The New York Public Library’s Picture Collection uses a collaborative web-based discussion and presentation tool, VoiceThread, to show images from their collections to the public and to students in classrooms. VoiceThread allows users to make comments on presentations by webcam, computer microphone, text, or telephone. If leaving a comment by computer, users may also draw on an image to illustrate their opinions.
For more information about VoiceThread, click here.
The Smithsonian Institution recently released their Collections Search Center online tool which searches over 2 million records with 265,900 images, video and sound files, electronic journals and other resources from the Smithsonian’s museums, archives and libraries. You can specify that the search return only results with online media. It is also possible to browse by topic, as well as by place, culture, language, and more.
A list of currently available collections is available here, and more collections will be added over time.
Above image: The Gopis Search for Krishna from a Bhagavata Purana, ca. 1780. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
The VRC will be closed from December 14th through December 30th for building improvements. The VRC will reopen in CWAC 261 on Thursday, December 31st.
Although the digital imaging lab will be closed, VRC staff will be available for questions during this time. Please contact us at visualresources@uchicago.edu.
The Bayeaux Tapestry, one of the most important chronicles of its day, offers a vivid depiction of the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. A video available on YouTube from PotionGraphics brings the tale to life through animation and sound effects. The clip begins about halfway through the tapestry, at the appearance of Haley’s Comet, and ends at The Battle of Hastings.
Video discovered via Open Culture. The entire scroll is available to view here.
Please note: to view these PowerPoint illustrations at a larger size, click on the images.
To create a simple Art History style PowerPoint 2008 theme, first open a new presentation. The Formatting Palette will appear on the right side; if it does not, click on the “Toolbox” icon from the menu bar. On the Formatting Palette, select Style 4, which is a black background with white text.
To ensure that any subsequent text added to the slide with a text box is formatted correctly (ie, in white font), create a “test” text box by selecting that icon from the menu bar.
Once you have created and tested the text box…
…you’re ready to save the slide theme. Select “Save Theme” from the Formatting Palette.
Select a name for your theme that will be recognizable to you later.
To apply your theme to any future presentation, select the “Slide Themes” tab.
Next, select the “Custom Themes” tab. You will then see your theme saved with the title you assigned. Click on its thumbnail and you’re set!
You can follow the above steps to save other types of Microsoft Office 2008 themes as well. If you have any questions, please contact the VRC.
The behold search tool provides access to over one million Flickr-hosted images that are available free of charge. You may specify image results that can be modified and/or used for commercial purposes. For more information and Terms of Use, click here.
One of the most extensive collections of rare Chinese books outside of China will be digitized and made freely available to scholars worldwide as part of a six-year cooperative project between Harvard College Library (HCL) and the National Library of China (NLC)…
…The first phase, beginning in January 2010, will digitize books from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, which date from about 960 AD to 1644. The second phase, starting in January 2013, will digitize books from the Qing Dynasty, which date from 1644 until 1795. The collection includes materials which cover an extensive range of subjects, including history, philosophy, drama, belles letters and classics.
For more information, visit Harvard College Library’s article describing the project.
Art History faculty can checkout a wireless SlimBlade™ Presenter Media Mouse with a Mac laptop. For instructions on how to use the mouse, please click here. A flash tutorial is also available.
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”
Please consider adding the new Art History Department blog, The Voice of CWAC, to your RSS subscriptions. News and announcements of interest to the Cochrane-Woods Art Center community will be posted regularly.