textile objects can be composed of a variety of materials
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Digital Imaging for the NPS Museum
Collection Web CatalogPMIS 73179
Harpers Ferry Center, Department of Media Assets
Purpose of the Project
Provide digital images for a variety of park uses
Reduce risks to objects Increase public use of the
collections by 10%
Make objects available to the public Digital images provide
information about the objects of our cultural heritage
Rethink methods for public interaction with objects
Support new uses on the internet
Become part of a personal digital agenda
Desired Results
Researched current practices and technologies.
Preservation and Archives Professional: Guidelines for…
Library Preservation at Harvard: Digital Preservation: Guidance…
CDL Guidelines for Digital Images (CDL GDI)
GUIDELINES FOR THE CREATION OF DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
Recommended best practices for digital image capture of musical scores
Digital History/Becoming Digital
Inside CDL:CDL Guidelines for Digital Images
California Digital Library Digital Image Format Standards
Digital Imaging
Joint RLG and NPO Conference: Guidelines for Digital Imaging
Collaborative Digitization Program
RLG Guidelines for Creating a Request for Proposal for Digital…
“NARA Guidelines for Digitizing Archival…
Techniques and standard operating procedures were developed.
Staff needs and task assignments were projected and positions filled
Infrastructure expansion planned and implemented
Camera equipment purchased
Object supports gathered
Color management systems implemented
When in-house testing was complete we were ready to travel
Working successfully in the parks requires the planning and cooperation of many people.
DIP team members
HFC Support staff
Regional curatorial staff
Park curatorial staff
Park administration
Park maintenance staff
Contractors and vendors providing special equipment or services
Working on site requires park support and cooperation
DIP Team handles objects safely and sets up the shots
Rental of Special Equipment
Interior image capture is achieved with a laptop computer tethered to the camera
Location set-up
for EZ Cube
Copy stand set-up allow consistent document photography
Table Top Set-Ups require more space
Oversized documents are handled in other ways
A variety of objects have been photographed for the Digital Imaging Project with many
challenges encountered and met
Ethnographic Objects
Paintings and Reflective Art
Icons
Wood and Furniture Objects
Side Arms
Edged Weapons
Metal Objects
Ceramic and Glass Objects
Textile Objects
Entomological Specimens
Wet Specimens
Herbarium Sheets
Skeletal Objects
Archeological Objects
Geological and Fossil Specimens
Paper Documents
Some objects require many detail shots
Oversized Objects in Situ
Digital Asset Management
Naming, organizing, formatting, reproducing and archiving images follows established standards on color managed equipment. This process often takes more time than the original digital capture.
Benefits To The Park Receive 72 jpeg and 300 tiff digital images
captured by professional photographers Park can use images with ANCS+ catalog
records Park can use images for in-house or commercial
electronic or print publications Park can use the images for insertion on the NPS
Web Catalog Park can request to have the images inserted in
NPS Focus with Park Service only or public access
Collections will be preserved through reduced handling
Increase visitation through media generated interest
Public will have a greater understanding of the park and its collection
More volunteers to the park Receive a greater number of research
requests
WHAT’S NEXT? Complete staffing plan
Continue to enroll parks
Complete PMIS template
Provide technical assistance to the parks in the fields of digital imaging and equipment selection
16 in SER
11 in NER
14 in NCR
23 in IMR
8 in AR
4 in MWR
76 Parks have provided DIP with object lists:
DIP’s have worked with 21 parks
Still have 58 parks to shoot
DIP’s have shot 8728 images of 3129 objects