[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
The University of Alberta here recently switched/is switching their whole email system to gmail. Not sure how it's going in practice, but that's a pretty large switch (about 50,000 students and staff). http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/news/2010/01/25/google-s-gmail-selected-replace-email-service-across-campus http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/University+Alberta+outsource+mail+Google/2433450/story.html tim Tim Atherton e. timatherton at telus.net t. 780.292.3881 archivist ? curator ? photographer ?/The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of - if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!/? Jocasta Nu - Jedi Archivist
[MCN-L] Open source version of SlideRoom?
I'm not sure about any such software that's around (I'm losing track of what comes out these days...), but there may well be something suitable. BUT - if you do get a system set up, one of your first tasks will be to set out clear simple but well defined rules/requirements for image submissions. If you don't (or if your requirements are in the least bit ambiguous...) you will end up with everything from 72dpi jpeg thumbnails to 350mb tif files to .psd files to all sorts of obscure formats, varying sizes, resolutions and colour spaces. He says knowingly from experience :-) tim a Tim Atherton e. tim at kairosphoto.com <mailto:tim at kairosphoto.com> t. 780.292.3881 archivist . curator . photographer "The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of - if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!" Jocasta Nu - Jedi Archivist
[MCN-L] institutional policy for a museum's online presence viasocial networking
Maja, I think you read that stuff I posted a while back about clashes between corporate identity/communications policy etc and Web 2.0? Or was that on another list... tim a
[MCN-L] Mac vs. PC
I've always tended to work in a PC environment both work and home wise, with the odd foray into Macs here and there in certain work setups. But for the last almost couple of years I have been working in an all Mac environment in an archives, but linking into PC's/Microsoft on the wider scale. Didn't have any problems that weren't fairly easily solved - and found the whole area of connecting to servers, backups, networks etc generally much easier to set up, configure and troubleshoot on the macs - even to microsoft stuff. Shouldn't be any problem with the Mac produced files - I didn't encounter any. I must say, in the end - for imaging, archives and museum work (databases, archives management systems etc) - I have come to much prefer the Macs - looking to afford to be able to eventually change over at home though... (my theory is they aren't more expensive in the end. You make up for it in the lesser amount of time and effort you spend on trying to fix and maintain Macs as compared to PC's - to say nothing of lower blood pressure - and they tend to last somewhat longer as well) tim a Tim Atherton e. tim at kairosphoto.com <mailto:tim at kairosphoto.com> t. 780.292.3881 archivist . curator . photographer "What would Derrida do?"
[MCN-L] Museum Jobs: A Summary
> Photographer's there, but the whole job area of digital media and > asset management were barely known in the 90s. > > That's not to say that we're not all endangered these days! > I've come across a couple of articles recently (at least one was a "Business/economics" one rather than cultural sector one) listing the whole area of digital assets, digital preservation, digital archives/records management etc as being growth area - and for some time to come - currently with not enough experience and qualified people to meet the need. Gave me hope for at least five minutes... :-) Tim Atherton e. tim at kairosphoto.com <mailto:tim at kairosphoto.com> t. 780.292.3881 archivist ? curator ? photographer ?The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of - if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!? Jocasta Nu - Jedi Archivist
[MCN-L] Success with Web 2.0 requires risk
On an archives list I'm on, there was a recent back and forth discussion about the role and purpose and usage of their organisational Facebook and recalling similar (although often more heated and confused) discussions about Web 2.0 ideas and concepts in institutions, I was encouraged to find the following rather good article about Government Departments and the adoption of Web 2.0 projects. While it is about Government Departments, you could apply most of it to almost any top down institution - big or small. http://fcw.com/articles/2009/06/08/feature-social-media-government.aspx "Social-media gurus often sound like Zen masters when they try to explain their discipline to initiates or skeptics. To take control, give up the illusion of control. Learn from your audience and embrace the unexpected. Failure is one of the surest signs of success. Social-media pioneers and proponents from government, academia and industry gathered in Williamsburg, Va., last month at the Government Leadership Summit, which was sponsored by the 1105 Government Information Group, the parent company of Federal Computer Week. Many of their conversations focused on the paradoxical nature of tools like Twitter and Facebook. It?s not that social media defies logic, like a Zen riddle. But its logic does not necessarily fit easily into government?s traditional models of governance. Agencies typically take a top-down approach to deploying new applications, with a central office providing the resources and defining specific rules of engagement. That won?t cut it with social media, which works best at the grass-roots of an organization. Successful deployments involve a push-pull balance between the two. Agency officials need to define basic goals and parameters for the use of social media, but they also need to let an application take on a life of its own. This way of thinking is a challenge for the federal workforce, said Robert Carey, chief information officer of the Navy Department and one of the first federal CIOs to have an official blog. Some guidance might be needed ?to get us out of this very bureaucratic structure into a more collaborative, flat environment,? Carey said. "... more above Almost everything in the article is reflected in my