Wikipedia:School and university projects/Open Source Culture/cohendigital

"Digital Culture and the Practices of Art and Art History" is actually a collection of 7 articles written by various professors and critics about the problems of using technology to teach art history. Because this article was compiled in 1997, it puts an interesting and historical perspective on the ideas of technology and art. The first article is written by a teacher who, for her time, is at the forefront of using digital imagery and networking in the teaching of art history. At this early time, she advocates four principles that she believes will be important in the upcoming years:

1) Standardized systems for image resources 2) Legal access to huge archives of images 3) Storage, speed, and bandwidth 4) Reconceptualization of the way we teach

She even recognizes and comments on the demise of fair use in 1997. The next article, although a little less relevant to Open Source, comments on the transformative nature of technology. James Elkins uses specific transformative examples of a Rembrandt painting to illustrate this sometimes unwanted effect of technology. Lavin discusses a seminar that he has taught which is, in fact, quite similar to the Open Source Culture seminar taught at Columbia University in the Fall of 2004. Lavin advocates an approach of collaborative scholarship between students with a guiding instructor. Nancy Macko discusses the potential reversal of "high/low" brow art because of the democratizing effect of technology. Gary Schwartz believes that audiences will naturally turn to looking at pieces on CD-ROM or the Internet. To reinsert itself, the museum, must use media technology alongside viewing the original works as adding value to both mediums. Schwartz also believes that asserting sole rights to an original work will not solve the problem of audience loss. Susan L. Siefried discusses the policies of various groups, including the EU, and how these policies treat the dissemination of cultural information on networks. Important to note is that the EU seems to be the most progressive, even from the beginning, although the policies are a bit disorganized. The last article by Barbara Stafford discusses the changing notion of the university because of technological progress.