A few too many? Some considerations on the digitisation of historical photographic archives
Subject
Archives
Description
Baylis counters the idea that there are too many digitized historic photographs for public use by stating that there is too little information contextualizing these photographs. Using the Larcom Albums of 19th century Irish prison photographs housed in the New York Public Library’s photographic archive, Baylis reconstructs the original context of the photographs from each album, pointing out the differences in content, photographic style, technique, and description. She also recounts the history of the collection and the shift in meaning and context from when original owner, Larcom first organized and classified the prisoner photographs into an album to when albums transferred to a writer and eventually to the New York Public Library. Each album, while featuring prisoners from the same Irish prison within a similar time period, was unique in its categorization of criminal as opposed to political prisoners. However, because this information was recorded in a manuscript located elsewhere, the superficial visual similarities obscured the significant differences between the two albums. Since digitization of these photographs, they continue to be recreated in meaningful contexts far different from their origins. Genealogists interested in Irish ancestry are the predominant users of this collection, assembling individual photographs and records as an “assemblage” devoid of any “temporal anchoring.” Baylis notes that one of the results of digitization is the tendency to rely on photographs for surface meaning and visual reference, rather than recognize them as trace elements of a past, containing their own rich history and layers of meaning.
Creator
Baylis, Gail
Publisher
MIT
Date
2009-04-17
Contributor
Polk, Victoria
Type
Conference Proceeding
Bibliographic Citation
Baylis, Gail. "A few too many? Some considerations on the digitisation of historical photographic archives." Paper presented at the MIT 6 Conference. Boston, MA,April 24-26 2009. http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit6/papers/Baylis.pdf
This website is a brief primer on digital photos will deal with the world of digital photography and digital photos. It will answer some of the basic questions about digital photography such as What exactly is a digital photo, "What is DPI", and "How do I properly archive digital photos.
Watson, Ken W. "All About Digital Photos." Rideau-info. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/index.html>.
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"On May 10, 2010, the Library of Congress held Personal Archiving Day in conjunction with the American Library Association's annual Preservation Week. The Library invited members of the public to visit and learn about how to preserve their personal information in both digital and non-digital form.
Library staff gave talks about how to preserve specific kinds of information. In this video, Phil Michel, Digital Conversion Coordinator at the Library of Congress's Prints & Photographs division, offers practical advice on archiving digital photos."
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Title
Archiving Digital Photos
Subject
Archives
Description
This Youtube video provides education and standards on the functions and uses of preserving photographs through digital means. The Library of Congress offers not only how this can be done, but benefits to having this information under one's belt. The description of the video reads as follows:
"On May 10, 2010, the Library of Congress held Personal Archiving Day in conjunction with the American Library Association's annual Preservation Week. The Library invited members of the public to visit and learn about how to preserve their personal information in both digital and non-digital form.
Library staff gave talks about how to preserve specific kinds of information. In this video, Phil Michel, Digital Conversion Coordinator at the Library of Congress's Prints & Photographs division, offers practical advice on archiving digital photos."
Creator
Library of Congress
Publisher
Library of Congress
Date
2010
Contributor
McLean, Sarah
Rights
Whenever possible, the Library of Congress provides factual information about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and generally does not grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Permission and possible fees may be required from the copyright owner independently of the Library. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Researchers must make their own assessments of rights in light of their intended use.
Becoming digital: the challenges of archiving digital photographs
Subject
Digital humanities
Description
This thesis paper covers the importance of digital recording and it's development. It talks about while scanned images tend to make it to the digital archives, the original digital images don't seem to always make it into an archive. This thesis aims to challenge the issue of not archiving digital photography and rather encourage it.
Creator
Simonson, Karen Rae
Publisher
University Microfilms Inc.
Date
2006
Contributor
McLean, Sarah
Rights
Permission has been granted to the Library of the University of Manitoba to lend or sell copies of this thesis/practicum, to the National Library of Canada to microfilm this thesis and to lend or sell copies of the film, and to University Microfilms Inc. to publish an abstract of this thesis/practicum. This reproduction or copy of its thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner.
Type
Document
Bibliographic Citation
Simonson, Karen Rae. "Becoming digital : the challenges of archiving digital photographs." Thesis. University of Manitoba, 2006. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Becoming Digital: The Challenges of Archiving Digital Photographs
Subject
Archives
Description
Digital photography has recently become one of society's important means of recording. For this reason it has also become a potential archival record of great significance. However, as of yet, few born-digital (defined in opposition to "made digital" or "digitized" photographs, which are created by scanning analogue sources), photographs have been acquired by archives. Furthermore, few seem likely to be acquired in the immediate future. While there has been considerable attention given in archival literature to conventional photography and archives, as well as to textual electronic records and archives, little has been written about digital photography. This thesis addresses this archival challenge and aims to encourage a more active and informed archival response to digital photography
Creator
Rae Simonson, Karen
Publisher
University of Manitoba Press
Date
2006
Contributor
Branch, Justin
Type
Book
Identifier
ISBN: 9780494229019
Bibliographic Citation
Rae Simonson, Karen. Becoming Digital: The Challenges of Archiving Digital Photographs. Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2006. Print.
