Friday's Video: Digitizing the Past

When Adam Rabinowitz was 15 years old, his aunt, an archaeologist, invited him to join her on a dig in Sicily. Twenty-three years later, Rabinowitz, now the assistant director at the Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICA) at The University of Texas at Austin, is still traveling around the world getting dirt under his nails. And though much remains the same about archaeology since he first picked up a duster brush, a lot has changed.

Collaborating with the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), Rabinowitz and his team work to develop high-tech, digital solutions to preserve ancient sites.

Going Postal with Personalized Postage

In 2010, 25.1 billion U.S. Postage stamps were printed.  Postage stamps are available for sale from over 63,000 stores, banks and ATMs.

These stamps reflect the American experience and highlight our values, heroes, history, achievements and natural wonders in a collection of miniature works of art.

Still Alive Now Considered Eligible 

The U.S. Postal Service and the members of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) have set certain basic criteria used in determining the eligibility of subjects for commemoration on all U.S. stamps and stationery. Most recently the CSAC has announced that beginning in 2012, it will for the first time allow the images of living or recently deceased people to appear on U.S. postage stamps.

The Postal Service says it will be considering acclaimed musicians, sports stars, writers, artists and other nationally-known figures to appear on postage stamps "while they are still alive," and is asking the public to submit suggestions via Facebook and Twitter.

Your Own Images or Photographs Turned Into Real U.S. Postage  

However, several years ago the U.S. Postal Service introduced what could be considered an even more novel concept by allowing private vendors to become authorized to provide personal designed postage using their own images or photographs. This new service allows individuals to capture life’s special moments on real postage. Currently 3 approved sites are listed by the USPS as available to create unique, customized and unforgettable stamps for any occasion, from holidays to birth announcements.

According to PhotoStamps.com, one of the approve USPS vendors; PhotoStamps from Stamps.com are valid U.S. Postage, based on a technology called PC Postage. Stamps.com, the company behind PhotoStamps, has been a United States Postal Service approved provider of PC postage since 1999. When PhotoStamps first launched in 2004, it was the first ever customized postage product in the United States. Since that time it has sold tens of millions of its PhotoStamps.

Imagine the Possibilities!

Now it is possible to make every letter a special delivery with your own customized postage using photos you have scanned from paper prints or ones ‘born digital’ taken using a cellphone or digital camera. In addition, designs, business logos, and text can be used to design your own custom postage that can be sent through standard U.S. Mail.

Perfect for wedding announcements, birthday invitations, holiday cards, and promotional advertising. These are an excellent example of how your photographs can be harnessed in a practical way to make a utilitarian tool that combines the aspect of a unique and useful gift for friends and family.

Pick Your Favorite & Make Your Own

While there is no denying the U.S. Postal Service is currently struggling to find ways to return to a more solid financial footing, perhaps we can all help just a little by following the advice of About.com Government Info blogger, Robert Longley in his September 28, 2011, blog entitled; "Stars on Stamps" blog. In it Longley suggested if we really wanted to help out the Postal Service, we could buy a postage stamp (or a few trillion of them) and actually mail our "stars on stamps" suggestions to: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, Room 3300, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington DC 20260-3501.

And, while perhaps seeing one of your favorite ‘living legends’ on a stamp coming soon to your Post Office may be cool, think how more exciting it could be to design your own right now! 

To help get you started check out any of these USPS approved sites:

__________________________________________________________

Upload your own images to create unique postage in a variety of sizes and denominations. Even makes matching cards, t-shirts and more. Or choose from a collection of images from The Library of Congress and The Knot.
Get Started ›

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PictureItPostage.com™ offers larger postage than many competitors and you can buy from sheets of 20 to rolls of 3,000 for tabbing equipment. Use online or desktop software to customize your postage. Even pick background colors right out of your photo.
Get Started ›

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Use your own photos or choose from PhotoStamps’® collection, including 100+ college logos and award-winning photographs from Anne Geddes. You’ll even get free shipping when you use the code ’USPS’ at checkout.
Get Started ›

Tell Me Your Story

source: http://www.worldblessings.com/images/we-all-have-a-story-to-tell-21365337.jpg

We are all fascinated with stories, especially good stories that rivet us to our seats. You know, the ones that engage our imaginations so completely that we inexplicably find ourselves whisked away and plopped right smack dab in the middle of the very story itself, as if we were actually there.

