resources

preservation toolkits

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

In 2006 and 2007 the Northeast Document Conservation Center and the New England Museum Association organized a three-day workshop focusing on the preservation and digitization of photographs in cultural heritage institutions. It took place May – June 2006 in Concord, N.H.; Stockbridge, Mass.; and Providence, R.I. Due to the success of these workshops the program was offered once more in Brunswick, Maine in March 2007. Through lecture, discussion, and hands-on exercises attendees learned about the following topics:  

• Identification of historical photographic processes
• The nuts and bolts of collections care
• Digitization for access
• How to produce long-lasting digital prints
• Preservation of digital images

The program faculty included:

• Gary Albright, paper conservator in private practice 
• David Green, Principal of Knowledge Culture (www.knowledgeculture.com)
• Monique Fischer, Senior Photograph Conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center 
• David Joyall, Manager of Scanning Services at the Northeast Document Conservation Center

Binder Resources

Please note: these resources were handed out at the original workshops. URLs, company names, and product names may have changed.

• Agenda
• Preservation of Photographic Material, Gary Albright
• Handouts by Gary Albright
• History of Photography
• Preserving Your Photographs
• Exhibition of Photographs
• Identification of Photographic Prints
• Identification of Film-Base Photographic Materials: Flow Chart
• Identification of Photographic Prints
• Albright, Gary. “Care of Photographs,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet.
• Northeast Document Conservation Center. “Preservation of Photographs: Select Bibliography,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet.
• Albright, Gary. “Storage Enclosures for Photographic Materials,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet.
• Albright, Gary and Monique Fischer. “Types of Photographs,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet.
• Fischer, Monique. “A Short Guide to Film Base Photographic Materials: Identification, Care, and Duplication,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet.

• Creating and Maintaining Digital Collections, David Green
• Resource Packet
• Selected Cultural Heritage Digitization Bibliography
• Principles of Digitization Good Practice
• Questions to Ask Before Selecting Material for Digitization
• When Works Pass into the Public Domain (Laura Gasaway)
• Checklist for Fair Use (Indiana University)
• Getting Permission (Georgia Harper)
• Copyright Decision Tree (Lauryn Grant)
• Physical Properties of Source Material
• Selection of Materials for Digitizing: A Decision-Making Matrix (CLIR)
• Cost Factors
• RLG Worksheet for Estimating Digital Reformatting Costs (first page)
• List of Key Funders of Digitization Projects
• RLG Assessing Document Attributes and Scanning Requirements
• Image File Formats: Estimating File Sizes
• Metadata Types
• Brooke, Bob. “The Brief History of Digital Photography,” Bob Brooke’s Digital Studio.
• Marchand, James. “The Computer as Darkroom and Camera,” Conservation Online,January, 1992.
• Lavoie, Brian, and Lorcan Dempsey. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at…Digital Preservation,” D-Lib Magazine, 10, no. 7/8 (July/ Aug. 2004).

 

• Creating Long-Lasting Inkjet Prints, Monique Fischer
• Fischer, Monique. “Creating Long-Lasting Inkjet Prints,” NEDCC Preservation Leaflet
• Fischer, Monique. “Useful Web-sites on Digital Output Media”
• Fischer, Monique. “Commercial Inkjet Papers [pt. 1]”
• Fischer, Monique. “Commercial Inkjet Papers [pt. 2]”