Digcomm2007

Picture This!

But Don’t Forget the Context

Ron Gagnon, Executive Director

What is Context?• Parts that surround and help to

determine meaning• The circumstances in which an

event occurs; a setting. The American Heritage®

Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by

Houghton Mifflin Company.

Context• At the moment of creation• At the time of presentation• Aids in understanding and

appreciation

• Who are these people and what are they doing here?

Answer: “1915 Pageant Saugus”

• But Why? (Saugus Public Library)

Context Sources• From the original image and

setting• From the selection – then and now• From the metadata – description

and access points• From the display, placement or

arrangement

Sources Bring Context• Postcards –

promotional, scenic• Commercial –

promote business, investment

• Documentary – who’s funding?

Photos from the Beverly Public Library: Top, United Shoe Machinery Co.,

Bottom, Washington School

Sources Bring Context• News photos – great calamity• News photos – donated files, more

depth• Organizations – focused, some

depth• Constituents – more everyday life,

balanced

Original Context?• Posed or candid? • Older photos likely to

be posed due to technology and style.

• Typical or not?• Quality of information

Photos: Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Heywood-Wakefield Company

Typical 1912 Factory?

Typical 1912 Factory?

Context• Top: Stitching Room Personnel, A.

E. Little Co., Lynn, Mass. shoe manufacturer. (Lynn Public Library)

• Bottom: ”At machine is Stanislaus Beauvais, has worked in spinning room for two years. Salem, Mass., 10/26/1911” (National Child Labor Committee Photographs taken by Lewis Hine, ca. 1912, National Archives)

Commercial Interest?• PR shots of factories or true

conditions?• Contrast with child labor and other

workplace issues• Many old views are postcards –

present community or attraction in best light

Point of View?• What message is being conveyed?• Intentional or not?• Today’s cultural viewpoints

different than 70 years ago – minorities, women, etc.

Selection• Finances require some selectivity,

prioritization, at least initially• Select cross section of pictures or focus

on select topics?• Big events vs. everyday life• Influenced by donors/funders?• What about the big annual minstrel

show?

Create Context• Improve understanding by bringing

together images and information from the same time and place.

• Related images, contemporary newspaper accounts, oral history, passages from local history works.

• Time lines

Make History Alive and Vital

• Link into packages: pictures with oral histories

• Geotagging: linking images by neighborhood

• “Then and Now” sets• Outreach and cooperation with local

history groups, photography clubs, etc.

• Link for public comments (form asks for contact info for follow-up)

• Integrates comments

• Policy link• Purchase

option• Credit to

digitization funder and provider

Then and Now• Arcadia book series• Calendars• Newspaper• Web site• Work with

photography groups

• More precise the better

Worthington Time Machine

http://www.worthingtonmemory.org/time_machine.cfm

Linking Past with Present

Geotagging Example

Today: Tomorrow’s History

• What are you collecting on the Flood of 2006?

• Collect public contributions before they lose/file them

• Develop relationship with local media

Photo: Brian Kelley

Tomorrow’s History Today

• Check sources like Flickr

• May require contacting photogs

• Probably pleased to be recognized and preserved

Danvers Explosion photos, 11/2006; top photo: Charlie Mulcahey; bottom EPA

Metadata Provides Context

• Fancy word for cataloging information• Who, What, When, Where and maybe

Why• Finding aid and background information• Harvested by other systems• May require research, an investment• For future generations, not ephemeral

Enhance the Metadata• “Samuel Hawkes

Home / Walnut St. / Zayres there now” (Saugus Public Library)

• Who remembers Zayre? That’s history, too. (natick.wordpress.com)

• Exact address???

Why?

• The Future of LibrariesBeginning the Great Transformation

•

By Thomas Frey, Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute•  

3)       Preserve the memories of your own communities.  While most libraries have become the document archive of their community, the memories of a community span much more than just documents.  What did it sound like to drive down Main Street in 1950?  What did it smell like to walk into Joe’s Bakery in the early mornings of 1965?  Who are the people in these community photos and why were they important?  Memories come in many shapes and forms.  Don’t let yours disappear.

Community Outreach• Outreach to the community• Take it on the road – Rotary, etc.• Build community interest, funding for

digitization, contribution of collections• Primary search material for school

research• Work with seniors for research and first-

hand knowledge• Role for library in the community

Unique Niche• Our libraries have unique collections• Integral to the history of the country:

Early Settlers, American Revolution, 1692 Witchcraft, Revolutionary War, Industrial Revolution, Automation

• Institutional history: changes and progress• Underutilized – difficult to access, unknown• In Danger: theft, deterioration, etc.• Irreplaceable

Thank you!

Ron Gagnongagnon@noblenet.org