Preserving Paper event, Albany, NY, 22 July

Sorry for the short notice, but if you're going to be in Albany, New York early tomorrow evening and are interested in learning about the basics of caring for paper-based documents, photographic prints, maps, and other materials, you might want to make your way to the main branch of the Albany Public Library at 6:00 PM. Michelle Phillips, a conservator of paper and photographic materials with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), will explain how you can ensure that your paper-based treasures will withstand the ravages of time. All of OPRHP's conservators are first-rate, and this event should be great

(A big tip o' the hat to Daniel Van Riper, who let me know about this event and supplied the image above.)

Time capsules, preservation concerns, and honorary archivists

Creswell, Oregon, is a town of about 4,500 people located in western Oregon. In honor of the town's 100th anniversary and the state's 150th anniversary, an ad hoc committee of residents is putting together a time capsule that will be opened in 2059. The city government is allocating $1,000 to the project, but the committee is seeking additional contributions and will honor donors by inscribing their names upon a plaque:

Those who contribute $250 or more will be designated as "archivists," between $100 and $249 as "historians" and $50 to $99 as "timekeepers." Of course, smaller amounts are welcomed as well.

It's really gratifying that "archivist" is the greatest honorific that the committee will bestow: all too often, archivists are seen as the handmaidens of academic historians, not as professionals who possess unique theoretical and applied knowledge and who serve a broad array of users. Maybe our efforts to raise our profession's public profile are starting to pay off . . . .

It's also really heartening that the ad hoc committee is keenly aware of the preservation challenges inherent in this project:

Time capsule project committee members Carol Hooker, Jean McKittrick, Shelley Humble and Helen Hollyer have researched suitable containers that will survive 50 years, as well as the types of material that will withstand deterioration and still be accessible to our descendents after half a century has elapsed.

While it would be easy to place hundreds of documents and photographs on CDs or DVDs, technological change is progressing so rapidly that it is highly unlikely that a method of accessing data preserved by today's high-tech methods would exist in 2059.

Similarly, even when sealed in a container designed specifically for long-term preservation of its contents, many organic materials, including newsprint, decompose rapidly, and are not suitable for long-term preservation.

Archivists, librarians, and curators have consistently emphasized that simply placing electronic files on CD or DVD isn't sufficient to ensure their preservation and that some paper-based materials won't likely stand the test of time, and it's great to see that this message is slowly moving beyond the cultural heritage community and into the wider world. The Creswellians of 2059 -- and their contemporaries throughout the world -- will be glad it did.

Your photos, finally off the shelf . . .

. . . and onto portable media. A couple of days ago, a David Pogue piece in the New York Times focused on ScanMyPhotos.com, which will, for $50.00, digitize 1,000 of your home photos and place them on DVD.

ScanMyPhotos.com isn't the only company providing such services, which might be useful to people who want to produce digital copies of their photos but don't want to take the time to scan thousands of images at home. However, Pogue doesn't discuss the file format and dpi/ppi that ScanMyPhotos uses or the file naming conventions that it employs. According to its Photo Scanning FAQs, bulk scanning customers can receive their images in only one format and resolution (300 dpi JPEG only, at least for bulk scanning customers) and those who want their photos scanned in a specific order, vertical/horizontal orientation preserved, etc. , will have to pay extra. Detailed information about file naming conventions isn't available, but it's pretty evident from the FAQ's that the first image on each DVD is no. 1, the second is no. 2, and so on. Anyone sifting through 1,000 arbitrarily numbered files in search of that wonderful picture of Great Aunt Oona at the 1972 family reunion will have some work to do . . . .

Moreover, although he notes in passing that one advantage of digital photos is that they are "easily backed up," Pogue doesn't explain that the long-term survival of these images will require periodic intervention. Pogue's a sharp guy, and his readership is most likely more technologically savvy than the public as a whole. However, even people who understand, in a general way, that DVDs will eventually become obsolete, that storing backup media right next to the computer isn't a good idea, and that electronic storage media have wildly unpredictable lifespans sometimes fail to plan for the preservation of their data. A paragraph or two about the importance of creating multiple backups, storing backups well away from the computer (in a safe deposit box, at the home of a trusted relative or friend, or at the office), copying files from old media to new in accordance with a predetermined schedule or when replacing one's computer, and remaining abreast of changes in storage technology would have been extremely helpful.

Pogue's absolutely right that digital copies provide an added layer of protection for photos. The parents of a close friend of mine have spent the past few weeks cleaning up after a major house fire, and their family photos were either badly water-damaged or became what Pogue vividly calls "Toxic Photo Soup." They're heartbroken, and I'm sure that they would love to have digital copies of those images--even if said copies were in no discernable order, needed extensive descriptive/indexing work to be truly useful and accessible, and couldn't be used to produce good-quality enlargements. They would also doubtless appreciate some of the extra services (e.g., ability to create albums) that ScanMyPhotos.com and other vendors offer.

Pogue's piece concludes with a brief but very welcome discussion of preservation of photographic prints, and I'm glad that he recognizes the value of keeping the paper originals. I just wish that he had devoted a little attention to the preservation of digital files as well.