Ask the Archivists – Free podcast available
October 18, 2007
OK, it’s not available via iTunes — which I suspect means it’s not technically a “podcast” — but the MP3 recording of my recent radio show with Photo Archivist David Benjamin is yours to download.
Topics Covered.
For my archivist readers, I’ll explain it in archival speak: We covered processing plans, appraisal, weeding, artifactual vs. informational value, digital migration and storage environment.
For everyone else, here’s what we covered in regular English:
1. How to get started with a large photo project.
2. How to decide what to keep.
3. What to do with the stuff you don’t want to keep.
4. Whether you should save original newspaper or copy it onto acid-free paper.
5. How to ensure that your digital photos will last as long as possible.
6. The best place to store your photographs.
Plus questions from callers: What to do with slides, and what on earth is going on when the colors of your digital prints don’ t match what you see on your screen.
How to listen to and/or download our 60 minute show.
Visit this web site: http://lists.wort-fm.org/parchive
Scroll down a bit till you find the Access Hour dated Monday, October 15, 2007.
In the right hand column you will see two choices: Play and Download.
Choose your poison, as they say. If you don’t want to keep a copy or add it to your iPod, you can simply listen to it online and move on. If you’d like to keep a copy (hi, Mom!) right click on ‘download’ and choose ’save target as’.
FYI, the recording will only remain online until about December 10, 2007.
Rights: You are welcome to keep a copy for yourself and pass it along as long as you don’t sell it.
.
Ask the Archivist: Another Radio Call-In Show!
October 12, 2007
Great news! The Practical Archivist is celebrating Archives Month by taking over the airwaves once again.
On Monday, October 15th I’ll be co-hosting another radio call-in program on our local community radio station WORT-FM. This time around, photo archivist David Benjamin will join me. David is the Visual Materials archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. He’s also one of my favorite people in the world. We are going to have a LOT of fun on this show, folks.
While part of the content will be determined by your questions, we promise to provide tips on how to organize and downsize your photographs. David and I are both hard-core advocates for the need to purge family photos.
Don’t panic, my genealogy friends! We’re not talking about your oldest and rarest treasures. Nope. We’re talking about the 60,000 vacation slides you still have from 1964. The great-great grandkids aren’t going to want all of them. They just aren’t.
Another topic we’ll be certain to cover is how important migration is if you want to preserve your digital photos. For better or worse, the days of tossing photos in a box, stashing them in the closet and forgetting about ‘em are long gone.
Got a question for the archivists? WORT has a live web stream and a toll-free number, which means you can call us live on the air from anywhere in the U.S. — even if you don’t live in Madison, Wisconsin.
We can answer questions about taking care of photographs, letters, diaries, family bibles, home movies and digital records of any kind. We would LOVE to hear from you!
You can also post a question to the comments section here on the Practical Archivist blog. David and I will bring those questions with us and will answer them if the phones aren’t ringing off the hook. (Something we both fear and dread.) Questions that don’t get answered on the air will go into the queue for our new Ask the Archivist feature. How’s that for win-win?
Is there any special reason why this show is airing in October? Yep, there is. David and I thought it would be a wonderful way to celebrate Archives Month in Wisconsin. We love teaching folks how to protect their one-of-a-kind family archives from the ravages of time.
Organizing and Preserving Your Family Treasures
Radio Call-In Show
WORT 89.9 FM :: Madison, WI
Monday, October 15th, 2007
7:00-8:00pm Central Time
Toll Free Number: (866) 899-9678
Listen to WORT’s Live Web Stream here:
http://wort-fm.org/listen.php
Not sure what time we’ll be on the air where you live?
Time Zone Converter (Choose “America/Chicago”)
Wait! I can’t listen live on Monday night. Will a recording be available? WORT will record the show. It will be available for free on WORT’s website for a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted on how to get a copy.
Some of you may remember that I also hosted a similar call-in show earlier this year with my buddy Lisa sitting in as my Ed McMahon. I have a recording of that show which I will attempt to upload to my Jacobs Archival website. I’ll post a note here when it’s available.
.
Ask the Archivist: Digitally copying a family history binder
October 12, 2007
NEW FEATURE! ASK THE ARCHIVIST. Real questions from family archivists, just like you. Look for this feature on a regular basis. Would you like to see your question here? Email me.
OUR FIRST “ASK THE ARCHIVIST” QUERY
Hi Sally,
I happened to find your interesting blog by just poking around on the Internet. My question doesn’t fit neatly into one of the broader topics.
