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
-----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.
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