The AMICO
Library, an online resource of art images and related
multimedia gathered from AMICO member museums, provides
educational institutions with images and related information
to support learning in art history, the humanities, studio art
and design, and other subjects. "The AMICO Library fits
naturally into Wilson's existing assortment of art and
biography reference materials, and its visual quality,
impressive array of content, and member sources provide a
resource that should appeal to a great deal of our existing
users," stated Deborah Loeding, H.W. Wilson Vice
President, Sales & Marketing. H.W. Wilson currently
publishes such art reference databases as Art Full Text,
Art Index, and Art Index Retrospective, and biography
databases such as Biography Reference Bank, Wilson Biographies
Plus - Illustrated and Current Biography.
 Art from 3,000 B.C. to late twentieth
century
Documentation and images of a range
of art, such as paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs,
illustrations, arms and armour, costumes and jewellery,
decorative arts, textiles, and other works comprise The AMICO
Library. Works in The AMICO Library span the length of
artistic creation, from 3,000 B.C. to the late 20th century,
and represent a broad cross-section of cultures from Asia,
Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
Each work in The AMICO Library
features at least one high-resolution digital image, and a
full description. More than simply an image database, The
AMICO Library also includes curatorial text, provenance
information, detail or multiple views of the work, and other
related multimedia (such as sound and video), for many
entries.
All works in The
AMICO Library are rights-cleared for educational use. An
agreement with Artists Rights
Society
facilitates the inclusion of works created by
ARS-represented artists - major figures from the 20 th century
like Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, and Rothko. This makes the
modern and contemporary content in The AMICO Library an
unparalleled resource.
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AMICO to be integrated with other
Wilson resources
"Our goal is to integrate art and
cultural resources into as many online environments as
possible. The relationship between AMICO and H.W. Wilson
enables us to connect to an entirely new user community.
Broadening our reach and scope drives AMICO Members'
enthusiasm and participation," comments Jennifer Trant,
Executive Director of AMICO. Ms. Trant adds, "Wilson's plans
to integrate The AMICO Library with other Wilson resources
will help us meet our mission of enabling educational use of
museum multimedia, across the curriculum."
The initial delivery of The AMICO
Library will be as an additional database in Wilson's
WilsonWeb offerings. Greater integration of The AMICO Library
with other Wilson research databases through hyperlinks to
related content or appropriate bibliographic citations is in
development.
The Art Museum Image Consortium
(AMICO) is an independent non-profit corporation. Founded in
1997 with 23 Members, the Consortium today is made up of over
30 major museums in the United States, Canada, and the United
Kingdom. It's an innovative collaboration - not seen before in
museums - that shares, shapes, and standardises digital
information regarding museum collections and enables its
educational use. Membership is open to any institution with a
collection of art.
AMICO Members
make annual contributions of multimedia documentation of works
in their museums' collections. This data is compiled by AMICO
and made available as The AMICO Library to universities,
colleges, schools, and public libraries via distributors.
Potential subscribers may preview a Thumbnail Catalogue of The
AMICO Library
.
AMICO members include the J. Paul
Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery
of Canada, and the Smithsonian American Art
Museum.
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