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Image Quality

Hi All,

I was discussing this issue with staff this morning so we thought we would
add our 2 cents.

I  still have a healthily sceptical attitude to any visual surrogate
published in any format.  But we cannot do without them in art colleges!
Also in non-art circles, rumours are that digital image surrogates are a
luxury,  a value-added service, so I need support to keep this vision
going.

With the British DACS agreement, I wonder how they are dealing with this -
Image Standards ? Can anyone out there inform me? Also what are others in
Australia now doing?

There is a definite role for the thumbnail. If the thumbnail image is seen
merely as an identifier and  source to its location; be it an original
work, a slide,  a high resolution digital image, or reputable or not so
reputable published paper image ; then it serves as a visual browsing tool
for indexing purposes. Also it may placate the  time consuming request , "
Can you find me a picture of....,? " ... which  can be  an object, not
necessarily an art work.

If the high resolution image suffers the multiple 'slippage' described
below by Linda,this is worrying! It would have to be designated clearly ,
eg., " Indexing Tool - Image Quality Not Suitable for Research" (
Thumbnails would naturally fill this category), and perhaps why, " Digital
Copy from Slide of Book Plate",( although I don't imagine this being
treated to a high resolution scan if of such inferior quality), hopefully
qualified by  'Standards for Images'. We need some sort of check list to
advise the viewer. Is Britain now doing this?

I imagine a compromise. To meet demands of users,  work may be on various
levels, some surrogates will have high resolution images on tap, others
won't, but at least image surrogates will be there on the catalogue as a
visual browsing tool! I just spent 3/4 hour assisting a student in search
of political posters in the slide collection , so a few little surrogates
would have been marvellous! They happened to be images from one supplier
who has agreed to grant rights to digitise his slides.

Also with supply, I imagine a versatilty in our structures where digital
images will be downloaded direct from suppliers, and also made by us, to
meet demands of users, much the same as the present situation.

FUTURE SCENARIO...... DREAM ON!!!!
In fine art, it seems  the new virtual reality with  3 dimensional quality
is more exploitable than the paper page ( which let's not forget, can also
be highly varied in its veracity).   Ideally, ability to zoom in on images
could be  incorporated to give a true indication of the painterly/textured
surface, which often ives a work its life and individuality, e.g., Mondrian
springs to mind.  In reality his later works are infused with a sensitive
painterly handling which is so full of life and connects so much more
easily with his earlier studies of trees.  This human touch is hardly
discernible in reproductions of  his geometric travelling rectangles and
squares.  We are still very much compromising with the printed plate image.



Ciao

Jennifer QCA





>ANother troubling thought:
>When people speak of high resolution images I do hope they are scanning
>unique material and not slides of book plates made from transparencies of
>photographs of art works (or worse). We will need a clearinghouse for images
>on the web to avoid filling the bandwidths with poor quality digitized
>images.
>But I have a problem with digital remastering of music also. Maybe I'm just
>some kind of fanatic for carring that what is broadcast bear some faint
>resemblance to that which the artist produced in the first place.
>Linda the qvetch
>Former member of the Slide Quality Committee!
>[log in to unmask]

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Jennifer Brasher                        EMAIL: [log in to unmask]
Art Librarian                           VOICE: +61 (07) 3875 3132
                                        FAX: +61 (07) 3875 3133
SNAIL MAIL
Queensland College of Art Library
Griffith University
Clearview Terrace
Morningside Campus
PO Box 84 Morningside Brisbane Queensland 4170 Australia
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"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw

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