The Victoria and Albert Museum and electronic imagebanks: Image conversion and user reactions

This paper describes the main objectives of the ELISE project and the methods by which a prototype imagebank of 3,000 items was created, with particular emphasis on the processing of images and the reactions of users. Existing colour transparencies and 35mm photographs were converted to PhotoCD before transferring images to magnetic storage. A prototype user interface was written in VisualBasic and the reactions of users in the Victoria and Albert Museum and De Montfort University were obtained through small controlled tests and by questionnaire. Although funded as a feasibility project, the partners are considering the next stages in moving towards a fully operational service.