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----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >AMICO Press Release >July 21, 1999 > >The Art Museum Image Consortium and OhioLINK Reach >An Agreement on Statewide Distribution of the AMICO Library > >AMICO Headquarters; Pittsburgh, PA > > The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO), a growing not-for-profit >consortium currently made up of 27 museum members in North America, has >reached a distribution agreement with the Ohio Library and Information >Network (OhioLINK), a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries >and the State Library of Ohio. Through this agreement students, >professors, and staff at 17 public universities, 23 community/technical >colleges, and 35 private colleges in the state of Ohio will have access to >the AMICO Library through OhioLINK's Digital Media Center starting in the >fall of 1999. "OhioLINK already has an established expertise in delivering >library resources such as the AMICO Library, so the fit was really natural >for us," commented AMICO Executive Director, Jennifer Trant. "With this >Agreement the broad, diverse community of OhioLINK institutions have full >access to the AMICO Library through a familiar portal. Our hope is that >our relationship with OhioLINK will become a model for similar statewide >distribution agreements," stated Ms. Trant. > > The 1999 edition of the AMICO Library documents over 50,000 >different works of art, from prehistoric goddess figures to contemporary >installations. More than simply an image database, works in the AMICO >Library are fully documented and may also include curatorial text about the >artwork, detailed provenance information, multiple views of the work >itself, and other related multimedia. "The AMICO Library is a welcome >addition to our digital resources collection because it will expand the >Digital Media Center with a rich image and multimedia database focused on >art objects," states Charly Bauer, Assistant Director of Library Systems - >Digital Media. Additionally, the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), an AMICO >Member, looks forward to this agreement building bridges to Ohio professors >and students. "With this agreement providing AMICO Library access to so >many universities and colleges across Ohio it's akin to having a traveling >exhibition of our permanent collection visiting each school for an entire >year," observes Stephanie Stebich in the Director's Office of the CMA. She >goes on to say, "We hope this added exposure to the museum's fine works >will enhance users' knowledge and draw visitors in the museum itself." > > AMICO envisions the Library functioning in innovative ways that >traditional resources can not. For instance, students may curate online >exhibitions using AMICO images, professors could give "on the fly" lectures >searching the AMICO Library in real-time class settings, restricted-access >course web sites could be created for review purposes with AMICO images >incorporated in them, and much more. To investigate how the AMICO Library >may be used in educational institutions AMICO has just completed a yearlong >University Testbed with 16 universities across the United States and >Canada. A summary of many Testbed projects may be found on the AMICO web >site at the following address, ><http://www.amico.org/projects/u.mtg.99/u.results.html>. "The AMICO >Library should be quite useful to our member institutions and a great >complement to the prodigious resources that our establishment already >provides. We hope that educators and students from many disciplines will >see the creative possibilities of the Library and infuse their educational >efforts in a new way," said Charly Bauer. > > The AMICO Library is accessible over secure networks on an >institutional subscriber basis. Images of artworks from museums such as The >Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art >Institute of Chicago, and the J. Paul Getty Museum are included in the >AMICO Library. A recent agreement with the Artists Rights Society provides >AMICO Library users unprecedented access to modern and contemporary works. >Interested users may preview a Thumbnail Catalog of the AMICO Library and >get further information at <http://www.amico.org>. > > The Ohio Library and Information Network, OhioLINK, is a consortium >of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. >Serving more than 500,000 students, faculty, and staff at 76 institutions, >OhioLINK offers access to more than 31 million library items statewide. >OhioLINK also provides access to 95 research databases, and many full-text >resources. Through OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center, users have access >to more than 2400 electronic journal subscriptions and over one-million >journal articles. OhioLINK also offers user-initiated online borrowing, >the ability to electronically request items while searching the OhioLINK >central catalog, and a delivery service among member institutions to speed >the exchange of library items. To date, the OhioLINK central catalog >contains more than 7 million master records from its 76 institutions, >encompassing a spectrum of library material including law, medical, and >special collections. > > OhioLINK's Digital Media Center will provide access to images, >audio, video, and other types of digital information in a variety of >disciplines such as art and architecture, medicine, and geography. The >Digital Media Center will serve as a publishing outlet for OhioLINK members >to contribute digital resources from their own unique collections. > > The AMICO Library is a product of the Art Museum Image Consortium >(AMICO). Founded in October 1997 as a program of the Association of Art >Museum Directors (AAMD) Educational Foundation, Inc., AMICO was separately >incorporated as an independent non-profit corporation in June of 1998, >ending its direct connection with the AAMD. The Consortium is today made >up of 27 major museums in North America and is open to interested >institutions with a collection of art. Its innovative collaboration >shares, shapes, and standardizes information regarding visual data >collections and enables its educational use. A full list of members can be >found at <http://www.amico.org>. > >Contact Information: > > AMICO OhioLINK >Jennifer Trant Charly Bauer >Executive Director Assistant Director of Library > Art Museum Image Consortium Systems - >Digital Media >2008 Murray Avenue, Suite D Ohio Library and Information Network >Pittsburgh, PA 15217 2455 North Star Road, Suite 300 >Phone (412) 422 8533 Columbus, OH 43221 >Fax (412) 422 8594 Phone (614) 728 3600 ext. 338 >Email: [log in to unmask] Fax (614) 728-3610 >http://www.amico.org Email: [log in to unmask] > http://www.ohiolink.edu > > >---------------------------- >Kelly Richmond >Communications Development Intern >AMICO-Art Museum Image Consortium >2008 Murray Ave, Suite D >Pittsburgh, PA 15217 USA >Phone: +1 412 422 8533 >Fax: +1 412 422 8594 >[log in to unmask] >http://www.amico.org > >