Upon further clarification from Pam, I see that she was asking those seemingly "technical" questions in the "Big Big Picture" context of the whole academic/digital complex on campus, and the place for art history teaching, images, etc. within that context--which most everyone is grappling with in some form or other these days. I wish I had interpreted "their institution is in the same situation as I" as a clue to ask for clarification before answering. In case my reply may have appeared simplistic, or even arrogant (which I certainly did not intend!), I'd like to clarify that as a slide curator, one of the main things I see myself needing to do more of is exactly the advice I gave: visit, learn from the expertise of our own on-campus experts outside my area--media technology and computer systems people, librarians, faculty and students--to find viable creative solutions for us.

As I mentioned before, these topics are constantly being discussed on the VRA list (both the technical/practical side as well as the philosophy/rationale/"big picture" side). See the VRA website, especially the special section "The Digital Scene" (Digital Initiatives Advisory Group page) http://www.vraweb.org/diag/index.htm. There is all kinds of relevant information, especially in the sections on Resources, News, Publications, Projects, Queries, and Report.

Thanks to Mr. Guenter Waibel for his helpful message. There are descriptions and links to his excellent article in RLG, and the Penn State VIUS report, on the VRA site also.
Pam's questions got me thinking more about a lot of important issues, and this I appreciate! Now I'll take a fresh look at those questions... :-)
Hildegard L.
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