Named after the small red sticker that once guided scholars through legacy 35mm slides, The Red Dot is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of visual and material research. While rooted in the University of California, Santa Barbara community, our posts are open to all.
At MIRL, we engage with art history, digital humanities, and material culture through hands-on research and archival projects. Guided by our core principles—critical engagement with visual and material culture, ethical stewardship of images and data, and innovative approaches to research and pedagogy—we work at the intersection of technology and the humanities. We are especially interested in how digital tools can expand the study of images, objects, and spaces.
Here, we’ll share insights on Digital Art History and Architectural History, highlight new image and data resources, discuss copyright and ethical considerations, and spotlight events that shape our field.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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The beta SAH Archipedia
The Society of Architectural Historians announced the beta version of its Archipedia site is now available. This digital encyclopedia of American architecture offers only a sample of information, but when it officially launches later in the year, it will be published as two sites: the Archipedia of Classic Buildings (100 of each state’s most representative… Read more
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Now in ARTstor: Major works from Guggenheim’s permanent collection
ARTstor announced an addition of more than 750 images from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s permanent collections in New York, Bilbao, Venice, and Berlin. This is the first installment of a projected 7,000 total images from the Guggenheim Foundation, which will include not only works of art but also 5,000 installation views from the 1990s to… Read more
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Start spreadin’ the news: NYC Municipal Archives Online Gallery
The New York Department of Records has digitized over 872,000 unique photographs, maps, motion picture and audio recordings and has made them available in one digital archive. You can browse by collection and category or perform simple and advanced searches. Visitors are encouraged to return frequently as new content will be added on a regular… Read more
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Recent ruling on copyright, fair use and “e-reserves”
Large academic publishers Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Sage Publications sued Georgia State University in 2008 over what they saw as a blatant over-use of “e-reserves” that deprived them of licensing revenue. The final ruling of that case was published Friday, May 11, 2012 and was decided (mostly) in GSU’s favor. The judge… Read more
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Websites to help with productivity
The Red Dot crew recently went to the Visual Resources Association conference, and came back with lots of great ideas and information. One of the sessions included lightning-fast presentations of websites, apps and free software that help with work efficiency and productivity. Some of these were: Print What You Like: Economizes printing so you don’t… Read more
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New iPad app celebrates Leonardo as anatomist
Who says you can’t take it with you: The Royal Collection revealed a new iPad app that offers zoomable high-resolution images of, and other nifty toys with, all 268 anatomical studies by Leonardo da Vinci in their collection. The app has been launched in conjunction with its current exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (4 May-7… Read more