Stories Coming Alive

Growing up I got a rather healthy dose of these kind of stories getting spun, each time the old photo albums got dragged out and put on display during a gathering of family or friends. Someone would crack open one of those treasure troves of memories all neatly organized onto pages. Each photograph was silently framed using four black triangle mounts glued into place, with its corners neatly tucked inside. Within a few moments the stories began flowing and before long a single 4 x 5 snapshot had magnified itself into the centerpiece for a half-hour riveting tale of intrigue, adventure, despair or down right hilarity.

We All Have Stories

Gloria Newsome, puts it this way; "You don't have to be powerful, famous, or extraordinary. We all have stories to tell. A story begging to be told of our successes and our failures while trying to express something deeper. All of our lives are important, for our lives are truly meaningful, thoughts on who we are and what we are about. All of our stories no matter who we are can truly make a difference in someone else's life. We all have dilemmas, a story to tell or something to vent about. We are the sum of the stories we tell ourselves, and those stories are necessarily while we exhale our memories. Our lives are stories that we constantly invite others to help us create, share and live, for our stories convey the meaning of our lives, experiences that shape truths we come to believe. We all walk many different paths in life and we each have a story to tell."

 

Telling My Story

Technology has catapulted us far past those days of dragging out the old photo album every once in a while to open up the floodgate of stories locked up within them. Today, with those old photographs, slides and videos transformed into digital images and your more recently created pictures being ‘born digital’, it is possible to share and connect our life’s experiences, ideas or feelings through the use of story and digital media.

The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) is an international non-profit training, project development, and research organization dedicated to assisting people in using digital media to tell meaningful stories from their lives. Their focus is on partnering with community, educational, and business institutions to develop large-scale initiatives using methods and principles adapted from their original Digital Storytelling Workshop.

CDS believes anyone who has a desire to document life experiences, ideas, or feelings through the use of story and digital media can become a digital storyteller. This is usually someone with little to no prior experience in the realm of video production but time to spend a few days attending a workshop and developing a story with creative support and technical assistance from compassionate, highly experienced facilitators.

6 Reasons

There are lots of reasons to tell your story and to consider using digital storytelling as the medium. CDS has included these:

1. Everyone has many powerful stories to tell.
2. Listening is hard, but when we do it creates space for the storyteller to journey into the heart of the matter at hand.
3. People see, hear, and perceive the world in different ways.
4. Creative activity is human activity.
5. Technology is a powerful instrument of creativity.
6. Sharing stories can lead to positive change.

The sharing of insights and experiences about life can be immensely valuable both to those speak and those who bear witness. Yet, because we are human and see things from different perspectives there no formula for making a great story -- no prescription or template.

New media and digital video technologies will not in and of themselves make a better world. Developing a thoughtful approach to how and why these technologies are being used in the service of creative work is essential.

Center for Digital Storytelling NMC 2009 Center of Excellence Award Video

Grandpa, is that you?

image source: http://mindsparker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Otzi-the-iceman.png

Since the early 1900’s, trillions and trillions of photos have been taken. They have recorded the faces of several generations while at work, play, war, and peace. Photo snapshots show us both in our good times and bad.

Won't they?

So, when the question “Will Your Grandchildren Know What You Looked Like as a Child?” appeared in a recent Risk Factor blog, posted by Robert Charette, on Spectrum.Ieee.org, it seemed like a no brainer.

Why of course my grandkids will know what I looked liked as a kid. Especially now that so much of all the world's photographs are digital! They will be zooming around out in cyberspace, the cloud, or whatever its called...forever...won’t they?

Reckless to lost!

