AHDS Visual Arts launches the Learning Index

Through a series of specially commissioned, richly illustrated learning and teaching materials, the Learning Index adds dimension to the AHDS Visual Arts image catalogue by interpreting the collections from an expert’s point of view. One of the primary barriers to the use of digital collections in higher education is often the lack of time to engage with new resources on offer. The Learning Index offers ready made, bite-sized “chunks” of information that demonstrate the relevance of AHDS Visual Arts image collections to teaching needs, therefore saving valuable time and effort.  

All Learning Index resources are quality-assured having been written by subject specialist lecturers – often based on their own teaching experiences. They employ a traditional walk-through approach to learning with a uniform design and easy to use web interface. This allows the Learning Index materials to be re-usable and more adaptable to a variety of learning environments – an essential element in today’s resource intensive market. What’s more, they are rights cleared and free for use in UK Education.  

Learning Index resources engage students and teachers with AHDS Visual Arts subject matter and work well as a supplement to coursework, as a means of exploring e-learning or simply as an introduction to AHDS Visual Arts collections. Some common features of the materials include:

• artist biographies;
• full catalogue records (LOM catalogued);
• multiple image views with links to larger images;
• glossaries;
• image galleries;
• image stores to build personal image collections;
• links to more information such as core records;
• learning activities, questions and off-line tasks;
• bibliographies.

The Learning Index is a growing resource to which AHDS Visual Arts will be adding material on a regular basis. Those materials currently (or soon to be) on offer include:

• Crafts Study Centre

Six learning and teaching guides reviewing the key subject areas of the Crafts Study Centre’s collection such as calligraphy, textiles and ceramics.

• Designing Britain 1945-1975: the visual experience of post-war society

A series of seven modules exploring the history of British post-war design using the historically important and extensive design archives at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Brighton.

• Thomas Becket's stained glass windows at Canterbury Cathedral

This resource presents a sample of images from the photographic archive of the Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA), an international research project dedicated to the publication of medieval stained glass.

• Tim Mara Artist’s Alphabet

The Artist’s Alphabet consists of 26 individual sections highlighting different areas/topics relating to this eminent print-makers’ practice.

• Britain in the age of the French Revolution

A tutorial in political imagery during the period 1789-1815. The primary content is a collection of political cartoons or satires relating to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The cartoons are arranged thematically and chronologically.  

The Learning Index can be found on the AHDS Visual Arts web site 

 If you like the look and feel of the Learning Index and would be interested in contributing a visual arts resource, please contact AHDS Visual Arts at info@visualarts.ahds.ac.uk or alternatively, ring us on 01252 892950.  

AHDS Visual Arts is part of the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS), which is jointly funded by Jisc and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.