Department of Art Visual Resources Library
How-To Guides and Resources
Our Services:
The Department of Art Visual Resources Library is committed to supporting teaching and research involving digital images in the Colgate community.
Although we are housed in the Department of Art, we serve the Colgate community as a whole and work with many different faculty and staff across campus. Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions about finding, creating, and/or using digital images.
We offer individual, small group, and in-class instruction on:
Using digital image databases including Artstor (Case Library subscription database) & the AAH Digital Image Database (Colgate in-house database)
Using presentation software (Powerpoint, Keynote, etc.)
Scanning analog research and teaching images (slides, negatives, printed photos in books, etc.)
Storing and organizing your personal research and teaching images
Finding and/or creating images for publication and research
Teaching best practices for finding and/or creating optimal images for various contexts (projection, printing, etc.)
Assisting with questions of copyright and proper citation of digital images
The Department of Art Visual Resources digital image library is accessible to all Colgate users at http://mdid.colgate.edu. This continually growing online digital image collection now contains over 186,000 images as well as over 14,000 images from personal research collections across campus, documenting art and architecture from around the world and from prehistory to the present. Click here for information on using MDID. We also house a non-circulating 35mm slide collection containing approximately 90,000 images built over the course of several decades to facilitate the teaching of art history and studio art.
Mission Statement & Copyright Policy Statement
Colgate Visual Resources Library & the Digital Image Database
Mission
The mission of the Colgate Visual Resources Library is to provide the faculty of Colgate University with the image resources they need for teaching and resource purposes. In addition, we strive to provide adequate instruction to help faculty and students understand and comply with the guidelines of Fair Use of these images within an educational environment.
Acquisition Policy
The acquisition policy of the Colgate Visual Resources Library is based on the VRA Image Collection Guidelines: The Acquisition and Use of Images in Non-Profit Educational Visual Resources Collections prepared by the Visual Resources Association Committee on Intellectual Property Rights.
I. Acquisition
A. New acquisitions. The Colgate Visual Resources Library will seek images that are readily available for sale or license within the constraints of our fiscal abilities on a yearly basis.
B. Pre-existing analog image collections. The Colgate Visual Resources Library will identify images in its collection specifically needed for digitizing and make a reasonable effort to identify rights holders and seek permission for use.
C. Gifts. Gifts and donations are considered legitimate forms of acquisition, even though they may be subject to restrictions or requirements by the donors.
D. Images created in-house. Images created by copystand photography and/or scanning from published materials for inclusion in the permanent archive are subject to the following considerations:
Images of suitable quality are not readily available at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time
Images will not be shared between or among other educational institutions if such use is prohibited by the terms of their acquisition
Images will be used for comment, criticism, review, analysis, discussion, or other similar purpose associated with instruction or scholarship for purposes that are both nonprofit and educational
II. Attribution
To the extent to which the information is available, all images in the Colgate Visual Resources Library will be identified with information regarding the source of the image, title, creator, date of creation, date of acquisition, any vendor identifying number or code.
III. Display
A. Access
The Colgate Visual Resources Library digital image database will be restricted to the Colgate community. Only those persons with a valid Colgate username and password will be able to access the Art Department digital image database at Colgate.
Any sharing of this collection with other institutions will be done so in compliance with fair use guidelines and will not include images purchased or licensed from a vendor with which Colgate has a particular and exclusive relationship.
B. Guidelines for Use of the Digital Image Database (MDID)
Faculty & staff may use MDID to create and present lectures for classes, seminars or conference presentations.
Faculty, staff & students may download images from MDID for use in other applications to create and present lectures for classes, seminars or conference presentations.
Students may download images from MDID for use in class papers.
These images MAY NOT be downloaded for use on websites or other projects outside of the network of Colgate.
These images MAY NOT be published in any paper without obtaining proper permissions from the copyright holder.
Copyright Policy
Following the guidelines of the United States Copyright Act of 1976, Title 17, sections 107, 108 & 110, the CONFU Guidelines for Digital Image Archives, the TEACH Act we believe that the Visual Resources Collection at Colgate University has been created and is used fairly. We do not feel we are infringing on the laws of copyright, as stated in Title 17, Chapter 5, section 504 (c). In addition, we feel that our understanding of these guidelines is in congruence with the copyright policy upheld by Colgate University.
Last modified 11 August 2020Lesley Chapman, Visual Resources Curator, Colgate University(adapted from original materials prepared by Jessica Henderson)
Updated August 2020. Please contact us if you have suggestions or would like to see any added features or information on this site.