Between Archive and Participation: Public Memory in a Digital Age
Subject
Collective memory
Description
Haskins examines the effects of the Internet on the memory work of archives and the informal, vernacular style of the broad public. Examples of the vernacular style of memory work include the spontaneous display of mementos at memorials or sites of mourning, and uploading personal stories and photographs to the Internet via social media. Traditionally, archival memory stores and orders material traces of the past without the presence or engagement by the public. However, the Internet continually archives the transmission of media and exponentially, the private opinions, ephemera, and idiosyncratic methods of organization of its contributors. The diversity of public opinion and the sharing of content afford both potentially beneficial and destructive consequences. Participation in memory work by a greater cross-section of society that is unaffected by more conservative, institutional restraints supports the values and beliefs of a democratic society. Conversely, that same diversity fosters insularity, given the widely fragmented content and the commercial profit gained by nurturing individualistic self-expression. Haskins proposes, through her examination of the 9-11 digital archive a balanced approach to centering memory work by cultural heritage institutions with guidelines for public participation and fostering a comprehensive view of history.
Creator
Haskins, Katerina
Publisher
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Date
2007
Contributor
Polk, Victoria
Rights
The Rhetoric Society of America
Type
Journal Article
Bibliographic Citation
Haskins, Katerina. "Between Archive and Participation: Public Memory in a Digital Age." Rhetoric Society Quarterly v. 37, n.4. (2007): 401-422.
Instructional Method
Haskins illuminates one of the most critical challenges facing builders of digital archives: balancing the time-tested standards and methods for storing and providing access to a comprehensive representation of cultural knowledge against the demands for digitization and greater public participation. In this article, she alerts the reader to the potential loss of historical consciousness and a “self-congratulatory amnesia” resulting from the Internet style of unbridled public expression. Archives should facilitate broad perspectives and a sense of the larger body politic. As digital archivists, we provide the contextual information, tools, and interface design that may either enhance or detract from the idea of cultural memory.
Database as Genre: The Epic Transformation of Archives
Subject
Archives
Description
This article juxtaposes the database and the archive, creating the idea of database as its own genre. Folsom, one of the editors of The Whitman Archive, begins discusses how photography for Walt Whitman was a form of database and how the archive is now akin to what Deleuze and Guattari like to a rhizome. Folsom clarifies that an archive will always hold more information than a database but that information in a database is more flexible and moveable. Using information on the creation of The Whitman Archive and decisions made provides an idea of the scope of a large archival digital humanities project. Understanding that you can take documents that could not previously be seen side by side due to physical locale can now be viewed together creates an understanding of the details one must plan for while deciding on the direction of an digital archive project.
Creator
Folsom, Ed
Date
2007-10
Contributor
Elena Rogalle
Type
Journal article
Bibliographic Citation
Folsom, Ed. 2007. "Database as Genre: The Epic Transformation of Archives." PMLA, 2007. 1571. JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost (accessed November 30, 2015).
Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow: A Guide to Staying Ahead of the Workflow Curve
Subject
Digital humanities
Description
Russotti and Anderson give a good basic outline of Digital Asset Management. In contrast, or perhaps complimentary to Peter Krogh's The DAM Book, the authors bridge the gap between novice digital photographers and more advanced practitioners. Most of the book is rooted in practical knowledge in regard to the field of digital photography and its preservation. The book urges a reorientation of visual literacy based on the relationship between digital and photography. Digital influence upon photography is evident in the way it has evolved and changed visual culture. The authors maintain that this evolution is not new and is due to technological advances that replace or modify older, existing ones.
Creator
Russotti, Patricia and Richard Anderson
Publisher
Focal Press
Date
2009
Contributor
Robert Clarke
Type
Book
Identifier
ISBN-13: 978-0240810959
Bibliographic Citation
Russotti, Patti, and Richard Anderson. Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook: A Guide to Staying Ahead of the Workflow Curve. Burlington, MA: Focal, 2010. Print.
The contractor shall copy a collection of original nitrate and acetate film negatives from the collection of the contracting institution; approximately to negatives ranging in size from 35mm frames to 8”x10”. The total number of images to be copied is approximate, based on the contracting institution’s best estimate. Each negative is a valuable and unique archival record of the contracting institution. The negatives shall be duplicated by producing an archival, film positive (i.e., an interpositive) using a continuous tone, black and white, panchromatic film, and by producing duplicate negatives from the interpositives using a continuous tone, black and white film. All interpositives and duplicate negatives shall be housed in enclosures approved by the contracting institution.
Creator
Puglia, Steven
Publisher
National Archives and Records Administration
Date
May 2001
Contributor
Korosec, Pat
Rights
NARA
Type
Document
Bibliographic Citation
Puglia, Steven. "Duplication Specifications Manual." 2001. PDF file.