Digital Archival

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Dirck Halstead : One Thread

Does anyone knows how to go about digital archival? I am from a Singapore newspaper and we are starting a new publication and need help and advice urgently from any newspaper or firm who are dealing with digital archival library. By June 2000 we are going fully digital. Would appreciate if someone could help me out here. Thanks.

-- Alphonso Chan (alphons_chan@hotmail.com), November 23, 1999

Answers

There is a great software program Fotostation Pro from fotoware in Norway, try contacting them at www.fotoware.com Most newspapers in Israel use it and I use it too.

-- Assaf Shilo (mail@israelsun.com), January 28, 2001.

arent u the famous big mouth guy from singapore?

-- Hui Ding Kian (hui@hotmail.com), December 06, 2002.

We have successfully converted 3 million pages of Historical Newspapers (1851-1990) for digital archival purposes. We are willing to help you with your efforts.

-- Gokul Krishnan (gokul@ninestar.co.in), February 11, 2003.

If you call the great yellow father - KODAK - in Rochester you will be in for a rude awakening. (800) 242-2424

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ARCHIVAL DIGITAL PRINTS. The problem is not the paper but the inks. No digital print will last as long as a film print.

The people selling digital cameras conveniently ignore this fact, but at least KODAK is honest about it. I asked if there is any way to preserve digital prints for as long as film prints. The answer was to send the disk to KODAK; they will make a negative and process it in the darkroom. Then why on earth would I need a digital camera? Aside from newspaper reporting, police work or just fun, the answer is you don't.

I asked my compuetr-savvy friend if the images could be preserved electronically - on disks. He replied that they will deteriorate also, in 10-15 years.

If you have any further information, please let me know.

Thanks Sid Hecker

-- Sid Hecker (Heckersid@hotmail.com), May 31, 2003.


In response to Sid Hecker's response:

> I asked my compuetr-savvy friend if the images could be preserved electronically - >on disks. He replied that they will deteriorate also, in 10-15 years.

Basically a digital copy can be preserved forever, without loss or deterioration. Of course you do not keep them on a hard disk and wait for the hard disk to crash or for a virus to infest it. You make back ups. First of all, we recommend our customers to back up onto CD-ROM (or DVD nowadays) and keep these in a save place. Then the life copy will be in the server, searchable, downloadable, etc. Whenever the system would crash, you can retrieve the CD original.

When CD's get outdated and newer storage technology takes over, you simply copy the CD data to the new technology.

There is no better storage than digital storage. It can never deteriorate.

-- Marco Bos (marco@noisia.com), August 14, 2003.



There is no doubt that with the amount of money invested in digital by everyone from Kodak to Sony to the guy around the corner, the inks will soon be of true archival quality. Also, your electronic/CD method is a way through the problem.

Aside from electronics and archival considerations, I still find the darkroom more satisfying, more relaxing, more fun,even though it is undoubtedly slower.

See www.picturetrail.com/heckersid for some examples. Thanks.

-- Sid Hecker (Heckersid@hotmail.com), September 19, 2003.


ugur

-- ugur (ugur__9@hotmail.com), February 08, 2005.

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