I agree that there needs to be a very compelling case for scanning the verso
on photographs. As anyone knows who does scanning, it is incredibly
labor-intensive, especially at 300 dpi. Sometimes I make a note in my
cataloging to indicate something interesting on verso. Otherwise, if someone
has a special interest in the image as an artifact (a large majority do
not), at some point we still pull originals, right?
Peter F. Schmid, CA
Asst. Archivist, Visual Resources
Providence Archives
4800 37th Avenue SW
Seattle, Washington 98126
Archives office: (206) 937-4600
Desk: (206) 923-4012
Fax: (206) 923-4001
Note new e-mail address: [log in to unmask]
http://www.providence.org/phs/archives/default.htm
<http://www.providence.org/phs/archives/default.htm>
-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Paul Schlotthauer
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 9:40 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Digitizing the backs of photographs
I am involved in a grant-funded digitization project and disagree with
several colleagues who believe the backs of photographs should be scanned
because they contain important metadata, such as dates, accession numbers,
and subjects. We all agree this information is important and must be
captured, but, in my opinion, that's the purpose of the metadata fields in
the software we're using. The writing on the backs was done at some point
for administrative and informational purposes, as is often the case in
archival collections, but in itself it has no particular historical
significance, nor was it intended to be part of the images themselves.
Therefore, as long as the information is recorded in the database and is
searchable, I can see no reason for digitizing it. To me, this is a
different case than, say, historical postcards, where you probably would
scan both sides because postcards are intentionally two-sided (if that makes
any sense) and the writing on the back has an intended connection with the
image beyond the functions of metadata.
Those of us who share my view are primarily archivists, whereas my
dissenting colleagues are artists. I suspect they are more concerned with
the entire physical object and believe that we would somehow be violating
its integrity by not digitizing everything. But for me, it's the image that
is the focus here, and recording the metadata in the proper database fields
is sufficient. I can't remember coming across collections of digitized
images that included the backs, and scanning them seems to me a waste of
time, effort, and space. I'd greatly appreciate it if those of you who are
involved with digitization would weigh in with your opinions. Obviously I
have strong views of my own on this, but I want to be fair and make sure
there's not an issue here that I just don't get. Thanks.
Paul
Paul Schlotthauer
Librarian and Archivist
Assistant Professor
Pratt Institute Libraries
200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11205
718-636-3686
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