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Guides to Photo and Document Preservation
and Sharing for Families and Community Historical Societies
Copyright © 2009 - Historical Images of New England LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Organizing Photo and Document Collections
Organizing paper and digital images is an important step in identifying preservation needs and image sharing opportunities. This article includes a suggested methodology for getting started, tips for culling and sorting collections, and suggestions for cataloguing your collection(s).
Good organization of a photo and document collection provides easier access to images as seek them, and allows you to better monitor preservation needs for the collection. Whether you are organizing an attic or a photo and document collection the same principles and basic four steps apply.
A Methodology for Organizing Photos and Documents
1.) Inventory / Assess - The first step is to thoroughly understand what you have. For larger collections, this may be best accomplished by category (postcards / documents / photos / etc.).
Professional organizers will often empty a closet onto a bed, empty a garage onto the lawn, or simply gather a collection of like items into the open where everything being organized is visible and comparable.
It may not always be possible to bring a photo or document collection into the open. However, it is important to gain a feel for what is in the collection. A temporary work area in a less used area is useful.
2.) Decisions About Culling and Prioritizing - Professional organizers often help establish criteria for eliminating certain items. These decisions may involve comparing the value of storage space to the intrinsic value of items. Something that had value several years ago (the exercise bike) may have little value today.
Photo and document collections can and should be assessed in the same way. Do you ever really intend to make another print of a negative kept in the bottom dresser drawer? Do you still need the ten group shots of the family reunion taken twenty years ago, or would a couple of the best ones do?
Likewise, a community historical society may have some donated collections that simply do not fit within the society's "collection plan". Perhaps the items stay, but are kept in bulk storage so that more important preservation and sharing priorities can be met.
3.) Sort Items into Like Categories - Professional organizers use this step to identify duplicates to cull, and to assess the overall volume of storage needs. This may mean segregating postcards, newspaper clippings, photo prints, film negatives, letters, maps, and other possible categories. At this point, labeling, cataloguing, and cross referencing may start to become important and easier.
4.) Contain and Store - After
items have been sorted and culled, the professional organizer would make
suggestions about suitable storage and upgrades as appropriate.
Many organization projects are based on goals of
eliminating clutter, improving the efficiency of storage, and making items easier to find.
Two good sources for archival quality storage options include Dick Blick Art Materials
and
Archival Methods.
After culling unwanted or low value items, and with a better handle on what remains, it becomes much easier to develop ideas about what type of supplies are needed for proper storage.
Tips for Sorting and Culling Photos and Documents
► Perform a quick first sort to focus on identifying obvious duplicates, and high and low valued images. Categories might include "obvious keepers" (unique, interesting subjects, good condition), "obvious discards" (multiples and the truly ugly), and perhaps the "not so obvious" (wait and see if a better photo of aunt Bertha is in the pile. Eliminating a few really bad photos can be therapeutic, and convince you that getting your collection better organized is worth the effort.
► Establish preliminary culling criteria, if sorting a large volume. If you are planning a bulk scan, perhaps you can segregate all duplicates and transparencies to be discarded after your scans are safely stored. Other categories may include unidentifiable, low image value (high school classmates you never did like), poor quality (out of focus, poorly lit).
► Perform additional sorts on criteria developed by you. Possible sorts may include time frames (decades, college years, etc.), events (weddings, graduations, etc.), special trips, ancestors, or other categories that appear to make sense as you proceed.
► Develop thoughts about sub-categories as they become
apparent. This will help you develop a cataloguing system later,
and perhaps a searchable library of digital images based on categories,
sub-categories,
and keywords. Image editing and management software, such as
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7,
► Determine why an image is important
as you sort. If the image is not important,
perhaps it can go. If it is important, the reason(s) may lead you
to categories, labels, or a title as you decide how to catalog and store
the originals. The objectives of the sorting project may
have little to do with putting images into traditional Photo Albums and Scrapbooks.
However, it can be useful to think about which images would qualify for
such treatment. Thinking about image themes, potential captions,
and labeling can help you understand how to best sort and label images.
► Take note of the condition of each category and item. This may dictate preservation priorities. You may ultimately complete your project in stages, and important categories and items in the poorest condition should be given some priority.
► Set preservation and sharing priorities as you inventory and assess your collection. Perhaps a priority goal is to gather and scan photos of parents for a photo book for an upcoming anniversary. Perhaps a goal is to gather at least 500 of your favorite prints for special shoebox scan pricing at a local photo shop. Whatever your priorities, it is likely that projects will be done in stages, and some items can be set aside as a lower priority.
► Label your unlabeled photos and documents. During sorting, you are likely to recall things about the images that are useful to record. This labeling may also help in deciding on titles and keywords for your digital files. It is considered acceptable to use a soft #2 pencil, with a light touch, to label photos. However, it is preferable to use special photo marking pencils available at archival supply companies or at many stores where photographic supplies and cameras are sold.
Cataloguing and Indexing Photos and Documents
The primary importance of cataloguing and cross referencing collections is to provide a means of easy access to images of interest as a need arises.
Although a professionally staffed archive may have a very elaborate catalogue methodology, anything that helps you find an image, or category of image, will be helpful. Clearly, the larger the collection, the more important this becomes.
