Along with the ongoing discussion of the logistics of transferring images to databases (an issue that is striking hard at all colleges and universities in the US and the world), I also wonder about the persistence of the slide as a necessity. Should they be kept? Should they be whittled down to a smaller, more imperative collection? Will they, and should they, ever be completely discarded?
I must admit to being somewhat old fashioned in respect to this, firmly believing that we should, for the foreseeable future, have at least a small, essential collection of slides on hand. While the availability of the digital image grows, it is still currently on shaky footing. The issue of copyright notwithstanding, there are the issues of collecting images, quality control of images, and consistent upgrading that must be done. While we are certainly witnessing the end of slide use as many of us knew it, I'm not sure that the time has come to completely abandon the slide as a backup to technology!
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The role of slides is clear - they will over the course of the next generation take their place in the dustbin alongside the VHS tape and the audio cassette. Slides have served us well, and will need to be maintained as part of a transition to new media, but they are not part of the way forward. I agree that the digital path is cluttered and lacks focus, but I am confident that as new tools are placed in the hands of increasing numbers of faculty it will lead to developments and possibilties that stretch the limits of our vision.
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