Managing Image Collections


Book Description

This book explores issues surrounding all aspects of visual collection management, taken from real-world experience in creating management systems and digitizing core content. Readers will gain the knowledge to manage the digitization process from beginning to end, assess and define the needs of their particular project, and evaluate digitization options. Additionally, they will select strategies which best meet current and future needs, acquire the knowledge to select the best images for digitization, and understand the legal issues surrounding digitization of visual collections. - Offers practical information for the busy information professional - Concentrates solely on image management - Focuses on unique needs of born digital and digitized images




Collections Management


Book Description

An invaluable and practical introduction bringing together leading recent papers emphasising some of the major issues affecting collections management.




Structures of Image Collections


Book Description

Human beings have always had a penchant for collecting images. The challenge today is that almost anything and everything in the world is available as a viewable image. Consequently, say O'Connor and Greisdorf, image collections can no longer be the result of ad hoc processes rooted in antiquated methodologies. To this end, they present the reader with an interdisciplinary approach to the principles, practices and belief systems underlying categorization and image management. The book is divided into three parts: defining the nature of images; describing how images are used; and explaining how and why images are collected (including the mechanics of storage and accessibility). Individual chapters contain a historical perspective on the subject matter and supporting research. Liberally enhanced with illustrations from the authors' own collections. For anyone who cognitively engages with image collections either vocationally or avocationally.




Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections


Book Description

Managing previously unmanaged collections can be challenging. The process of securing the collection and making it accessible needs the mindset of a collections manager as well as the one of a project manager. The target audience are museum professionals with a basic training in collections care that are confronted with collections that are either large in numbers (1000+ artifacts) or stored confusingly, or both. The book is a step-by-step guide how to approach this situation, assuming that there's nothing to start with but a collection that has to be accessioned and the person who is assigned to do it. It is about how to bring order into the chaos, to define what is needed in terms of time, money, staff and material, to spot facility issues and potential dangers, and to use the power of networking to solve an otherwise unsolvable task. Many chapters conclude with “logical exits,” the points at which the collection in a condition that allows you to leave it for the next curator to take over. A common issue is that time frames are often so tight that the target of having the collection in good shape at the end of a contract or at a fixed date can’t be met. Another common scenario may be that other projects become more important and you have to stop working on the collection, which might sound familiar to many directors of small museums. “Logical exits” are the points you can do this without risking that everything you’ve done so far or since the last “logical exit” was a waste of time. For contractors those “logical exits” might serve as orientation points when negotiating the work that has to be done on the collection.




Health Sciences Collection Management for the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

Health Sciences Collection Management for the Twenty-First Century is intended for those with any level of experience in health sciences collection management. This book from the authoritative Medical Library Association starts with the context of health sciences publishing and covers the foundations of selection, budgeting, and management. It won’t tell new librarians what to buy but will give them background and criteria that should go into their selections. However, the focus of this book is not only on best practices but also on the big picture and the deeper changes in the field that affect decision making. Subjects not always covered in many collection development textbooks such marketing or accessibility are included because they are part of the larger collections landscape. Chapter contributors bring their own perspectives to the topics. Stories of different libraries’ experiences bring interesting topics to the forefront in practical, specific, and timely detail. While whole books have been written that go into some of these topics more in depth on their own, the treatment of each topic here focuses on the unique perspective and concerns of the collection manager.




A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections


Book Description

A resource for the photographic conservator, conservation scientist, curator, as well as professional collector, this volume synthesizes both the masses of research that has been completed to date and the international standards that have been established on the subject.