Charette goes on to explain just how reckless many have become given the lightning fast availability to put time in a bottle, using the ever growing multitude of digital devices able to record images. Could it be possible due to oversight, lack of planning, or perhaps just pure and simple neglect we are destined to be no better off with these technological wonders, than what preceded them?

Would it be feasible that despite the trillions of photos, we too might end up as a mere photo scan project a thousand years from now? Lost to the digital ages with only speculation and an artist rendering of what we may have looked like - left as our legacy to those that will come after us?

Frozen Fritz

Ötzi was named after the Ötzal Alps, the region in which his body was discovered. He is also known as the Similaun Man, the Man from Hauslabjoch, and even Frozen Fritz. From the time of his discovery in 1991, scientists and others have speculated that the Iceman was a hunter. But a recent study suggests that he may have been a shepherd instead. 

The Iceman Photo Scan Project coincided with the 2009 opening of the exhibition; 'Mummies: The dream of everlasting life' (Museo delle Antichità Egizie, Torino). This project was born out of the EURAC research institute in South Tyrol, Italy.

The European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC) lies in the heart of the Dolomites. Created in 1992 as an independent research center, EURAC is home to researchers from all over Europe who work together on a wide range of interdisciplinary projects. Experts in law and natural sciences, linguists and geneticists collaborate with public and private agencies towards the resolution of some central issues of our day.

The Iceman Photo Scan project is a revolutionary website which records the complete photographic documentation of the Iceman mummy. Due to the preservation conditions required to maintain the mummy, the public is unable to gain close access to the body. The website that arose from this project enables the user to view the entire mummified body. Photographs were taken from a dozen different angles with nearly 800 scans required to map the whole body. As a result, it is possible to discover what this 5,300 year old mummified grandpa looks like without compromising its preservation.

See the Iceman & Save Your Digital Materials From Extinction

You can visit The Iceman Photo Scan website at http://iceman.eurac.edu. And, to learn more about how to preserve your own digital materials before they are lost forever, visit The Library of Congress' Personal Archiving - Digital Preservation Guide.

Monday's Featured Photo Blog

Monday's Featured Photo Blog By:

Victor Bezrukov

Two-IV

Friday's Video: What we learned from 5 million books

Have you played with Google Labs' NGram Viewer? It's an addicting tool that lets you search for words and ideas in a database of 5 million books from across centuries. Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel show us how it works, and a few of the surprising things we can learn from 500 billion words.  http://www.ted.com

Open-Source Robotic Scanner Kit for Archival Scanning

There are around 3 trillion print photographs slowly fading all around the world.

Candid pictures depicting life as it was in small towns, rural outposts, and local communities are included in this number. The fortunate ones are housed in archives or museums. These institutions and organizations, often under-funded and supported by a few passionate volunteers, face a seemingly insurmountable cost chasm keeping them from preserving their analog collections in a digital state.

While flatbed scanners are inexpensive, they take approximately 1-2 minutes of labor per scan to capture an image of an old photograph or document. Regional museums with tens of thousands of photographs in their collections simply don’t have the labor resources to complete the scanning projects that they would like to do.

A Problem Needing to be Solved
Enter Thomas Smith, a Johns Hopkins University cognitive science and anthropology student, with a clever idea to make a difference. According to the JHU Gazette, Smith came up with the concept for his first robotic scanning arm system while visiting Baltimore’s Afro-American newspaper, the longest-running family-owned Afro-American newspaper in the country, whose undigitized photo collection contained 1.5 million photos dating back to 1892.

Smith started Project Gado to address the problem. The original Gado used an automated suction arm similar to how some book scanners work. It lifted photos gently from one bin, scanned them on a flatbed, and placed them in an out bin. The Gado 1 was able to scan 1,000 photos at a rate of one photo every two minutes.

Smith is now working on the Gado 2, which will use less linear motion to reduce the device’s cost and improve its performance speed. Hopes are to increase the robot’s performance to one photo every 30 seconds and cost under $500 for a kit.

