Best practice would be to watermark only derivative files made for
distribution.  Your archival preservation scan should not be watermarked
since it does cause some degradation of image quality. 


Howard Brainen
Digital Imaging Consultant
TWO CAT DIGITAL INC.
14719 Catalina Street
San Leandro, CA  94577  USA
510-940-2670 x201
www.twocatdigital.com
blog: www.digitalenabler.blogspot.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Robert Ryals
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 6:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Questions Regarding the Use of Digital Watermarking for Collections

Dear Members,

We are digitizing a huge collection of documents and I was wondering what
the thoughts are about the use of digital watermarking.  I know that this
was a hot-button issue a few years ago due as a means of protecting
intellectual property and maintaining institutional authority on the Web.  
Is the practice of using watermarks now considered part of digital archival
procedure or is the jury still out among digital archivists about the
practice?

Thanks,
Robert Ryals
Claude Pepper Library

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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
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