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International Conference on Information

iConference 2021: Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue pp 176–192Cite as

German Art History Students’ Use of Digital Repositories: An Insight

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12646))

Abstract

The paper describes a study on art history students’ research behavior and needs connected to digital resources and repositories. It tries to identify aspects of and approaches to improving and developing these repositories. These students make up a large proportion of the users of digital libraries and their content; their supposedly distinct attitude and skill level concerning technology renders them an important group to observe. Qualitative data derives from three focus groups with 25 students from two German universities. Thematic analysis is based on questions concerning research approaches, curriculum, and the students’ connected desires as avid users of technology in everyday life.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The two-and-a-half year gap between the 1st and 2nd cohort was due to the author’s extended parental leave.

  2. 2.

    AmberScript is a software that automatically transcribes audio into text using speech recognition. See https://www.amberscript.com.

  3. 3.

    MaxQDA is a software program for computer-assisted qualitative data analysis. See https://www.maxqda.com.

  4. 4.

    Any quotes from the focus groups are the author’s direct translations from the German transcript.

  5. 5.

    See Artificial intelligence as a bridge for art and reality, by J. H. Dobrzynski, in The New York Times, October 25, 2016.

  6. 6.

    Exploring art with open access and AI: What’s next? in The Met Museum. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2019/met-microsoft-mit-exploring-art-open-access-ai-whats-next September 9, 2019.

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Acknowledgments

The research upon which this paper is based is part of the activities of the junior research group Urban History 4D, which has received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under grant agreement No 01UG1630.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Media Center, TU Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany

    Cindy Kröber

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  1. Cindy Kröber
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  1. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Katharina Toeppe

  2. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Hui Yan

  3. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Samuel Kai Wah Chu

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Kröber, C. (2021). German Art History Students’ Use of Digital Repositories: An Insight. In: Toeppe, K., Yan, H., Chu, S.K.W. (eds) Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue. iConference 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12646. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71305-8_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71305-8_14

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