Information access versus document supply. The International Visual Arts Information Network project

Abstract

The Museum world is generally considered to be many years behind the Library world in the creation and application of information technology-particularly networking, but is now becoming the subject of wider attention because of the increasing interest and rapid technological developments in the incorporation of images. However, these developments and their future potential raise, even more acutely, the problems of capital and access costs - who pays for what - and how? They also raise difficult questions about intellectual property rights, copyright protection fair remuneration and complex questions concerning moral rights. For the museum world (particularly Art museums) security on high resolution digital imaging emerges as a crucial issue. For many museums, reproduction fees represent an important source of revenue, even though they usually do not own a copyright on the actual works. Clearly international cooperation, working partnersnips and consortia are going to gain fuither importance and significance. This presentation will look at some of the initiatives that may help open up this exciting new potential.