own recent experience when I was involved in some exercises about "re-visioning" or "re-imaging" an institution. There were lots of good ideas (though most introduced from the top down) about making everything more customer/client oriented, about moving from being a top-down to being a bottom-up organisation, about moving from unilateral decision making to shared decision making, from "management" to "leadership" and so on. And in the whole process Web 2.0 came up. Lots of excitement about the potential. Lots of verbal commitment that this was a way to go to open up the institution, help bring it into the 21st Century etc etc. Excited as I was by the potential in all this, the cynic in me managed to sneak out and... I asked if we were really committed at all levels to what this would involve. Did people realise what this would involve to put these ideas into effect and follow through with them. I was assured we as an institution were committed. Several months later my caution was justified. The institution hadn't truly taken into account what the whole thing - especially the web 2.0 social networking aspects - would involve. While staff (especially - but not only - younger staff) were were keen to engage with it all, management at all levels were too entrenched in the traditional hierarchical mould to take the risks involved. Essentially it ended up in a place where, for example, every facebook entry or action, every blog post or twitter etc would have to be "cleared". Nothing could be even close to being off-message The result was the whole idea of any kind of renewal was pretty much stifled - there was no risk taking creativity, no interaction with new constituencies and certainly no wish to encounter external dissenting views.Unfortunately, the organisation was enable to relinquish control to the extent that would allow the new directions to flourish. btw, there is a second article here on business and Web 2.0 which compliments all this from a slightly different direction - The Jazz of Social Media http://www.jeneane.net/?p=74 The problem is that while traditional marketers and MBAs and HR folk understand what it feels like to ?broadcast their message,? they don?t know what it feels like to ?jam,? to play with micromarkets in an already-in-progress composition, an evolving melody, on the market?s own stage, in the customer?s own house... And if you are looking for a fairly simple way to explain Web 2.0 and the move into Web 3.0, I also came across this - Web 3.0 for dummies: http://thenextweb.com/2008/06/26/web30-for-dummies/ http://www.slideshare.net/freekbijl/web-30-explained-with-a-stamp h
[MCN-L] FW: Anyone using MediaDex for Digital Asset Management?
Thanks for all the info all ? v helpful - Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum & Archives St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] Anyone using MediaDex for Digital Asset Management?
(Excuse the cross-posting) Is anyone using MediaDex for small scale Digital Asset Management? I?ve been looking for a smaller scale image file (mainly) management programme ? mainly for practical use ? keeping track of digitized images, images for photo orders etc. But which can also be accessed by a few staff, add some basic metadata etc. I?d been trying out Expressions Media (was iView Media Pro) and a couple of others but wasn?t entirely happy with them. I didn?t want to go to something like a whole Extensis Portfolio setup though. I used to use Canto Cumulus quite some time ago and generally liked it, but when I looked at the site I found they appeared to have got rid of their stand alone version. But recently discovered it had become MediaDex two or three years ago. http://www.mediadex.com/us/index.htm Downloaded the trial and it seems fairly nice so far. SO ? is anyone else using it? Experience? Problems? Also, is it still being developed/used or is the software basically static now? (couldn?t find much on the website) thanks tim a - Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum & Archives St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] Recommendations for photo management databases andsoftware
Has anyone tried any of the Open Source DAM solutions? tim a -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Archives & Research Mus?e H?ritage Museum & Archives, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] photography, digitization, and a color/grey card?
And don't bother with the Kodak cards - get the Gretag Macbeth ones instead. (they usefully come in a couple of sizes as well). (especially, don't rely on old colour charts you may have around from the days when you had a photographer 7 or 8 years ago. They fade over time and the colours also fade differentially) http://xrite.gretagmacbethstore.com/index.cfm?act=catalog.cfm&menugroup=__me nu+usa+new tim a -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator (Archives & Research) Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net On 10/14/08 3:06 PM, "Frank E. Thomson" wrote: > I would suggest shooting an image of the color bar at the start of each > session, maybe not in every image. But it would be helpful later trying to > match color and value. > > Frank Thomson, Curator > > Asheville Art Museum > > PO Box 1717 > > Asheville, NC 28802 > > 828.253.3227 tel > > 828257.4503 fax > > www.ashevilleart.org > > -Original Message- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of > Jansonius, Remko (Vizcaya) > Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 5:04 PM > To: mcn-l at mcn.edu > Subject: [MCN-L] photography, digitization, and a color/grey card? > > Dear Colleagues, > > > > We are about to digitize a collection of photo albums containing > 1910s/20s photographs; while they are black and white, many have > discolored and turned sepia over the years. Since these are fragile, > bound volumes we will be doing this through photography rather than > scanning. Would you say it is necessary or advisable or standard > practice to use a color card or a grey card during this process? > > > > As always, I greatly appreciate y'all's input! > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Remko Jansonius > > Collections and Archives Manager > > Vizcaya Museum and Gardens > > Miami, FL > > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] Bar-codes / RFID / Both?
