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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DH Monday: Beautiful Public Data
Beautiful Public Data, is a curated selection of visually interesting datasets collected by local, state and federal government agencies by Jon Keegana. From his About page: I’m an investigative data reporter with a background in visuals. While digging through government agencies’ websites looking for data, I’ve always loved coming across data sets that are collections… Read more
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New Art-Historical Web Resource: The Albrecht Haupt Collection
The digital Albrecht Haupt Collection is now accessible online. Under TIB SAH digital, the partial holdings of individual hand drawings and prints from the special collections of the Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover (TIB) have been made available with open access and text in German or English. Approximately 6,200 works on paper from four centuries on various… Read more
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OCEAN’s Spring/Summer 2023 Discussion Series Line-Up Announced
Join Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) on Zoom for their upcoming Discussion Series. As always, there are no fees to attend but registration is required. They also ask that all participants please respect OCEAN’s Code of Conduct. First Panel: May 5, 2023 @ 12:00 PM EDT/9:00 AM PDT: The Internet Archive Case Update and… Read more
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DH Monday: Mapping Anthony Angel’s Photographs of Manhattan
Photographer Angelo Antonio Rizzuto – or Anthony Angel, as he called himself – captured a variety of people, structures, and places in Manhattan over the eighteen-year period from 1949 through 1967. Collectively, the thousands of images by Angel in the Prints & Photographs Division offer a window into life and the built environment in a… Read more
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FBI launches app to help identify stolen art
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made its Nation Stolen Art File, most commonly used by law enforcement, available on mobile to the public. Private citizens and art institutions alike can now track down stolen art conveniently from their phones. On 10 April, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released an app-based version of the… Read more
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DH Monday: ENRICH Webinar: 3D Replicas and Data Ownership
ENRICH (Equity for Indigenous Research and Innovation Coordinating Hub) Webinar: 3D Replicas and Data Ownership, on April 17, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET / 10:00 am – 11:30 am PT. An increase in the prevalence and popularity of “digital repatriation” requires a critical analysis of Indigenous data governance. The United Nations Declaration on… Read more