Since the Gado is an Open Source project, anyone is free to take any aspect of the machine and apply it wherever low-cost, robotic digitization is needed.


Commercial Alternatives 
For libraries, archives, and museums that need to get started sooner or who need even faster performance, Kodak has developed a gentle sheet-fed photo scanner series called the Picture Saver Scanning System that is already available and in use by many organizations. Kodak’s PS410 model photo scanner can scan up to 30 4x6” pictures per minute at 300 dpi. It currently lists for $1995.00, but it can be found for far less through E-Z Photo Scan online, along with knowledgeable training and support to help your organization get started scanning efficiently.

Kodak photo scanner rentals are also available through E-Z Photo Scan for small projects.

It is important that organizations, companies, and individuals like Thomas Smith dedicate resources to answering the question of how to digitize our past while dealing realistically with the financial realities of the present.There are around 3 trillion print photographs slowly fading all around the world.

 

First National Train-the-Trainer Workshop Conducted by DPOE Starting Today

DPOE pyramid of tiered digital preservation audiences

Today is the start of the first national train-the-trainer workshop conducted by the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education program at the Library of Congress. The course runs from September 20-23, 2011, in Washington, DC.

A Corps of Trainers Equipped to Teach Others

The DPOE Baseline Workshop will produce a corps of trainers who are equipped to teach others, in their home regions across the U.S., the basic principles and practices of preserving digital materials. Examples of such materials include websites; emails; digital photos, music, and videos; and official records.

The curriculum has been developed by the DPOE staff and expert volunteer advisors and informed by DPOE-conducted research―including a nationwide needs-assessment survey and a review of curricula in existing training programs. An outcome of the September workshop will be for each participant to, in turn, hold at least one basic-level digital-preservation workshop in his or her home U.S. region by mid-2012.

The intent of the workshop is to share high-quality training in digital preservation, based upon a standardized set of core principles, across the nation.  In time, the goal is to make the training available and affordable to virtually any interested organization or individual.

Ask & You Might Just Learn Something!

This initiative is just one of many spurred on by a DPOE Training Needs Assessment Survey conducted in two phases during the summer and fall of 2010. The survey was distributed through a variety of channels. Announcements were posted on professional and academic e-mail listservs. E-mail invitations were sent to archivists, librarians, information officers, corporate executives, and similar professionals. The survey announcement was posted on professional blogs and announced on Twitter, Facebook, and digitalpreservation.gov. Cards announcing the survey were distributed to attendees of the American Library Association 2010 Annual Conference. The survey received a total of 868 responses.

The Analysis Breakdown

82% of the respondents have staff of some kind assigned to digital preservation, although 48.8% are assigned duties only as needed. 33.2% of respondents reported having paid full-time or part-time professional practitioners, 21.9% reported having no staff for digital preservation, and 13.9% have volunteers working on digital preservation.

Almost 95% of the respondents characterized their digital content as reformatted material that was digitized from collections already held. Nearly 40% consisted of deposited digital materials that the organization manages for other organizations or individuals. 88% of these materials were digital image files, 74% PDF files, 72% audiovisual files, and 60% office files. More than 40% of respondents reported having web content, architectural drawings, or research data in their collections.

Some of the respondents who included additional comments, however, expressed that those directly involved with materials considered digital preservation very important, while their larger organization or the administration did not. A set of cross-tabulated questions and an Executive Summary is available for download.

Monday's Featured Photo Blog

Monday's Featured Photo Blog: 

Photo Gallery: Tips for Better iPhone Photography

 

Reflection, Provence

Photograph by: Cotton Coulson

Friday's Video: Pioneering Internet Archivists Brewster Kahle and Rick Prelinger on Preservation in the Digital Age

Internet archivists Brewster Kahle and Rick Prelinger discuss their efforts to build both a physical and digital library of every book ever published. "The idea is to build a library of Alexandria, version two," says Kahle. "It costs us about 10 cents a page or about $30 a book to photograph and then make it accessible and searchable for anyone."

 

Who'll Stop the Rain?

