from LUNA and ARTstor?
Create a link.
 
LUNA‘s Share This feature creates a link for whatever you’re looking at: one image, a group of images, search results, or even a presentation. Just click Share This in the window you want to share. Copy the link and paste into an email or Chalk. For details, see LUNA Help.

ARTstor has a similar feature. Select the image thumbnail or view the image group you want to share. Click Generate image url in the Share menu. For full details, see ARTstor Help.

ARTstor and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) have just launched more than 1,400 images of works from the MoMA’s permanent collection in the Digital Library. The images have been selected from the museum’s unparalleled collection of modern and contemporary painting and sculpture. The works in the Department of Painting and Sculpture represent a comprehensive overview of major artists and artistic movements from the late 19th century to the present.

To view the collection after logging in, search for: moma “painting and sculpture”

Click on the image to learn how to download images from ARTstor and put them in PowerPoint for a classroom presentation.

Click here to view all ARTstor videos on Youtube.

From ARTstor:

 

We are pleased to announce that the Jessica E. Smith and Kevin R. Brine Charitable Trust has given ARTstor a grant to build a themed collection on the story of Judith and Holofernes. This collection will be part of a larger project – The Judith Project – commissioned by the donor to enhance scholarship on The Book of Judith and its later lexical and iconographical traditions in Western culture from antiquity to the present.

Read more…

. . . make a PowerPoint presentation?

. . . create a high-quality digital image?

. . . find works of art in the VRC Collection?

. . . export a detail from Luna Insight?

. . . share a group of images in ARTstor?

The VRC can help you with all things related to digital imaging. Contact us to set up an appointment.