Within the past week I came into possession of a family history binder that was created in the late 1980s. The family member who created it died in 1996. The binder is composed of several hundred 8 1/2″ x 11″ pages that are typewritten text only, as well as pages that have typewritten text next to photographs that were pasted with a glue stick.
Since I need to return this binder to the family member who loaned it to me, I wanted to digitize it and then create a hard copy for myself.
What I have done so far is digitize the text-only pages by scanning them at 150 or 300 dpi as JPGs (depending on the degree of non-typewritten text that is detailed), but I’m unsure how to proceed with the mixed text / photo pages. I could scan these pages as TIFFs, but the file sizes would be very large. Or, I could just scan as a black & white document as I have the text-only pages, and then scan the pictures separately, then cut and paste them in – but that would be for dozens of pages.
So, what I’m looking for is the quickest, easiest and best way to scan these mixed text / photo pages an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet at a time. Any thoughts on how to best proceed that would let me keep the binder and pages intact? If you could point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for any help you could provide.
Robert M.
Knoxville, TN
MY PROPOSED SOLUTION
Robert,
As with all digitization projects, you’ll have to choose at the outset between “quickest/easiest” and “best quality.”
Best means high resolution TIFF files with a resolution of 300 dpi @ 100%. That will mean more storage space than if you saved your scans as JPEGs, but with the price of external hard drives so low — this certainly isn’t the financial hardship it was just a few years ago.
Your plan to make your own hard copy of the binder is an excellent one. Consider this copy to be your long term preservation plan for the family history binder. There is safety in numbers, of course, so be sure to add the data to your other family history databases and filing systems.
Here’s the hybrid approach I recommend for your digitization project:
- Scan each of the 8.5 x 11 sheets and save them as PDF files.
- Print all of these out on a regular laser printer.
- Store your new sheets in a binder that is not made out of vinyl. If you like to use sheet protectors, be sure they are made of an inert plastic like polypropylene. Avoid cheap office supply sheet protectors.
- Create a separate scan of any photograph you want to keep long term and/or reproduce as a photo.
- Create a high quality print of each photo by uploading the digital to the commercial printer of your choice. I like Shutterfly because they offer the option of printing a caption on the back of each print at no extra charge.
Why they don’t emphasize this feature is beyond me…
- Use photo corners to attach each photo to its the corresponding sheet in the correct spot. You will be covering up the laser printer version of the same photo.
And, yes — I do recommend color scans for black and white photographs. Vintage prints are rarely black and white. There are gradations of color including some warm brown tones that you don’t want to lose.
Sincerely,
Sally J.
The Practical Archivist
Question for Practical Archivist Readers: Have you tackled a project like this? Do you have an alternate solution? Let us know by using the comments section. Anonymous comments are allowed. Spam, as always, is not.
Do you have a question about how to take care of your family treasures? Email me.
.
Optical scanning of discs for digitization
October 3, 2007
I worry a lot about the fate of old sound recordings.
Although recorded sound has only been around for a little over 100 years, our archives, basements and attics are bursting with a legacy of multiple obsolete formats. To add insult to injury, each time you play an original recording you destroy some of the quality.
Digitization can help, but there’s lots of requirements for digitization.
Here’s a brief list of what you need:
- A skilled and experienced audio engineer.
- Correct playback equipment — including all parts — in working order.
- Digitization equipment.
- Secure digital storage.
- Cataloging and metadata so you can find the digital files again.
- A big honkin‘ grant to pay for all the equipment and staff time.
Of course, there’s always the danger that playing an old recording may destroy it.
My friend Angela clued me into an amazing new process that mitigates some of the problems with digitization of audio. There’s a Library of Congress project called IRENE that makes it possible to copy old disc recordings without touching them. It’s a kind of remote sensing, like scanning an LP.
They can even scan a disc that has broken into pieces. They just place the pieces together like a puzzle and scan it. Software erases the anomalies. Suh-weet.
Hear an NPR story with before and after samples when you click this link. Scroll down to the bottom to see other NPR stories about sound recordings. Great stuff here!
Related stories:
Good Night, IRENE: Technology of Dreams
IRENE page at Library of Congress
Historic wax cylinder project at UCSB
.
Digital preservation hits the small screen
October 1, 2007
I love it when the challenges of digital preservation hit the main stream press. It shocks me how few people understand how fragile digital files are. Which reminds me, before we get to the TV clip, I want to thank the New York Times for tearing down their pay wall. Now I can post links that won’t expire, which is nice.
So anyways, there’s an ABC News program called “Ahead of the Curve.” Below is a link to an interview with Martha Anderson, acting director of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress.
Click here to watch the video. A short commercial promo will run first, sorry ’bout that.
[Link via ResourceShelf]