[PRCo] Re: Scanning Archives

[Edward H. Lybarger]

That's because I take it seriously, and you know a lot of the stuff that I
don't.  Some places wouldn't even try.

The other problem is prints or negatives that aren't marked, even though we
know full well what and where they are.  A novice won't know...we'd have to
spend countless hours writing it down before turning someone loose scanning.

The other option, which some would find abhorrent, is to pitch a lot of the
apparently duplicative material to minimize the problem.  I'm of a mixed
mind on that subject...sometimes there's something valuable on the one you
would logically throw away, but there are also way too many photos of some
subjects.  Fantrips come to mind as one source of that, yet once in a while
someone pointed a camera  180 degrees from where everyone else was looking.

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Schneider
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 6:08 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Scanning Archives


And how many unidentified prints have you dumped on me in the last year and
asked if I knew what they are?      

Sad thing about that is that this problem applies not just to the library
but to training new operators.   Those that museums got in the 1940s through
the 1960s had some idea how to run a streetcar just by watching revenue
operators in the streets; they also had mentors in the hobby even if some of
them presented a distorted view of the industry.   

Today those people who come through the door often know as much about our
business as a politician knows about global or national economics.   


On May 16, 2011, at 7:42 PM, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

> Grants are pretty scarce right now.  I'd want to know more about the 
> partnering arrangement in any event.
> 
> One of my concerns in hiring staff to scan is that they don't know 
> what they're looking at, which poses a big problem where images are 
> not specifically identified.  There has been much written on this site 
> about flawed captions in the PCP material; I'd not want to see 
> anything like that happen.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ed
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of 
> Ray
> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 6:27 PM
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Scanning Archives
> 
> Just asking a question. Are grants available for the museum library? 
> If yes can a grant be written for scanning archives and partnering 
> with Historic Pittsburgh?
> 
> Ray
> 
> 
>