Bulletin

Issue: January/February 2007

News

When a picture is worth a thousand words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how do you measure that in digital language?

For La Trobe University art historian, Dr Joan Barclay Lloyd, and her colleagues, that depends not only on the image itself, but how easily it can be adapted for teaching and accessed by students.

Dr Barclay Lloyd was principal academic consultant in introducing the MDID (Madison Digital Image Database) - a new computerised image management resource at the main Melbourne campus at Bundoora.

She believes strongly in the value of images for teaching and research - and her approach to teaching, particularly the online work that she has developed, recently won her the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

She says La Trobe is one of two Australian universities, and 80 universities and libraries internationally, now using the MDID software.

‘The software can organise and deliver with the click of a mouse as many art images as any dedicated art history teacher might wish - from the database to on-screen destinations in tutorials, lectures, or on-line units,’ says Dr Barclay Lloyd.

‘It is very easy to use and an excellent vehicle for illustrating research papers and public lectures.’

La Trobe acquired MDID from the IT laboratories of James Madison University in Virginia, USA. As the first Australian University to use the software, La Trobe developed and trialled the application for the past two years.

Dr Mark Kosten, Director of Information Technology Services, says the project is a good example of successful collaboration between IT and academic staff.

Visual resources librarian, Domenica Chincarini, one of only five such librarians in Australia, says other Australian universities have shown interest in MDID since she demonstrated the system’s potential at the Annual Art Association of Australia and New Zealand conference in Sydney last year.