| Blog Post Published on: | 26th October 2022 |
| Title: | A Discussion of Digital and Physical Archives for Circle Pines Center |
| Lead Author: | Fred M. Beshears |
| Type of Blog Post: | cpc_archive |
Recently, I’ve been asked about the prospects for creating a physical archive for historical documents that pertain to the history of Circle Pines Center. Here’s a discussion of that issue.
Fred,
Does CPC have a decently organized and protected archive for original photos and documents? I have many of these old prints and enjoy posting some of them, especially those with stories connected to them.
But what about the originals? They are now 70 years old, and I’d like to know that they’ll still be around 70 years from now. What to do?
Peter,
One of my reasons for digitizing the old photos I found at CPC back in 2007 was to capture a digitized version of these photos before the original (hard copy) version fell apart. At that point, I didn’t see how CPC could afford to create a controlled environment to prevent these photos from decaying over time.
Although I’m just guessing here, I suspect that the same is true today. To put it more bluntly, Circle Pines does not have the financial resources necessary to create a decently organized and protected archive for original photos and documents.
On a related note, I’ve considered moving to the CPC area so I could personally provide the equipment and labor necessary to digitize the historically important documents stored in the farm house.
In my view, one can at least partially preserve historical photos and documents by creating digital versions of them. Further, once in digital form, it may actually be easier to organize and protect a collection of physical documents.
The digital meta-data used to organize a collection physical photos and documents can be used to search for items in that collection. Further, with the advent of the web, these database records can be viewed online from anywhere. Libraries and museums call these online systems “finding aides.”
By giving researchers and other interested parties the ability to search for, find, and view digital versions of photos and documents, libraries and museums are better able to protect the physical condition of the original documents in their collections. In many cases, having digital finding aides and digital images obviates the need to manually browse through and handle the physical artifacts in a collection. Of course, it may be desirable or even necessary to physically examine the original photo or document.
Therefore, despite the existence of online finding aides and digital replicas of old photos and documents, it would be nice if Circle Pines had the financial wherewithal to have a decently organized and protected archive for original photos and documents.
Finally, I’ve been looking into what it might take to set up such a well organized and protected physical archive. In the reference section below, I’ve included two of the articles I’ve read so far.
Thanks, Fred. This is excellent! I personally have many more photos and documents from both my own and my parents’ collections. I’ll continue to post some of the more interesting ones, but at some point I would like to turn over most of these items to a well-organized and secure CPC archive. I suspect other old-timers also have collections they would be happy to share under the right conditions. I look forward to hearing thoughts from others on this topic.
Lin, Emily
Digging into Local Archives: Approaches and Methods for Planning Research
Emily Lin
19 October 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cC_-LNU3Ak
In this program, Emily Lin, with the UC Merced Library, explains the process of digging into archives, including a look at how archives are created, where to look and what to expect to find, and strategies and possibilities for research.
Peabody, Rebecca
Getty Blog article: What Is the Future of the Photo Archive?
by Rebecca Peabody and Anne Blecksmith
10 February 2016
https://mycirclepines.org/blog_posts/getty-blog-article-what-is-the-future-of-the-photo/