James Madison Digital Image Database- MDID

During the summer and fall of 2002, members of the Academic Technology Center and the Visual Resorces Manager investigated options for providing interested members of the Art & Art History Department with digital images for teaching and study. After making an on-site visit to James Madison University, and after consulting with various academic communities that have used this product successfully, it was decided that the Madison Digital Image Database (MDID) would be the product the University would support to deliver digital images for Art & Art History Department department and its students.

Although MDID was designed for the specific purpose of teaching art history, there is nothing inherent to the database that should limit its use to that discipline alone. MDID has the capability to incorporate images ranging from a faculty owned slide to large, commercially licensed art databases. The opportunity to share these digital image collections among departments and divisions could strongly enhance both the teaching experience and the learning experience at the University of Richmond.

Goals Associated w/MDID
• Have MDID be a viable teaching resource for any interested discipline on campus
• Generate funding for licensed digital images
• Develop a Visual Resource Policy that complies with copyright policy and U of R policies/work to integrate the Visual Resource Policy for art materials with the policies of the Digital Library

MDID – What is it?
The Madison Digital Image Database is an online content delivery system. Instructors use MDID to generate online slide shows that can be used in the classroom, annotated for student review and archived for testing or future use. MDID brings the digital image into the teaching and learning process both inside and outside of the classroom.

New Features in MDID Version 2 (Summer 2004 release):
• Dublin Core Compatible
• Simple data exchange through XML
• Works with enterprise and open source databases
• Multiple collections and custom catalogs
• Cross-collection searching
• Upgrade path for current MDID users
• Distributed under an open source license with full API documentation
• Continue the tradition of a freely shared educational software resource