Insight, created by
Luna Imaging, is software that enables
the Library to build and manage a permanent collection of digital images
for use in teaching and scholarship. It provides the user with an environment
for viewing and manipulating high-resolution digital images and accessing
extensive catalog data about them. It will transform the way faculty
and students at Brown use images in the classroom and in individual
study. In addition to facilitating the local collection building, the
software makes it possible to access other Insight collections on remote
servers. Thus the community of user institutions -- which includes Yale,
Duke, Cornell, Stanford, and Berkeley, among others -- can build a networked
system of digital image repositories.
While Insight collections can be viewed in a browser, the most exciting
and powerful tools are available only in a Java client that users may
freely install on their PC or Mac workstation. A researcher must use
the client to access more than one collection simultaneously. To connect
to Insight or download the Java client, point to:
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/luna/index.html.
Use of the client requires a password (provided on the above site).
Use the University's proxy server first, if you are accessing this site
from off-campus.
Our one, supported, local collection is called simply the Brown University
Digital Image Collection. At present, the majority of the contents of
this collection are images purchased individually under license from
vendors to support teaching of courses in the History of Art. Other
images included are reproductions of prints (Napoleon caricatures) from
the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection. They constitute a public collection
that can be shared outside of Brown. Insight allows flexibility in setting
access, so that it is possible to allow full access to the latter, with
no rights issues, while restricting access to the vendor- supplied images
to Brown affiliates only.
. Three other collections of images are presently accessible through
the Java client. Two are free: the Rumsey Map Collection and Japanese
Historical Maps. The other, AMICO (Art Museum Image Consortium), consists
of 100,000 images -- and growing -- contributed by 36 museums. The majority
is 20th century photographs. For more information see:
http://www.amico.org/AMICOlibrary/contents.html
and
http://www.lunaimaging.com/community/collectionsharing
Besides meeting the Library's need for a system to collect images from
various sources, Luna Insight presents the user with sophisticated tools
for manipulating images, saving them in groups for later use or for
sharing with others (such as a class), and composing a presentation.
Among the functions are zooming in to see detail, panning an image at
high resolution, displaying two or more objects to scale, linking two
images, linking to an external web site, and annotating details within
an image. If the user wishes to use images outside of the Insight environment,
downloading of files is permitted (depending on the privileges associated
with the login).
Josiah records for Luna Insight and AMICO provide the links needed to
connect via browser or to download the Insight Java client. Before the
connection is made to AMICO, a brief description of the uses allowed
is displayed:
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/eresources/edatabases/amico-license.html.
If downloaded images are displayed on a website, it must be restricted
to Brown users.
The Library plans to support courses on a project basis initially, and
particularly welcomes requests for support that will exploit our own
public domain collections or image resources to which a faculty member
owns the rights. The current Luna Insight implementation is based on
a cultural artifact data model and can be used for any variety of "man-made"
objects, not natural and scientific ones at this time.
An Insight "feature tour" is available at:
http://www.lunaimaging.com/insight/featuretour.html.
Contact Norine Duncan to schedule an introductory demonstration for
groups or an individual. For answers to questions about Insight's relevance
to your teaching or research, contact her (x3-3082) or Patrick Yott
(x3-2817)
NorineDuncan