I haven't actually used RFID in an institutional setting, but did look into it all a while back (I had the advantage that my brother worked on the development RFID at TIRIS with Texas Instruments way back when, so I was able to get plenty of free, no strings consulting...). Anyway, while there are a number of issues around the actual implementation of RFID depending on your circumstances, it's flexibility is one of the big plusses for the system. There is the obvious improvement in inventory control - you don't have to pull every item of the shelf to check it. In addition, the information on the tag can be updated as circumstances/locations change etc. And general, once fully implemented, it tends to give very accurate inventories. Information about the object - location, conservation issues, object history and notes etc can be stored on the tag, which can then be directly accessed by the staff wherever the object is. In larger locations, movement can also be logged by having gateway readers in different locations - so, if an item is moved from storage room to conservation lab, that is automatically logged. Quite a lot of other things can be developed around this aspect of RFID. In addition, and building on this, there is it's use in displays/exhibits. A visitor with a hand held guide can access selected information about any object in a display as they come to it, directly from the object, as it reads that information from the tag. You can also get feedback on visitor habits by tracking how and what they viewed in the museum. Here are just a few of the things I came across then http://www.it-director.com/business/content.php?cid=9838 http://www.cio.com/article/8820/_Putting_the_RFID_in_Art http://newmuseums.blogspot.com/2007/03/rfid-and-museums.html Unless you have a very large (spread out, possibly on different sites) collection, RFID might not be the most cost effective deal if you only look at it for collections inventory control. But if you consider it for broader use, taking advantage of its wider potential, it might well be worth it. Tim a -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] [ITS-SENDERBASE] Re: Difficult license provisions
As a photographer, I did once have a contract from a US publication that required rights something along the lines of "throughout the known and unknown universe"... I'm pretty sure I didn't keep it though (needless to say I didn't sign it either:-) ) tim atherton PS - Lesley - Your Canadian Copyright book seems hard to find? (we are looking for a reference copy for here) Tim Atherton Assistant Curator (Archives & Research) Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net On 5 Mar 2008, at 23:37, Amalyah Keshet wrote: > "In perpetuity." > > Amalyah Keshet > Chair, MCN IP SIG www.mcn.edu > > > - Original Message - > From: > To: "Museum Computer Network Listserv" ; "Deborah > Wythe" > > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 4:05 AM > Subject: [MCN-L] Difficult license provisions > > >> I am writing an article on difficult provisions in a license >> agreement. By that, I mean a term or condition which is either >> difficult >> to >> comply with, or difficult to negotiate. Any comments on or off list >> would be great. Thanks. >> >> Lesley >> >> Lesley Ellen Harris >> http://copyrightlaws.com >> >> ___ >> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >> Computer >> Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >> >> To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >> >> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >> > > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] [ITS-SENDERBASE] Re: Department name question.
> Non-management positions include: > > Assistant Collections Photographer (primarily copystand work) > Collections Photographer (images all collection works and installation > views) > Senior Collections Photographer (exceptional quality and > productivity. Most > difficult assignments) > [All photographers do their own color corrections.] > Production Assistant (bit of a misnomer, really more an Admin > Assistant. > Clerical and bookkeeping work including POs, vouchers, end of month > reports, > organization of incoming jobs, etc.) > Digital Imaging Technician: archiving of daily image production, > reformatting, migration, metadata check. > Senior Archiving Technician: another misnomer needing re-titling: > performs > flatbed scanning and color correction of archival materilas (non- > permanent > collection). > Senior Digital Image Archivist: Our DAM gatekeeper. researches > metadata > standards, works with IT to organize and maintain DAM folder > structure, vets > image submissions for internal standards compliance. Serves as > liaison to > our outside Rights and Repro agencies. Damn - last place I worked I used to do all those - apart from the book keeping... :-) tim a >
[MCN-L] the Library of Congress on Flickr
Interesting to see the LoC is starting to put parts of it's photo collection up online on Fickr for easy access. reasonable sized files that you can print from (though not as big as many they have online on their database - but which are harder to find) Same, on a smaller scale - with the Wisconsin Historical Society. Good way to make collections accessible. http://www.galleryhopper.org/?p=535 http://www.galleryhopper.org/?p=536 http://www.photoprogress.org/archives/257/library-of-congess-on-flickr/ http://www.galleryhopper.org/?p=540 tim a Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
[MCN-L] Digitial Image management software for Mac's
Having worked on PC's for so long, I'm somewhat out of the loop on Mac software and options... I'm looking for some lower end (but not bottom of the barrel) image management/library software that's Mac compatible. It's not going to be for a huge number of images But there are enough images that i need to be able to keep track of archived files, working files, exhibit projects etc etc It's also probably only going to be used by a couple of people or so I don't need something large scale that will run with multiple users on severs, handle hundreds of thousands of images, or produce web front ends etc etc, but it needs to be sophisticated enough that I can work with some basic metadata, run searches and keep track of things and so on... This will be separate from our actual collections database and the images as part of the catalogued in there (though those images will also be an incidental part of what I'm looking to use the image management software for) thanks tim a Tim Atherton Assistant Curator (Archives & Research) Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net
