MIRL (Material / Image Research Lab)

The Red Dot

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 

  • Former MMA director Thomas Hoving has died

    Thomas Hoving, the former director (1967-77) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has died.   He transformed the museum by, among other things, introducing the “blockbuster” show.   The King Tut exhibit was the first of such shows, now a staple in museum exhibition calendars.  Mr. Hoving was only 35 when he took over as the director… Read more

  • UCSB’s ARTstor contribution of African field slides

    We’re getting closer to realizing our first big contribution to ARTstor – “Herbert Cole: African Art, Architecture, and Culture (University of California, Santa Barbara)”.   Visual Resources Collection staff have worked with ARTstor to contribute 1,026 images from “Skip” Cole’s field research in the 1960s and 70s in Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.  … Read more

  • Santa Barbara image content in MDID

    We now have over 500 images relating to Santa Barbara in our VRC image database (MDID), and continue to add more images regularly.  These include historic and contemporary images of architecture, historic sites, murals,  UCSB buildings,  and architectural plans and drawings. To search, select “Records with Images” under Search Options, and in the Title Field… Read more

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  • OIV now compatible with Mac Snow Leopard

    ARTstor announced they have fixed the OIV compatibility issue with Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard). For more information and download instructions, click here. Note: ARTstor recommends deleting any previous installation of OIV you have on your computer first (to do this, simply drag the existing OIV icon from your Applications folder to the trash, then… Read more

  • Richard Ross Photography Collection Part II now in MDID

    The second phase of Richard Ross’ photography is now available through the VRC image database, MDID.  This includes material from his books/projects “Man Up”, “Waiting for the End of the World” and “Suitable Placement: Juvenile Justice in America”.   This brings the total to 481 images.  You can read more about Richard and his work at… Read more

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  • New: IRC Digital Order Form

    Have you ever worked from home (or even abroad) and found a great source from which you would like images scanned? Well, we have good news: The IRC now has a Digital Order Form! This form, a digital version of our paper form, can be downloaded, filled in, and saved from any computer equipped with… Read more