Image: Claude Lorrain, Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula, 1641, oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London. Photo © The National Gallery, London. The National Gallery, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-seaport-with-the-embarkation-of-saint-ursula/*/key-facts.

Paintings by seventeenth-century French painter Claude Lorrain. Landscapes, seascapes, mythological and biblical scenes.

Databases: UW Image Bank, MDID

Keywords: claude lorrain

Image: Paul Gauguin, Te Po (The Long Night), 1894/1895, woodcut printed in black and gray by Pola Gauguin in 1921, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. NGA Images, http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?acc=1944.2.31.

The National Gallery of Art launched NGA Images, which implements an open access policy for digital images of works of art that the Gallery believes to be in the public domain. Images of these works are now available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial. Users do not need to contact the Gallery for authorization to use these images. They are available for download at the NGA Images website. See Policy Details for specific instructions and notes for users.

Some example learning outcomes from the Standards:

Performs image and topical research concurrently, with each informing the other in an iterative resource-gathering process (2.2.f)

Describes cultural and historical factors relevant to the production of an image (e.g., time period, geography, economic conditions, political structures, social practices) (3.2.a)

Critiques persuasive or manipulative strategies that may have been used in image production to influence interpretation  (4.1.c)

Integrates images into projects purposefully, considering meaning, aesthetic criteria, visual impact, and audience (5.1.c)

Consider including visual literacy learning outcomes in your assignments. You may find students are better able to understand the role of visual materials in their academic work, and produce higher-quality projects with more meaningful and relevant visual content.

Instructions for registering for an ARTstor account are available here: http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/Registering

Google Images just launched a new visual search feature – just drag and drop an image file into the search box, and Google will search the web for similar images. (Try Firefox if this doesn’t work for you in IE.)

TinEye Reverse Image Search is another visual search engine.  TinEye is especially useful for finding higher resolution versions of the image you have, images that may be altered versions of your image, or to see how your image is being used on the web.

Another type of visual search engine is Multicolr Search Lab. Multicolr allows you to search Flickr Creative Commons images by color. This is the tool to use if you need images with a particular color or color combination for your project.

For more on visual search engines, see the Starting Points page of the UW Libraries’ Images Guide.

• web-based image editing tools
• web-based presentation and viewing tools
• online image storage and sharing
• image bookmarking

And for faculty – additional ARTstor and MDID image presentation, organization, storage, and sharing options.

The full announcement can be read at: http://opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=8544.

A sampling of digitized images from Yale’s collections can be viewed here:  http://opac.yale.edu/images/slideshow/Slideshow-Open-Access/slideshow.html

Sketches and drawings by Claude Monet from the Musee Marmottan, Paris. Sailboats, haystacks, trees, churches, and more.

Databases: UW Image Bank, MDID

Keywords: monet, drawings, marmottan

New draft interdisciplinary Visual Literacy Standards are now available from the Association of College and Research Libraries. The draft ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education outline Standards, Performance Indicators, and Learning Outcomes for developing student visual literacy.

Although the Standards are still in draft form, the Learning Outcomes outlined in the document can be useful now in designing image-focused assignments and course syllabi.

An example from the Standards:

Standard Three: The visually literate student interprets and analyzes the meaning of images and visual media

Performance Indicator 2: The visually literate student situates an image in its cultural, social, and historical contexts.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Describes cultural and historical factors relevant to the production of an image (e.g., time period, geography, economic conditions, political structures, social practices)

b.      Examines the purpose and meaning of an image in its original context

c.       Describes the intended audience for an image

d.      Explores representations of gender, ethnicity, and other cultural identifiers in images

e.      Investigates how the audience, context, and interpretation of an image may have changed over time

Check out the Standards document for more examples and ideas.

Disclosure and invitation ~ I’m the chair of the Task Force working on the Standards, and we are requesting feedback on the draft document during the open comment period, February 10 – March 31. Please see the ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Standards project blog for more information.