Dear all – I have a query about digital archiving.
Where do HERs archive digital photos from fieldwork (building recording mostly)?
In Tyne and Wear we’ve been asking for digital photographs instead of b/w prints and colour slide for some years. A set of images is professionally printed for the local archives office and they are also given the digital images saved on CD (although they are not geared up for digital archiving). The HER holds a copy of the images on the council’s secure server (will get full eventually I’m sure) and we hold a copy on CD. In our specifications we flag up ADS for digital archiving but we leave this as optional rather than compulsory.
One of our contractors tried to upload their digital images to ADS. But ADS can only receive 80mb through OASIS and ADS-easy and the archive was much bigger than that. He could have submitted the images on CD but there was going to be a charge of £288 for that (its £40 + VAT for each set of 50 images) – which adds significantly to the price of a piece of developer-funded work, and because you can’t tell how many pictures you are going to take beforehand, it’s hard to anticipate what this cost will be to include in your tender for the work.
The contractor was advised by ADS to only upload selected images or to reduce the file size. If that is done then it is no longer an effective archive. If ADS was to be the primary depository, then it should have the whole archive, not a small selection and the images must be of high quality. English Heritage Digital Imaging Guidelines says set the camera for the largest image size with least compression.
Uploading the images singularly using OASIS takes forever. Each one has to have a data type in the Archive Management section and File-level metadata has to be created for each one. When the archive contains several hundred photos it is a day’s work to upload them.
Until ADS can take more images via OASIS and ADS-easy and until it’s cheaper to upload them (I do understand that ADS has to cover its costs) then I can’t see ADS being the principle depository for developer-funded digital archives in Tyne and Wear, which is a shame.
Can contractors deposit their digital image archives with NRHE?
What do other HERs do with their digital images?
How many DM officers still ask for b/w print and colour slide out of interest?
Our museums are running out space for physical archives as well, but that’s a different discussion…..
I’d welcome your thoughts
Jenny
Jennifer Morrison BA (Hons), MA, MIfA
Tyne and Wear Archaeology Officer
Newcastle City Council
Development Management
5th Floor
Civic Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QH
Tel: 0191 2116218
Fax: 0191 2114810
Website: www.newcastle.gov.uk/hes
On-line Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record: www.twsitelines.info
Any statements, views or opinions within this e-mail are those of the author and are informal; they do not prejudice any decision that may be later taken by the Local Planning Authority.
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