Hygrometer Humidity - Thermocouple Types

Guest blogger, Dee Leclair is back with insight on something we hear about on the weather report everyday. Humidity has an affect in many facets of our lives, including all those cherished printed photos stashed away in shoeboxes.

Here is her insight...

Let’s face it; the biggest question I have been asked over the years is “What is one of the biggest threats to preservation of my printed photos?”

Humidity, humidity, humidity.

Humidity is it! 

Conservators will tell you that the optimal range for storing printed photographs is a relative humidity between 20 – 50%. Why? Storing your photos in a location with high humidity, like a basement or attic, will cause your photographs to become brittle and expose them to mold growth. 

Mildew will also damage your photographs beyond repair. Once these hazards attack your photos, there is very little that can be done to completly halt its advancement. These damp-ridden plagues ultimately play havoc on the image quality of the smitten photographs.  Your best course of action is to have your photos scanned and new prints made before you lose those precious images.

What can you do?

Store your photographs in rooms that have a stable temperature and maintain relatively constant humidity levels. For some locations that can be achieved thru the use of air conditioning, humidifiers (during dryer seasons), and dehumidifiers (for damper environments and seasons).

As a Creative Memories Consultant & Photo Coach, I always recommend storing your photographs in a dark environment at the recommended humidity (20-50%), and stored vertically not stacked. Creative Memories offers a variety of great products specifically designed to make it easy for customers to preserve their photographs in a manner that adds value, along with longevity.

One of my favorite solutions for preserving your photographs is the new Reflections 11x14 Expandable PicFolio® Album by Creative Memories. This photo album holds up to 40 Multi-Pocket (up to 400 photographs) or Large Pocket Pages-in any combination and is Photo-safe. With the slide-in pockets, it makes it so easy to organize and store those precious memories safely!

For more information contact: Dee Leclair, Creative Memories Consultant & Photo Coach

Digital Preservation Guidance from Across the Pond

The National Archives of the United Kingdom is a centre of expertise in creating, managing and preserving official information.  It works with 250 government and public sector bodies, helping them to manage and use information more effectively. 

As the UK government's official archive, the National Archives contains over 1,000 years of history. In its 21st-century role it collects and secures the future of the record, both digital and physical, preserving it for generations to come, and making it as accessible and available as possible.

The National Archives deals with millions of customers both in person and online every year - making them one of the largest and most successful archives in the world. As a one of its services, it offers detailed guidance to government departments and the public sector on information management and advise others about the care of historical archives.

Digitised Image Specification

Among these guidelines, whose final version was newly added in April 2011, is the free 14 page PDF guidance booklet labeled; Digital Records: Digitised Image Specification. Here one can find sage advice on the formal image specifications for digitization projects to ensure long term preservation of digitized records, including photographs.

It includes the baseline file format and image requirements, acceptable file formats for accession and sets out image requirements for each type of record (e.g. documents, photographs, negatives). Each record type has its own specification section which details: required image resolution (pixels per inch, ppi)3, colour management, and compression.

What about Photos Scanned to Digital Images?

According to the guidelines outlined by the National Archives; Colour Photographs undergoing ‘digitisation’ should have the following properties:

•     Resolution: 600 ppi
•     Type of image: Colour
•     Bit-depth: 24-bit
•     Colour management: Embedded ICC Colour Profile
•     Compression: Lossless
•     JPEG2000 is The National Archives' preferred format for digitisation.

These guidelines for the ‘digitised image’ have been developed to provide a minimum specification to be used in digitization projects undertaken or controlled by The National Archives to assure optimum image quality.

Lessons from a Centre of Expertise

Just like the guidelines outlined by the United States National Archives and Records Administration, the UK’s National Archives seeks to draw upon its work with all kinds of information from paper and parchment to digital files and datasets. It is building on over 170 years of pioneering work in managing key public records to offer guidance.

These guidelines serve to offer both professional photo scanning services and individuals scanning their own photos as a minimum benchmark by which scanned photos can are considered acceptable to be transferred into a permanent electronic record.

