Good prices on additional memory
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Technical Consultants for establishing
the digital archive and catalog, as well as our guides for materials
preservation:
Connecticut Photographics
www.ctphoto.com
128 East Liberty Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Phone: 203-791-1474
Connecticut Photographics was established in May of 1987 in
Connecticut, bringing from Boston over ten years of experience in photo
lab operations and management . Starting with black & white services only,
it has expanded and changed with the industry offering many color
services, including those encompassing digital photography. Connecticut
Photographics provides an alternative to the usual volume oriented custom
lab by concentrating on the craft of quality print making, film processing
and digital imaging. Our consultants at the lab have been invaluable in
guiding us in the preservation of older photographic materials – both
physically and digitally.
Assistance and Training for Digital Enhancement and Printing:
Navone Studios
www.navonestudios.com
66 Fort Point Street
East Norwalk, CT 06855
Phone: 203-852-7275
Fax: 203-852-1590
In 1993, at a time when digital photography was in its infancy, Navone
Studios realized the capabilities of a complete digital production
studio.
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We submitted a grant proposal to a regional foundation, the Meserve
Memorial Foundation, and received a $4,800 grant with which to purchase
equipment to establish an archive.
The Newtown Historical Society committed $5,000 to the project to pay
someone to make raw scans (only – all other work is done on a volunteer
basis) and purchase archival supplies. The Friends of the Cyrenius H.
Booth Library, the public library in our town, has contributed $2,000.
These latter funds will be used, in part, to create an exhibit of archive
prints during the town’s tercentennial in 2005.
The main cost of the project is the first phase – establishing the
archive and digitizing, cataloging, and printing copies of images. Our
initial funding will cover the expenses of the first phase. We would like
the archive to be self-sustaining, however, and will offer images for sale
at a modest cost. This cost has not yet been determined. We are
exploring the issue of copyright; this is, indeed, a critical
consideration in reproducing material. The local newspaper, The
Newtown Bee has expressed interest in supporting the project by
posting our digital catalog on its server to provide ease of access to the
material and assist in publicizing. Private donations are also
anticipated.
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Our initial budget was set at $15,000 but was reduced in relationship
to the actual amount of funding we received. This project could certainly
have been effectively initiated with equipment that was less
“state-of-the-art,” however we were fortunate to receive a grant from
Meserve Memorial Foundation to buy equipment that would easily carry us
into the future.
Originally, we planned to pay anyone involved in “professional”
activities – scanning, adjusting digital images, printing, cataloging,
archiving original material, etc. We ended up paying someone to make raw
scans only; all other activities have been and will be done on a volunteer
basis. This paid member of the team had no prior experience but was able
to follow a protocol established for raw scanning by our Connecticut
Photographic consultants.
Another factor that contributed to the need to drop our “paid services”
budget line items is we are handling much more photographs than originally
anticipated. The images are “coming out of the woodwork.” To date we
have 1,400 images we are working with, and anticipate at least 600 more to
be included this year. Fortunately we have a very active photography club
in town and we are tapping into those members for volunteers to print.
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Establishing a timetable was extremely helpful. And if you will be
applying for a grant to establish an archive you will need to include
everything listed on these pages, with the exception of Protocols and The
Digital Archive. But as with any massive real-life endeavor, our
timetable was off about a year because we were late getting funding and
then decided to wait for the Mac G5 to be released.
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The main source of the archive images to date is the collection of the
Newtown Historical Society – totaling approximately 1,400 images. We will
pursue including historically important images from the print archives of
The Newtown Bee newspaper and the Cyrenius H. Booth Library.
People in the community and estates will be invited to contribute select
personal photographs to the archive. We also will purchase, from
ephemeron dealers, images of the town that are unique.
In accepting materials from any source, it is prudent to consider the
following: 1) Historical value of the information/image, 2) Cost of
retention, 3) What and who is affected if the archive accepts this image.
These concerns head a schedule of questions created by Frank Boles and
Julia Marks Young in “Exploring the Black Box: The Appraisal of University
Administrative Records,” American Archivist, Spring 1985, pp.
121-140.
For items donated from personal collections (e.g., family photographs)
we ask that contributors sign a Deed of Gift, which includes items listed
below. Whether or not this is truly legally binding as far as copyright
laws are concerned, we cannot advise.
