JISC

Start date: 1 March 2000

End date: 31 July 2002

Funding programme: Learning and Teaching (5/99) programme

Project website: http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/pictiva/

This project is part of the images project cluster in this particular programme. The main focus for projects in this cluster is on the creation and use of still image collections for learning and teaching.

Background

PICTIVA was initiated in part as a response to the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) user survey of 1998 that identified a number of problems affecting use of online resources. These included a lack of knowledge about what was available or the perceived lack of relevance of online resources to academic users as well as a lack of time to engage with new technologies.

The project is a partnership between the VADS based at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College and the Institute for Image Data Research (IIDR) based at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. The tools and systems development will be done with the help of Systems Simulations Ltd (SSL).

Aims and Objectives

PICTIVA aims to promote the use of online image collections in learning and teaching in the visual arts by developing a range of generic tools to support access to the images and targeted materials to support their use. The usability of the VADS image database will be improved by providing ease of access to, and navigation of, the image collections held by VADS.

The specific objectives are to:

• Develop tools that will include tutorials on how to use the site effectively as well as look at how the VADS search and retrieval systems can be improved. It will also feature a trial of contents-based image retrieval which will allow users to search VADS images on visual aspects rather than text descriptors
• Produce learning and teaching materials based on the collections held by VADS, giving contextual information as well as recognising and incorporating good practice in the design of online learning and teaching resources
• Produce case studies which will detail how they have been used in the context of real learning and teaching situations

Project design

PICTIVA is divided into four stages: consultation; development; implementation; and evaluation. A consultancy phase included one-to-one interviews and questionnaires, the results of which will be used to inform the specifications for the development of the tools and materials. SSL and the IIDR will have major input into the development of the tools that will be integrated into the current search and retrieval tools used on the VADS Web site. Academics will be commissioned to develop the content for the learning and teaching materials which will then be edited and formatted by VADS. Finally, case studies will be written as part of an evaluation of the tools and materials.

Outcomes

The development of tools and materials that actively promote the use of delivered collections will offer the opportunity to both consolidate and develop the usability of the VADS interface to the learning and teaching community and to allow VADS to provide resources of significance to them.

The learning and teaching materials will also help to develop the relationship of VADS with its depositor community where such materials will enhance a given collection and therefore add to the benefits of the deposit process.

Within a broader higher education context, there is an opportunity to enhance the quality of the service offered by VADS as a component of the JISC Virtual Image Service and to develop tools and approaches which are directly applicable to other services offering image-rich collections within higher education.

It is hoped that the project will have a dual effect, not only in providing actual learning and teaching materials, but also in providing exemplars which, alongside case studies, will show how digital images can be successfully integrated into learning and teaching programmes.

Project Partners

• Margaret Graham, Research and Development Manager, Institute for Image Data Research, University of Northumbria at Newcastle Ellison Building Newcastle upon Tyne, Tel: 0191 227 4646, Fax: 0191 227 4637   margaret.graham@unn.ac.uk