The image library contains over 10,000 digital images
and 40,000 35mm slides, primarily of western art and architecture
from prehistory to the present. Faculty and students are also provided with access to ARTStor, the premier art image database, which contains over a million images, and is global in scope.
Organized in 1984 from a handful of
unlabeled slides stored in shoeboxes, the local image collection has developed into
an essential teaching tool for a wide variety of courses. Growth of the collection is shaped by faculty request. Local digital access is provided by the Madison Digital Image Database, opensource software for teaching with images, and known locally as MDID.
Tutorials on the use of MDID and ARTstor are available upon request. Presentation software for both systems is installed in all classrooms.
The
collection covers the following media: painting, architecture,
sculpture, graphic arts, ceramics, and glass. Other areas of special
interest are Greek and Roman mythology and culture. Growth of the
collection is shaped by faculty input and the discretion of the slide
curator. The mission of the slide library is to provide the best
available images for teaching.
