New Fair Use statement released

The Visual Resources Association has released a Statement on the Fair Use of Images in Teaching, Research, and Study.  The statement recommends assertiveness on the part of the academic community, and awareness of the guidelines.  It concludes that there are six uses of copyrighted still images that fall within the U.S. doctrine of fair use.  According to the statement, they are:

1) preservation ; 2) use of images for teaching purposes; 3) use of images on course websites and in other online study materials; 4) adaptations of images for teaching and classroom work by students; 5) sharing images among educational and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study; and 6) reproduction of images in theses and dissertations.

You can read the details on these guidelines and more in the full statement.

Faculty publication #2: Ernst L. Freud, Architect, by Volker Welter

The second book to be launched in our department this month is Ernst L. Freud, Architect: The Case of the Modern Bourgeois Home, by Volker Welter, UCSB architectural historian.  In addition to being a prolific architect, primarily domestic architecture, Freud was the son of Sigmund Freud.

Congratulations, Prof. Welter!

Faculty publication #1: Making History, by Sylvester Ogbechie

Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Professor of Classical to Contemporary African Art here at UCSB, has just released Making History: African Collectors and the Canon of African Art, which explores the under-studied area of African-owned collections of African art.  The image plates are stunning, plentiful, and of the  highest quality.  The volume is available in English and French.  Congratulations Sylvester!

British Library launches online resource for historical newspapers

“Murder, mania and a leech-powered weather machine.”

The British Library, in conjunction with online publisher brightsolid, has launched the British Newspaper Archive. This new and continually expanding online resource for perusing headlines, bylines and story lines from the past three centuries is now searchable for free. Users must pay, however, for complete access and printing privileges. Click here for more information on this archive, or here for information on all Library newspaper collections.

also via BBC

Fisk University and the Stieglitz Collection: The ruling, appealed

UPDATE: Over a year ago we reported that Fisk University wanted to sell a half share of their Alfred Stieglitz Collection to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AK to raise general operational money. While contested by Attorney General  Robert E. Cooper, Jr., the University was allowed to proceed but was told it must aside a large proportion of the funds for future rainy days. The University appealed these restrictions and this week the Appellate Court ruled in Fisk’s favor.

UPDATE, PART II (January 9, 2012): The Tennessean reports that the State Attorney General, who has been fighting to keep the Collection in the state, has until the 28th to challenge the Appellete Court’s ruling. There is also a nice slide show of the Crystal Bridges Museum building and some of it’s galleries.

USC engineer heads team to save Leonardo’s Last Supper

An engineering professor from the University of Southern California has lead a multinational group charged with saving Leonardo’s iconic fresco The Last Supper. One problem maintaining the fresco is the way it was painted: directly on a dry wall, which caused it to begin deteriorating almost immediately. Subsequent restorations haven’t helped the matter. However, the current team has been tackling the modern problem of both outdoor and indoor air pollution in Milan.