Monday's Featured Photo Blog

Monday's Featured Photo Blog: MSNBC Sept. 11: Attack on America

Firefighters raise a U.S. flag at the devastated World Trade Center.

Friday's Video: Leica & Magnum: New York, Ten Years Later by Chris Anderson

In collaboration with Magnum Photos and The New Yorker, we present "Leica & Magnum: New York, Ten Years Later by Chris Anderson" a look at New York City ten years after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The photos featured in this video were taken by Magnum Photographer Christopher Anderson. Christopher shares his thoughts on the project:

"When The New Yorker magazine commissioned me to create a portfolio of images that could speak to how New York has changed in these ten years, I kept returning to the idea of windows. Windows represent the future. They represent passage and change. They shed light. Through windows we see opportunity and possibility. They sometimes reflect our own selves, and they sometimes act as barriers. In a more concrete way, they are how we New Yorkers physically experience our city. And of course, the idea of windows is directly linked to the two buildings that came down on September 11, 2001. These pictures are connected by the idea of windows. They are my attempt to pay tribute to the resilience of this city."

Personal Photo Scanners en Masse - History Repeating

Personal mobile photo scanners are bursting onto the market at an incredible rate. And, when they say mobile - that is literal. No computer needed. No TWAIN driver. No cables. Nothing but the slim scanning device and perhaps some attractive carrying pouch accessory to tote it around in.

The first generation of appliances scanned the traditional 4 x 6 photograph prints directly to an SD card that can be used to store the digital prints or transfer them to other electronic devices. However, the bar is continuously being raised without hardly a month going by that some new model is announced. They now include units able to scan negatives, digitize photograph print sizes up to 8 x 10, digital frames capable of scanning photos directly to slideshows for display in the frame, and patented ‘flip & scan’ technology.

 

Deja vu?

So, is history repeating itself in this niche world of photography? Looking back at Susan Sontag’s nationally acclaimed book, On Photography, one might wonder when you consider this passage;

“That age when taking photographs required a cumbersome and expensive contraption - the toy of the clever, the wealthy, and the obsessed - seems remote indeed from the era of sleek pocket cameras that invite anyone to take pictures (now). The first cameras, made in France and England in the early 1840s, had only inventors and buffs to operate them. Since there were then no professional photographers, there could not be amateurs either, and taking photographs had no social us; it was gratuitous, that is an artistic activity, though with few pretensions to being an art. It was only with its industrialization that photography came into its own art. As industrialization provided social uses for the operations of the photographer, so the reaction against these uses reinforced the self-consciousness of photography-as-art.” pgs 7-8.

By the early 1870s photographs had started to become a useful tool for the growing mobile population. The George Eastman’s Kodak Brownie in the hands of shutterbugs made snapshots a part of daily life. Today we use our mobile communication tools - equipped with 5 megapixel, 3D cameras - as handy note takers able to record any slice of our life and freeze it for our perusal or to share with others over our hyperconnected person-to-person and person-to-machine communications within networked organizations and networked societies.

What if it were true? What if Photo Scanning was Like the Camera?  

Suppose for a minute the evolution of photo scanning was like that of cameras.  You know...at first only the most wealthy, innovative and technologically consumed folks latched on to the idea of scanning their printed photos using clunky, big expensive Albatrosses. They did it because money was no object, lived on the bleeding edge of technology always wanting to be first, or were simply overwhelmed with the geekiness of the whole idea!

Then, suppose there was a development of an industry on an extensive scale that organized the action of scanning photos through goods and services. Through this maturation equipment was refined, costs plummeted while quality of output soared.

And finally, as a result of all of this there was an explosion in social uses for scanned photos to be kept, protected, and shared through that hyperconnected network we were just talking about. Now it was ‘cool’ to scan because there where actually really good reasons to do so, it was so affordable everyone could do it, and it was easy!

It could happen.

