In this paper I wish to discuss Internet copyright law, with particular attention to what is and is not allowed in the downloading of information. While the use of a computer's special features should be welcomed, not everything that a computer is capable of is permissible. Those of us involved in data compilation and editing must stay alert to this. Rather than debate on what is and is not allowed. I would like to propose that we should be leaning toward an emphasis on data compilation and construction in our work. Especially now, when information is piling up and the demand for data is rapidly increasing, what we need to do is not to look back on what has been done with computers, but instead to look forward to what computers are now capable of: for recording, registering, manufacturing, compiling, constructing, sending, and searching, and apply these capabilities to our work in a meaningful way. Ultimately, it is according to the nature of such aims that our work will be evaluated.

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Last mummer, I surveyed art documentation activities of two major museums in Korea, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea and the National Museum of Korea. In the art library of the former Museum, librarians worked actively with pride of a professional. On the other hand, the database manager of the latter Museum developed the national data standard for cultural properties and was actively imputing their data.
Japanese art documentation activities are poor compared with these Korean activities. Japanese museums of art (and of cultural properties) have few professional art librarians and we have no national data standard for cultural properties. The Japan Art Documentation Society should do something to change such a situation.

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A translation from Mr. van der Starre's lecture at the JADS 13th Lecture Meeting held at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo on March 24th, 1999.

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Original text from a paper presented at the JADS 13th Lecture Meeting held at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo on March 24th, 1999.

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Media literacy refers to people's management of all types of media, from television, newspaper, radio, and magazines to comics, music, movies, videos, and TV games, and their ability to make sense of the information sent out by the media. What method, then, should be employed to help individuals understand and improve their media literacy? One method is the making of videos by those who had until now been passive recipients of information. That is because, in fact, the production of video material itself is an act of creation, and through their active participation in this video production people can learn from each other in what might be called their "video community", forming closer bonds to their surrounding society. In this paper I will consdider a simple case study and explore the direction media should be taking.

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Report from the JADS 30th Meeting held at Seian University of Art and Design on June 5th, 1999. The Panelists are KATO Tetsuhiro, TSUKAHARA Akira, NISHIYAMA Kenji, FUKUDA Hiroatsu and MORITA Sui. Coordinated by CHIHAYA Toshio.

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A theme which the coordinator proposed to discuss is "authorization" of site. It means how the site itself can get "authority" or academic credibility. There are many anonymous sites on networking. While users must evaluate credibility of sites by themselves, web-mastes must "send" credibility by themselves.

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Just as in Europe and the US, art-related sites in Japan have also developed at a rapid pace over the past five years. In this report I will group these sites into the following five categories according to their present state: I) country of origin and language of the sites 2) genre, region, and time period of the works portrayed 3) operating body and source of the sites 4) functional mode of art works portrayed and 5) resource content of the sites. I will then analyze these sites and consider various problems which have surfaced during their development. Of particular importance are the problems and questions which various sites run by public institutions such as universities, research centers, museums, and the like have encountered concerning monopolization and begrudging of information, unilateral provision of data, the handling of competition with commercial sites, and so on. In order to overcome these problems and formulate an ideal future image of art-related sites, the most desirable aim at this point is the development of a "philosophy" surrounding public possession of information, not only for publicly managed sites, but for commercial sites as well.

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As museums establish their own web sites, special importance is being given to providing the latest information, opening to the public detailed information about works in their collections, and the bilateral exchange of opinions with the users. However, there is a strong impression that the opening of the collection data base to the public is proceeding at a snail's pace. That is because an adequate consensus has not been reached at museums in Japan concerning the significance of information exchange. Also, many museums take a negative approach toward interacting with the general user, and are not making use of the two-way information exchange which is a distinctive characteristic of web sites. Even so, some museums have, in fact, set up outstanding web sites. While the content of these sites is, of course, very important, even moreso is the fact that if there is wider diffusion of the knowhow needed to establish and operate web sites, that know-how will undoubtedly pave the way for an overall improvement in all of Japan's museum web sites. In order to thwart criticism that "museum web sites are a waste of the taxpayers' money" there is a need for a stimulating exchange of opinion on this topic.

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While decisions concerning information sharing have been reached, unfortunately there are still a number of problems which must be considered regarding the present state of Japanese home pages in general before they can be put into operation. These include flunkeyism regarding the use of network and digital data, a lack of originality, and limited awareness of the obligation to respect legal rights. What is needed is a more widespread understanding of copyright laws, as well as guidance in the field of intellectual training in Internet literacy. While questioning the management of art-related sites, including, of course, my own, I also recognize their immense significance as a source of educational materials of art culture. In fact, the making of such web-sites has resulted in a place where a synthesis can be realized in various fields of art education (I cut some words here) and intellectual training. Images are indispensable to these art sites, but image management is extremely difficult. Through skillful fusing of graphic information, digital information can be stored and used effectively. Generally speaking, the conceptualization of virtual art museums on authorized links and the like will aid future research, while new research into and appreciation of the "scientification" of art will result in an in-depth study of the very nature of art itself. The meaning of art-related sites can be found in a new form of research enriched by electronic information, digital information and in the potential for the formation of a world of electronic information for art.

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I have been acting as a navigator for the arts, carrying out experiments in the supplying of information and internet multimedia broadcasting, as well as the distribution of papers related to the history of Japanese art and library information studies over the internet. This action is rooted in my desire to use the internet to propel "the development of culture by means of the sharing of information which is regarded as public property on a worldwide scale." While the data on a network is easy to duplicate and process, I would like to demonstrate the possibilities of a variety of artistic expressions on the internet by providing art information for the benefit of the general public, while always respecting the rights of the author.

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Networking of the art world that has brought about the break up of circles into units of small galleries was at first heading toward an equation of internet = decentralization of management. However, the internet has instead brought about an intensification of the closed nature. In the case of decentralization of management, while there has been decentralization on the global scale, locally it can be said that each circle has become more closed. The reason that the art world finally accepted digital networking in the late 1990's was not for its newness, as people were led to believe, but rather because the media had become flexible enough to be capable of preserving existing interests and rights. In this paper I will compare and analyze centralized and decentralized management.

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