Colorado Digitization Program: 2002 Annual Leadership Seminar

Citation

Fisher, P. (2003), "Colorado Digitization Program: 2002 Annual Leadership Seminar", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 20 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2003.23920bac.002

Colorado Digitization Program: 2002 Annual Leadership Seminar

Patricia Fisher

The Colorado Digitization Program 2002 Annual Leadership Seminar took place 6 December 2002 at the University of Denver. Increasingly, the relationships between libraries and museums are becoming tighter and there are obvious parallels in the digital work and initiatives that each sector is addressing. Libraries and museums, independently and collectively have instruction, outreach and service as their missions and are exploring how to use digital formats to archive exhibits and resources for future and long term viewing and use. The Colorado Digitization Program (http://www. cdpheritage.org/) is an ambitious program that brings together resources to promote the cultural heritage of the state of Colorado and also offers numerous training programs such as this annual leadership seminar.

The keynote speaker was Nancy S. Allen, from the Mellon Foundation's Digital Art Library, and Director of Museum Relations. She addressed, "ArtStor: Building Foundations." Background on ArtStor can be found at: http://www.mellon.org/programs/otheractivities/ArtSTOR/Content.htm

As we build digital surrogates we should know there is an historical precedent. In the 1870s, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston commissioned plaster cast reproductions of real works of art. The directors of the Museum sought to provide enjoyable educational experiences with surrogates and thus expose people to objects they would not be able to see easily. In the early twentieth century, American interests in what should be placed in museums changed. Real works of art were desired over plaster casts. This historical foundation provided the tenor for the program.

Now ArtStor is again seeking to provide people with an educational experience by using surrogates. The goals of the project are to enhance teaching, learning and research in the arts and associated fields through technology. Digital surrogates will be used in a multidisciplinary approach for scholars, educators, and students of art. The emphasis will be on higher education, but the project will be very useful for many groups. The charter collection will come from a number of sources. The content will represent different types and sources of information. A collection development policy is now being developed for ArtStor. It is understood funding will be necessary to sustain this project. Insight software will be used. The results so far are impressive. Permitted use of ArtStor contents will be for classroom presentations, printing and down-loading. Access will be by site licenses. Testing is now going on with Williams College as the Beta site. A soft launch is expected in the fall of 2003. The real launch is expected later in 2004.

The enhanced visibility of the collections in ArtStor's contents is expected to encourage people to go to museums. The current disorganization of museum borrowing is expected to become more efficient as loaning schemes are developed somewhat on the order of interlibrary loan. Ms Allen sees ArtStor as helping to develop life long learners as we begin to better understand our past, as we discover new truths and as we share our collections.

Several panel sessions took place. Coverage of them is not comprehensive but summarizes the essence of the presentations and discussion.

Panel Session 1: "The difference we're making. 'Digitization's impact on 'Cha-ching': what the public is saying about using libraries and museums," Dr Ross Loomis, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University. Dr Loomis has long been associated with the Visitors Studies Association (www.vra.org) and his research centers around the question, "What effects would online exhibits have on actual site visits?" His slide presentation can be seen at: http://www.cdpheritage.org/resource/workshops/documents

Dr Loomis found that use of a museum's Web site was perceived as 70 percent likely to increase visits, that intentions are a good predictor of behavior. In his working conclusions he said that Web site use and on-location visits appear to be viewed as different experiences. He stressed that museums, in particular, should look at the Web site as an opportunity to raise their visibility and prompt on-location visitation.

Panel Session 2: "How do the users want to see it? What the public is saying about Exhibits vs Database Access: a comparison of Web-based library catalogs and museum exhibits and their impact on actual visits" was the focus of Dr Keith Lance, Colorado State Libraries, Library Research Center, and Tammi Moe, Colorado State Library. The Lance and Moe slide presentation can be seen at: http://www.cdpheritage.org/resource/workshops/documents

Lance and Moe found that the most important reasons for using digital resources for all groups of users was convenient access, preservation of rare objects and links to other pictures and available resources. Most users indicated that photographs online piqued their interest and would influence them to actually visit the museum. Most participants preferred the exhibit image approach that is selected images that told a story and established relationships over the catalog approach which is similar to library catalogs and features comprehensive access instead of selected access.

Panel Session 3: "The rubber hits the road – Teachers using the digital collections – is it making a difference?", Dr Cynthia Stout, Jefferson County School District. Dr Stout said that online resources such as digitization are a financial savior for many school districts, and a great solution for teachers. She especially emphasized the value of having primary documents online.

During the question period the presenters emphasized that many museums did not have large audiences for their collections, and often much is in storage.

Digitizing their collections was a way for museums to "open up." Museums need to document Web site use to their collections as a way of validating attendance. Digitization projects appear not to have as much impact on visitation as has been feared. People have a need for experience and only by "being there" to see the real thing is that need fulfilled.

Patricia Fisher (pfisher@du.edu) is the AUL for Collections at Penrose Library, University of Denver, Colarado, USA.