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Introduction:
It is heartening to see that more people are beginning to make use of the image database on the LE:NOTRE web site (of course this has nothing to do with the associated possibility of funding for travel and subsistence costs for the ECLAS Conference).
Details:
Here are a few simple principles for using the image database:
1. The image should have a clear relationship to landscape architecture.
Sounds obvious, but it is important to stress that we are not looking for ‘general tourist snaps’ of a city, for example, but good quality images of landscape architecture relevant themes – as would be taken, and used, by teachers and students of landscape architecture. These will usually be of parks, squares, gardens, pedestrian streets, student projects, landscape plans, book covers, logos etc. etc.
2. The image should ideally be an illustration of an entry in another database.
If images are to be found again in the database, they need to be associated with another LE:NOTRE database. In many cases they are likely to be illustrations of a project, so the project should be entered in the database first and the images associated with this as a second stage (although this can also be done the other way around).
3. The image should be geo-referenced if possible
Knowing exactly where an image was taken and what it illustrates is important information and makes it far more interesting and useable. The relevant coordinates can easily be added to the image with the help of the simple Google Maps tool which is now integrated in most databases. Please do not forget to do this – but they can always be added at a later stage by using the ‘Edit’ function.
4. Please tag the images with some useful keywords
This will help you and everyone else to find them again more easily. Please also associate them with an image category. A caption and a brief description of what the image shows should ideally also be added. This description should refer to the image (e.g. ‘paving detail in the entrance court’ or ‘view across the main lawn to the south’) and not the project, which should be described in the relevant project database entry.
5. You should (ideally) have ownership of the copyright of the image or it should be a copyright-free image.
We ask you to confirm this when you upload an image. At the moment the whole site is still ‘members only’, but there are plans to make more information publically available, and the issue of copyright will therefore soon become critical.
6. Images should ideally be in a form that they can be used by other colleagues
Part of the idea of the image database is to create a high quality landscape architecture ‘photo library’ which can provide a source of reference and a place where colleagues can find and download good quality images which they can use for academic purposes (e.g. in lectures and presentations). The intention is to make use of the ‘Creative Commons’ licence system which confers certain rights to use images for non-commercial purposes, but still requires the source to be cited. Using the images in other situations will still be subject to obtaining permission from the author of the image.
Following these simple principles will help to make the literature database more useful and relevant for all project members.
Thank you for supporting the LE:NOTRE Project!
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