Museum Collections Management


Book Description

This landmark publication is the first to draw together all aspects of museum collections management in one handbook. It is designed for anyone with responsibility for a cultural collection and covers everything a collections manager needs to know. It describes professional practice in managing cultural objects and works of art, whatever the size and nature of the collection. The book includes essential information on: Legal aspects of collections Ethical issues such as due diligence and immunity from seizure Up to date concerns such as sustainability, crossing borders and financial constraints Loans, acquisitions, inventory and movement. The book describes all collections management procedures in a simple step-by-step process and is clear and easy to use with all procedures based on international museum practice. Examples of real forms, policies and documents drawn from major museums are included throughout the text and act as guides for any transaction. Readership: Packed full of practical information, advice and good practice, this will be essential reading for all museum professionals, curators of private collections and museum studies students.




National Geographic Image Collection


Book Description

Behind "National Geographic" lies one of the most extensive, valuable, and unique graphic resources on Earth: the "National Geographic "Image Collection. The book by the same name, now in small format, lets readers plumb the fascinating depths of this immense archive.




Digital Image Collections


Book Description

The Commission on Preservation and Access has published a number of reports on the preservation and access implications of scanning text and microfilm. This report focuses on what sets the digitization of visual collections apart from other scanning projects. Projects to digitize visual collections present their own unique set of questions and concerns, as well as issues that overlap with digital capture of text. The report provides basic suggestions about planning digitization projects, practical guidelines for working with images, and some final thoughts about the future systems and infrastructure needed to provide collections of images over the long-term. To use digitization as a tool to provide worthwhile, enduring access to treasured cultural and historical resources, one must become informed, establish guidelines, and proceed in rational, measured steps to assure that such reformatting of visual matter is accomplished as well and as cost-effectively as possible. The paper includes the following sections: (1) Introduction (Digital Images as a Reproduction Medium and Of Letters, Lines and Images: Reproductions in Print Publications); (2) The Original Object and Its Reproduction; (3) A Framework for Assessing Image Quality; (4) Color Matching for Image Collections (Color Management, Transformation and Image Output and Controlling Images in Distribution Environments); (5) Documentation and the Integration of Image and Text (Production and Management Documentation); (6) Building Image Collections; and (7) Image Access and User Environments (Rights To Image Collections, Electronic Publications and Use of Visual Materials, and How Will Collections of Digital Images Be Created?). (Contains 45 references.) (SWC)




Management


Book Description

Management: Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections explores the kinds of challenges that managers of archival programs face today and how those challenges can be met to achieve optimal results while working within existing resources. The book features thirteen case studies that demonstrate solutions to both traditional management concerns as well as new issues and opportunities presented by changes in technology and organizational environments. The featured case studies are: 1) “We’ll Never Let You Retire!”: Creating a Culture of Knowledge Transfer 2) Raising Cash and Building Connections: Using Kickstarter to Fund and Promote a Cultural Heritage Project 3) A Winning Combination: Internships and High-Impact Learning in Archives 4) A Thief in Our Midst: Special Collections, Archives and Insider Theft 5) Tackling the Backlog: Conducting a Collections Assessment on a Shoestring 6) A Platform for Innovation: Creating the Labs Environment at the National Archives of Australia 7) Setting Our Own Agenda: Managing the Merger of Archives and Special Collections 8) Taking Control: Managing Organizational Change in Archives 9) Implementing Pre-Custodial Processing: Engaging Organizations to Invest Resources in their Records 10) Building Effective Leaders: Redesigning the Archives Leadership Institute 11) From Evaluation to Implementation: Selecting Archival Management Software 12) More Bang for the Buck: Sharing Personnel and Resources Across Institutions 13) “Make a New Plan, Stan”: Useful and Painless Strategic Planning The collected case studies present pragmatic approaches to challenges and opportunities that are common to organizations of all sizes and types. Their common focus is on building stronger archival programs by making effective use of people, technology, and resources while working within organizational requirements and constraints. The volume will be useful to those working in archives and special collections as well as other cultural heritage organizations, and provides ideas ranging from the aspirational to the immediately implementable. It also provides students and educators in archives, library, and public history graduate programs a resource for understanding the issues facing managers in the field today and the kinds of strategies archivists are using to meet these new challenges.




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