Photos and documents were all produced and saved for a reason, typically as a record of an event, transaction, or to capture a memory. The key elements describing the photo or document most often boil down to some or all of the following:
○
Who is present in the image or who created it?
○
What is in the image or for what purpose was it made?
○
Where is the location in the image or where was it
made?
○
When was the image created?
○
Why was the image created?
The complexity and size of an image collection will largely dictate the need for detail and the complexity of the catalogue. There are many labeling and cataloguing approaches, and only you can decide on how much detail you need.
If you are organizing family photos, it may be enough to simply store them by decades. If the collection is more complex and/or you have digitized your collection, you may need more detail, including as much detail as possible about the who, what, where, when, and why.
A master catalogue of categories and storage locations can be useful to a family (for example, album #1, album #2, originals, CDs, etc.). In the case of a community historical society, with preservation efforts led by volunteers, future continuity suggests a greater need for a master index/catalogue of the collection(s). This takes time. However, with modern spreadsheet software, such an index has become a lot easier to establish and maintain.
If you have moved in the direction of a digital
image library, using image management software such as
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
Tips / Hints: With a properly catalogued and searchable digital image library, many image sharing projects can be accomplished by easily finding and accessing the digital image. This will often help extend the useful life of the original by saving wear and tear. Therefore, an easily identifiable cross reference between originals and backups will allow quick access to backups for specific needs to avoid handling originals.
To be most useful a simple master inventory / catalogue should include:
□ Logical Categories or Groupings - This may be as simple as type of image (postcards, photos, letters). If the collection is complex, sub-categories may be appropriate (examples: postcards by era, photos by decade, letters by decades or authors).
□ The physical location of originals (examples: box #2 second drawer, 2nd floor museum annex, guest room closet, etc.).
□ The form and location of backups (examples: CD#3 - 600PPI Jpeg files in safety deposit box, DVD#2 held by Society President, etc.).
Archiving and Storing Digital Files of Photos and Documents
There are some good habits that should be developed for backing up, cataloguing, and labeling digital image files.
► A good way to protect and backup your digital images is
to store them for free at one of the major online printers. These
online printers have easy to use image upload and sharing services so that family
and friends can view the stored images online. The free online
storage and viewing is offered as an inducement to use the printing
services offered. Several online printers are reviewed in the
resources section. My favorite overall online printer is Shutterfly.com.
Shutterfly's Share Site service is
particularly impressive and can be explored by using the "Share Your
World" link to the right.
► Even if you choose to store your favorite images with an online printer, you should have at least two sets of digital files in at least two locations. Computers crash and bad things happen. Once you have digital files, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to create duplicate CDs, DVDs, or to store files on portable storage devices such as external hard drives or memory sticks. As you add digital images to the library, simply create sequentially numbered and labeled CDs, DVDs, or additional file folders for portable storage devices. A simple cataloguing and indexing system should provide sufficient information to be able to locate an image that has been backed up.
► With image editing and management software
such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 7,
► Creating simple and printable directories/catalogues of your images can be very useful. This information should include at least a broad description of what is located where. This may be as simple as "complete set of digital images to (mm/yyyy) on CDs in safety deposit box", or "images of daughter through (mm/yyyy) sent to her on DVD on (mm/dd/yyyy)".
Clearly, more detail makes it easier to locate archived or duplicate images. This type of a directory may helpful to reconstruct a library of images on a crashed hard drive. It may also help your heirs understand where treasured family images are located, and can be useful to historical society volunteers for continuity purposes.
Digital Photo File Labeling Schemes
Actual labeling of digital images will reflect the nature of your collection, your preferences, and the image management software being used. There are thoughtful labeling schemes incorporated into quality image editing and management software packages. As you develop your own labeling scheme, it can be very helpful to use the many approaches that are available in your software.
In the online version of this article, there is a screen shot of a sample of using categories, sub-categories, and keywords in Photoshop Elements. To "tag" an image, you simply drag the image onto one or several of your established labels. Then when you click on a tag, or search on multiple tags, only those images that have matching tags are presented in the organizer window. Very convenient and easy to use.
Note: There is ongoing debate and development of cataloging standards among professional archivists and curators. The professional community's objective is to develop a catalogue system which is accessible and searchable on a global basis. This obviously requires researching and attaching a considerable number of information elements to each digital image. This effort is currently well beyond the ability of most community historical societies. However, if you have an interest, a good overview is available at Digitization 101. On the other hand, I believe a simple index that works for the community historical society, and can be easily managed and understood by volunteers is all that is necessary to serve the immediate community needs.
Good Digital Image File Habits:
● Rename Files - Codes assigned by cameras and scanners are not terribly useful other than for sequence.
● Use Keywords & Categories - These are typically developed by you and assigned to each image. A thoughtful hierarchy of image categories, sub-categories, and keywords make for a very searchable image library.
● Add File Captions and Notes - These are specific to each file, and may be searchable.
● File Creation Date - May be useful as a fallback for sorting. However, keywords and file names are more useful in identifying image informational content.
● Add Star Ratings - User defined image quality ratings to indicate your favorite and least favorite images.
Copyright © 2009 - Historical Images of New England LLC - All Rights Reserved.