Buckley (2004) "Preserving Images"

Buckley, Rob and Franziska Frey. 2004. Preserving Images. oe Magazine 4, no 1: 21-24.
Available online at oemagazine.com/fromTheMagazine/jan04/image.html

Initial Article Paragraphs

Until recently, image archiving was about preserving physical media. We are able to view 17,000-year-old cave paintings and 150-year-old photographs, for example, merely through physical access. In these cases, archiving is concerned with the stability and physical preservation of the image media—rock surfaces, photographic paper, etc. All this has changed within the last two decades in the digital world. Digital media provide access to electronic versions of images, but require a digital infrastructure—capture systems, networks, digital media, file systems, file formats, display devices, search engines—to connect the viewer to the original. Archiving in this case is concerned with preservation of the digital files. Part of this effort involves making sure the digital infrastructure can display the digital files. More and more, such systems will also be dealing with pictures that were created digitally, and hence do not have physical references. A digital project starts well before the scanning of the first picture or saving of the first file. Careful planning to define the aims, priorities, technical requirements, procedures, and future use is essential for efficient workflow and results that meet expectations. Digital images constitute active collections that require regular maintenance. Provisions to upgrade digital collections to keep pace with the changing computer infrastructure should be made at the start of a project, to avoid the prospect of digital collections created at considerable cost becoming inaccessible over time. A good digital archiving project is conceived as teamwork, combining expertise in imaging, collection management, information technology, conservation, descriptive methods, and preservation strategies.