Digitizing a Photographic Collection in a Midsize Repository: A Case Study

ABSTRACT

Serving as a case study of a photographic digitization project in a midsize repository, this article describes a project at the Weill Cornell Medical Center Archives. The author examines six components that the archivist needs to contemplate when planning a digitization project: selecting the images to be digitized, understanding the needs of the potential audience, allocating staff resources, assessing the costs of funding the project, choosing equipment and software, and deciding on arrangement and description of the photographs. The benefits of these projects, which include improving access, preservation, and photographic reproductions systems, will be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Weill Cornell Medical Center Archives
• photographic digitization projects
• digital collections
• archival descriptive standards
• selection criteria
• scanning equipment and procedures
• photographic reproduction methods
• digital preservation
• cost analysis