Electronic Publishing and Research in Art History

Margo Kabel

Recent advances in computer technologies have the potential to greatly facilitate the study of the arts and humanities. Software available now allows both researchers and the public to access via computer a new kind of publication, that may include not only text, but also images, audio and full motion video. The most popular medium used to distribute these electronic publications is the CD-ROM. This paper discusses how CD-ROM publications arc different from both printed publications and traditional automated databases, using the CD-ROM of the National Portrait Gallery Permanent Collection of Notable Americans as an example.