Subject: Re: Photo storage of scans From: Brian Bigler <usemeum@mhtc.net> Message-ID: <141dd570-a75d-d072-0b4b-1c51a93f21ef@mhtc.net> Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 09:09:02 -0500
Thanks much Sara for your detailed process.
I am glad to see that you also have hard copy prints made. Seeing how
detailed you are I am guessing that you have subjects covered in your
search terms as well. Examples: Domestic, say for example if a group
of women are sewing or cleaning, Death - a funeral or funeral floral
arrangement or horse-drawn hearse, Weddings, Transportation - train,
buggy, car, or the objects in the photos - sewing machine, clothing,
hair styles, hats and so on.
Again, thank you for sharing - Brian
On 5/22/2020 8:27 AM, SARA STEELE wrote:
>
> Hi Brian
>
> I’ll take a crack at the scan inventory. I believe that photos and
> other visuals and the local information that goes with them are the
> most important things a community Historical Society can preserve.
>
> I suggest you start as follows.
>
> 1.Replace the scan image numbers with a chronological photo numbers
> (or other means of individual scan identification.)
>
> 2. Develop a one line description of the content of the scan starting
> with the scan number.
>
> 3. Put the numbered phrases in to a list ordered according to the
> image numbers.
>
> I recommend using a spread sheet because the list can be copied
> easily, coded according to purpose such as subject, time period, or
> geographic area and easily sorted into sub lists.
>
> I suggest that your group identify some subjects that should have
> highest priority (example, businesses, or houses, or notables, or
> community activities, or families).The wider the net the more work
> keeping an inventory up to date. Photos intrigue me so I add scans of
> everything from turtles to what I can find on our former governor who
> served in the 1870s.
>
> How much further you go in setting up an inventory depends on factors
> such as:
>
> a.*The number of scans in your collection*.This is affected by what
> time periods you want to include and how many members take or
> diligently search out photos to be scanned. ExampleIf your HS’s focus
> is primarily in the 1800s where there are few photos available, a
> simple listing may do. If you are collecting current photos from local
> Facebook pages you may quickly acquire hundreds of scans and need a
> more complex system. Because I believe all local history, from today
> back to the glacier, needs to be covered, our image collection has now
> passed 14,000 scans.
>
> b.*How frequently the list will be used and for what purposes*.I post
> photos from our image collection on our CGAHS Facebook page daily,
> have written about 40 specific topic reports using as many photos as
> we can find, and am currently pulling together, in Power Point, series
> of scans which tell visual stories about buildings, events, or people.
> We often have used photos as backgrounds in exhibits. So I have a
> complicated process which results in lists by subjects and one of
> alphabetized names of people who appear in the photos. (I’m retired
> and have time.)
>
> c.*How important your photo/image collection is in the overall
> priorities of your HS or whether you have a member or members who
> really want to build an imagecollection for your community.*If it is
> highly important and you have goals in terms of completing
> sub-collections (examples, photos of people who have served in a
> government, church, or school positions over the years, or your
> community’s involvement in WW II) then you will want a way to create
> sub lists out of your main chronological list so you can keep track of
> what or who you are still looking for. On the other hand, if you think
> of the scans as objects like a dish or tool only to be preserved if
> photos are given to you, then using key words in the one sentence
> phrases and a “Find” command on the chronological list may do.
>
> d.*Whether you can find people who enjoy doing the work involved in
> taking or finding and scanning photos and keeping a complex inventory
> up to date. *Some of our members have done some neat focused photo
> projects which we have scanned and added to the master list.
>
> *In terms of keeping “hard copies”, t*he folks who started our photo
> collection chose to have each photo enlarged to uniform size and a
> copy made on card stock. Uniform sizes are easier to store than the
> variation one finds in real photographs. The main reason is that
> information about what is in the photo was put on the back of the
> cardboard copy.The card stock copies were kept in plastic sleeves in
> binders and were available in our History Room and at community
> exhibits for people to look through.I have continued to have the scans
> reproduced on card stock. I type quite a bit of information about the
> who, what, and why of the photo content and its context, as well as
> source and date received, on a full page label, cut off the individual
> items and stick the labels on the back of the card stock copies. Then
> scan both the back and front so the photo and info are kept together.
> The scan of the back has an A added to the image number so one can
> quickly see which is which.
>
> Brian, I started a response describing the whole system I use and I
> will share that if anyone wants to see it or wants to discuss the role
> and importance of photos as records of history-- just contact me by email.
>
> Sara smsteele@wisc.edu <mailto:smsteele@wisc.edu> Cottage Grove Area
> Historical Society
>
> On 5/20/2020 6:07 PM, Brian Bigler wrote:
>> I have noted the discussion of photo copyrights and related on
>> listserve.
>>
>> My questions to organizations out there is this: How do you store
>> these images? If they are scans and stored on a computer how do you
>> plan to retrieve them in the future with the rapid change in
>> technology? Already items stored on CDs are a problem and many CDs
>> - even archival ones- are short lived. Other computer devices would
>> prove to be problematic as well - even off site storage may soon be
>> antiquated for future use.
>>
>> A firm believer in hard copy storage to prevent constant updating of
>> equipment I am wondering how many organizations print out quality
>> prints for customer and archival use? If so, how do you store them
>> or impute them on a database?
>>
>> Thank you in advance for your answers.
>>
>> Brian J. Bigler
>>
>> Volunteer Curator - Mount Horeb Area Historical Society
>>