History in the Making  

Studying the history of photographic images may actually be a pointer towards where the scanning of those photographs is headed. Just like a camera in every pocket, having the ability for the masses to be able to convert ‘analog’ prints (or documents) onsite and in real time is not too far down the evolutionary chain of events coming down the line.

It is no wonder InfoTrends projects the photo merchandise market will grow substantially over the forecast period, reaching $2.2 billion in revenues by 2015, in its U.S. Consumer Photo Merchandise Market Forecast: 2010-2015. With current photography being ‘born’ digital driving the market, scanning of printed photos is now on an exponential scale to become history in the making.

When Scanning Becomes Art

Scanned Watercolor Paint Chip © i/oTrak, 2011

Most people do not realize a scanner is actually the equivalent of a very high-quality digital camera! Scanography, (also spelled scannography) more commonly referred to as scanner photography, is the process of capturing digitized images of objects for the purpose of creating printable art using a flatbed "photo" scanner with a CCD (charge-coupled device) array capturing device. (source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Unintended Use - Spectacular Consequenses! 

Flatbed scanners are generally intended to be used for the reproduction of two-dimensional images. Scannography takes scanning to a whole new dimension by imaging objects, such as people, plants or anything that can be placed upon it . A community of scannography artists has emerged demonstrating the amazing creative value this type of scanning can produce.

Scannography artist Christian Staebler’s blog, Scannography - The Art of Scanning points out scannography is near from photography, but also very different from it in many points. An interesting thing about scannography is that it is a new way to see the things around us. It's not drawing but has something similar to those documentary drawings done to capture the essence of plants or animals! It's not photography but it reproduces the reality with extraordinary precision!

Scannography Classified 

Scannography can be classified into at least 11 different categories. These themes offer a wide array of imagination and creativity in use of scanning techniques to image the subject matter. The categories include:

• abstract
• animal
• bodies
• botanical
• floral
• illustrative
• movement
• objects
• outdoor scans
• painting on scanner
• portraits

Want to Learn or See More?

 The Scannography Blog posts scanning artwork from artists around the world. As expected, the techniques vary among the artisans offering diversified designs and visual effects. Like to learn more? Staebler’s 6-step layering technique is detailed online.

The Changing Landscape of Photo Preservation

Clobbered & Flattened...

My attention was clobbered by what was on the TV.

The coffee simmered motionless within its mug and the columnist’s thoughts inked onto parchment lay haphazardly tossed aside in the paper edition of the newspaper I was reading. Thomas L. Friedman, exploded from the background hum the TV had just occupied seconds before. Now it was gripping my  full attention.

Seems the internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist—the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of five bestselling books had a new book. It was about How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back and par for the political themed venue of which he was a panel member.
 
Hyper~
However, what momentarily stopped my world from spinning was his vivid description of a phenomenon we deal with every day as individuals helping people, communities and organizations preserve their photographs and treasured memorabilia. The author - who had just 6 years ago stressed how technological forces had flattened the world we live in - was now elaborating on his observation of hyperconnectivity.

This phenomenon, as Friedman explained, has placed an exponential thrust upon not only business - as was the underpinning theme of The World is Flat - but also upon us as individuals. Through hyperconnectivity our world is now not only flat, but also linked together in unprecedented ways.

For some in our industry, there is a concern the family photo album is being lost within this world of technology.

Lost!
In a recent article written by Clay Barbour and published by the Wisconsin State Journal, the value photos bring to our lives and how digital technology and online social networking have changed the way we hang onto them was examined.
Barbour cites a 2006 study conducted by Fujifilm looking at the photography landscape and - given the year it was conducted - its startling conclusion. That year (2006) some 25 billion images were captured, and most of them were printed. Analyzing trends, the company estimated that by 2009, 135 billion images would be captured, but only a fraction would be printed.

“We are all 24-hour photographers now,” said Tim Hickernell, lead researcher for Info-Tech Research Group. “The question is, what are we doing after we take the picture?”

Info-Tech is a global information technology company that has more than 8,000 clients. A large part of Hickernell’s job is researching trends in archiving, including digital images.

