What is digital archiving?
Digital archiving is a process of making digital reproductions of a photograph or document or other information. Photos and documents usually use some photographic means either with camera or scanner. The digital images are then stored on computer or disk for later use.
Who uses Digital Archives?
In our society, nearly everyone uses digital archiving in one way or another. In business, information is often stored and transferred by digital imaging. In entertainment, every image or movie file transferred over the web uses digital imaging and archiving; even sound files (mp3) take advantage of digital imaging and archiving.
A digital camera also produces a photo by digital image; as long as that image is stored, it is digitally archived.
How is Digital Archiving used by libraries and historic organizations?
Often Libraries and Museums may have items in their collections that are valuable and rare - often one of a kind specimens. These items may be so fragile that displaying them or making them available to the public will cause damage to those items through exposure to light, atmosphere changes, human touch, or even movement. Especially with photos and documents, to make these items available to the public, a digital image is produced so the image can be viewed on a computer monitor. The original specimen can now be stored in more controlled environment and preserved for future generations.
To avoid damage to a displayed item, the item must be isolated to control the atmosphere and humidity surrounding it as well as the type of light that illuminates it; any of these factors can cause the specimen to deteriorate. This environmental control is expensive.
--- Consider what bright sunlight does to a photograph or other item that has coloring pigment; consider the effects of light on a sheet of old paper - on old specimens, the pigment has faded and the paper has turned brown. With a old photograph, these effects have caused the original black and white photo to turn to shades of brown - eventually fading out completely.
--- Also consider the effects of the natural oils from skin being absorbed by that rare item.
---Also consider the effects of repeated handling of an item. Think of the dog-earred pages of a book that has been read hundreds of times.
How does Digital Archiving make viewing a rare item more convenient?
An image of the item now becomes easily accessible to the public instead of only under very controlled and often restrictive circumstances.
If viewing is only available at the same place that stores the original, usually a collection of images can be viewed or even reproduced for further study.
If so decided, the images can be uploaded to the web and view any place in the world with internet connection.
For researchers, often historical items that could only be seen by traveling to the site can now be found through search engines.
Digital Archiving can provide a better image than the original in its present condition.
Often with old photographs and documents, the pigments have faded and the paper has darkened sufficiently that the original images on the paper are hard to make out. Many times with digital imaging techniques, the contrasts can be increased to make the images more distinct and sharper. In photographs, sometimes the image showing damage to the original can be repaired in a similar manner to restoring old paintings. Likewise, images can be enhances to allow details to be clear that have faded away on the original specimen.
Why digital archive?
Preserving history is important to any student of the past as well as the future. By preserving documents and photos from our past, we can often better understand where we're going in the future and why we're going there.
Can I help?
Anyone with photos or documents from the past can help. And many of the older houses and buildings in the area have items in their attics that can help expand our collection. Outright contributions or allowing us to copy and reproduce the item is valuable.
Providing any additional info on any of the items in the collection adds depth to the understanding of that particular item.
If you have items, photos, documents, etc., for Sinclairville or Chautauqua Count area and would like to help, email us at sfl-historysite@hotmail.com .