Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/12/14

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Subject: [Leica] Photogs in a Digitally (not) Abbreviated World
From: SonC at aol.com (SonC@aol.com)
Date: Tue Dec 14 21:08:13 2004

In a message dated 12/14/2004 10:03:39 PM Central Standard Time, 
tedgrant@shaw.ca writes:
But I've got prints kicking around here, 16X20's that have to be 45 years 
old easily, if not more and they still look pretty damn good without all 
this extra processing and preserving. 
Umm, I work in an archive; my main job is to duplicate (scan) our massive 
photo and document collection.  We have hundreds of snaps from the 1920s 
that 
were contact printed at a pharmacy, and thousands of other work by local 
amateurs 
and professionals.  Sometimes I can look at a shot and tell by the shape of 
the negative and the style who took the picture. 

We don't scan for preservation; we scan so people can have greater access to 
the shots without handling them and exposing them to too much damage.  
Often, 
you can tell much more about a snap by enlarging it on a computer than you 
could ever tell with a magnifying glass and the print in hand.  We also 
scan, to 
service a pretty large clientele of magazine, historical book publishers, 
and 
television and AV producers.  We've had stuff on three American Experiences 
shows (WGBH) in the past two years, and something like twelve books, 
including a 
new history text. 

You can get a handle on some of our collection by logging on to our website. 
 

Some of our stuff is at 
http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/chamber/default.htm

 and http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/steamers/default.htm

We are preparing to load several other example collections on the web, and 
at 
the same time are building finding aids for our collection.  That's taking a 
lot of time as the Archive has only four full time staff altogether, but as 
you can see by this list we are making progress.

http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/archives_list_of_collections.htm

Finding aids exist for more than we have linked, it's just a slow process to 
get them on the web.  As there is a good deal of interest in military 
content, 
those are so marked.

A description of the Cammie Henry Research Center is here.  

http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/CGHRC.HTM

There, I probably have driven you all to drink, but now you might have a 
glimpse at my fascination of carrying on this documentation project.

What was the question again? Oh yeah, archival pictures.  We have lots of 
stuff that is pretty good shape, but if you REALLY want archival, print with 
a 
good quality ink on low acid or acid-free paper.  Books.  I think Ted does 
that. 
 The pictures in a quality printed book will outlast ALL other photographic 
renditions if you keep it away from the varmits.  


Regards, 
Sonny
http://www.sonc.com
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Oldest continuous settlement in La Louisiane
?galit?, libert?, crawfish
 Abbreviated

Replies: Reply from r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor) ([Leica] Photogs in a Digitally (not) Abbreviated World)