“It is yet to be seen if we’ll actually take that extra step and save any of this stuff,” he said.

33 Flavors 

While perhaps we all are on a rather steep learning curve with digital photography and how best to maintain a ‘life-cycle perspective and active management’ approach to our preservation, as Steve Puglia, Archivist at the Library of Congress puts it; my bet is we get there.

Growing up my brother and I used to enjoy those special family outings to get ice cream. When we arrived there was a treasure trove of flavors to choose from, but it was all ice cream. Preserving the past is a part of our make-up. In fact, perhaps we are just now at the starting gate of being able to more fully enjoy our photos beyond just the ‘basic flavors’ that were available with analog photo prints.

For instance, this past month InfoTrends released its U.S. Consumer Photo Merchandise Market Forecast: 2010-2015 where it projected the photo merchandise market will grow substantially over the forecast period, reaching $2.2 billion in revenues by 2015.

So, instead of making a print consumers are creating photo books, photo greeting cards, photo calendars and specialty photo items, which include:
    - Enlargements greater than 8” x 10” in size
    - Posters
    - Framed photo prints
    - Photo collages
    - Fine-art photo prints on canvas

And don't forget, the tens of millions of personal printers in the hands of the 'do-it-yourself' consumers capable of producing high quality prints on everything from gloss or semi-gloss photo paper to specialtiy papers with a matte finish.

Hyperstewards ~ All Should We Be! 
The National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NSDA) is a collaborative effort among government agencies, education institutions, non-profit organizations, and business entities to preserve a national collection of significant digital content. It is an outgrowth of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program.

Get involved! Ultimately, it is all of our responsibilities to make sure that we preserve, keep, share and connect with our past. Doing so not only saves the past, but also shapes our futures.

Monday's Featured Photo Blog

Monday's Featured Photo Blog: sevensevennine

By: Nick Turpine

Gare de St Lazarre, 1932. Henri Cartier Bresson.

Friday's Video: Kennedy in the Cloud: Rethink Possible

As a partner in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library digital archiving project, AT&T has helped to bring JFK's legacy to your personal computer. AT&T's cloud-based Synaptic Hosting provides the JFK Library with virtual servers that can respond instantly to increased demand on the library's website.

Digital Preservation Class is Now in Session!

Continuous improvement (CI) is defined as an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes. As a result of such efforts, an individual or organization can realize small progressive levels of achievement or innovative advancements.

The ASQ (American Society for Quality), is  a global community of experts and the leading authority on quality in all fields, organizations, and industries, identifies one of the most widely used tools for continuous improvement is a four-step quality model — the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle, also known as Deming Cycle or Shewhart Cycle. They also understand how on-going education enriches their lives, to improve their workplaces and communities, and to make the world a better place by applying quality tools, techniques, and systems.

As part of the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education (DPOE), the Library of Congress (LOC) provides a calendar of courses & workshops to help people access training in the practices of digital preservation. These on-going education programs range in both availability and price, including a number of free e-learning courses. One of the online courses offering practical instruction in preservation is: Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories. 

This free online course is 1 hour in duration and is provided by the American Library Association (ALA). The course outline states: Digital photos, electronic documents, and other new media are fragile and require special care to keep them useable. But preserving digital information is a new concept that most people have little experience with. As new technologies appear for creating and saving our personal digital information, older ones become obsolete, making it difficult to access older content. Learn about the nature of the problem and hear about some simple, practical tips and tools to help you keep your digital memories safe.

So, as you look at your continuous improvement program be sure to take advantage of this and the other DPOE resources available in providing on-going education in applying quality tools, techniques and systems to your image preservation processes. Other free courses currently posted as available include;

Start Date	Course	Course Format	Location	Cost Range
Anytime	Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories	Online	Not Applicable	Free
Anytime	Protecting Future Access Now: Models for Preserving Digitized Books and Other Content at Cultural Heritage Organizations	Online	Not Applicable	Free
Anytime	An Introduction to Digital Preservation	Online	Not Applicable	Free