Call for Open Access to Digital Images

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), a co-initiator
of the OpenAccess movement, has drawn up a set of best-practice
recommendations concerning thescholarly use of visual media. The
recommendations aimed at facilitating the scholarly useand publication of
historical digital images were drafted following consultations withscholars
and representatives of leading museums, libraries, image archives and
publishers.The aim of the document is to create a network of mutual trust
and cooperation betweenscholars and curators of cultural heritage
collections with a view to facilitating access toand the scholarly use of
visual media. The recommendations can be downloaded from theMIPWG website
which currently features a detailed report on the initiative.

The recommendations were prompted by the barriers encountered by those who
wish touse and publish images of cultural heritage objects. High licence
fees and complicatedaccess regulations make it increasingly difficult for
scholars in the humanities to work withdigital images. It is true that the
digitization of image collections has acted as a catalyst forscholarly
research. However, archives, collections and libraries differ greatly with
respectto the question of how, where and on what basis images may be used
for scholarlypurposes. Moreover, their policies in this regard are becoming
increasingly restrictive,especially when it comes to new forms of
e-publishing.

The MPIWG drew up its recommendations for facilitating the scholarly use of
digital imagesfollowing consultations with international experts which took
place in January 2008. Therecommendations call on curators and scholars to
develop a mutually binding network oftrust. The aim of the initiative is to
encourage stakeholders jointly to address the currentand future challenges
raised by the digital age. The document urges curators to refrainfrom
restricting the public domain arbitrarily and calls on them to accommodate
the needsof scholars for reasonably-priced or freely-accessible
high-resolution digital images - bothfor print publications and new
Web-based forms of scholarly publishing. It exhorts scholarsto recognise
museums, libraries and collections as owners and custodians of
physicalobjects of cultural heritage and to acknowledge their efforts in
making digital imagesavailable. Moreover, it urges them to take their role
as guarantors of authenticity andaccurate attribution extremely seriously.

Website:
http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/en/news/features/feature4/