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.
 

The mission of the Centre College Visual Resources Library is to provide the faculty of the college with the image for teaching and research purposes. These resources are in the form of analog 35mm slides and digital, high-resolution images. In addition, we provide instruction to help faculty and students understand and comply with the guidelines of Fair Use of these images within an educational environment.
 

The acquisition policy of the Centre College Visual Resources Library is based on the VRA Image Collection Guidelines: The Acquisition and Use of Images in Non-Profit Educational Visual Resources Collections prepared by the Visual Resources Association Committee on Intellectual Property Rights.

I. Acquisition

A. New acquisitions — The Centre Visual Resources Library will seek resources that are readily available for sale or license within the constraints of our fiscal abilities on a yearly basis, with an emphasis on digital images.
B. Pre-existing analog image collections — The Centre Visual Resources Library will identify images in its collection specifically needed for digitizing and make a reasonable effort to identify rights holders and seek permission for use.
C. Gifts — Gifts and donations are considered legitimate forms of acquisition, even though they may be subject to restrictions or requirements by the donors.
D. Images created in-house — Images created by copy stand photography and scanning from published materials for inclusion in the permanent archive are subject to the following considerations:
     • Images of suitable quality are not readily available at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time
     • Images will not be shared between or among other educational institutions
     • Images will be used for instruction or scholarship and for purposes that are both nonprofit and educational

II. Attribution

To the extent to which the information is available, all images in the Visual Resources Library will be identified with information regarding the source of the image, title, creator, date of creation, date of acquisition, any vendor identifying number or code.

III. Display

A. Access — The Centre Visual Resources Library digital image database is restricted to the campus community. Only persons with a valid username and password will be able to access the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID).
B. Guidelines of Use of the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID)
     • Faculty and staff may use MDID to create and present lectures for classes, seminars, or conference presentations.
     • Faculty, staff, and students may download images from MDID for use in other applications to create and present lectures for classes, seminars, or conference presentations.
     • Students may download images from MDID for use in class papers.
     • These images MAY NOT be downloaded for use on websites or other projects outside of the network of the college.
     • These images MAY NOT be published in any paper without obtaining proper permissions from the copyright holder.
 

Always credit the source of your images downloaded from the internet, including MDID.

Under Fair Use Guidelines, professors…

…may display images for face-to-face teaching, research & scholarly activities at a non-profit educational institution.
…may compile images for display for review over a secure network such as MDID for students enrolled in the course.
…may NOT publish these images in digital or analog publications without proper copyright clearance. When permission cannot be found, consult the Four Factors of Fair Use (see U.S. Government Copyright Guideline below.)

Under Fair Use Guidelines, students…

…may use images in course assignments such as a term papers, theses, or posters.
…may publicly display images incorporated in academic work in association with courses in which they are enrolled.
…may retain work in personal portfolios for use in graduate school or employment applications.
…may NOT publish images in any work in analog or digital form that do not have proper copyright clearance. When in doubt, consult the Four Factors of Fair Use.

Informative Copyright Links

• Fair Use outlined by the U.S. Government
• Fair Use outlined by the University of Texas
• Copyright and Fair Use explained by University of Maryland University College