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Before embarking upon the creation of a digital image collection,
it is wise to be aware of the costs and commitment involved and ask,
why undertake such a task, and for whom? Digital surrogates can almost
never be considered replacements for analog originals, which have
intrinsic value and compared to which even the best-quality digital
image represents a loss of informationinevitably failing to convey
the unique feel, scent, weight, dimension, and patina of a physical
object. Moreover, the creation of digital image collections can be
arduous and expensive, their maintenance can impose a long-term obligation
upon institutions, and their management may well throw into question
many established procedures.
The issue of whether such a commitment is worthwhile can only be
resolved by considering the mission and resources of any particular
institution. A digital image collection can increase awareness of,
and facilitate access to, analog collections and thus serve both
an educational and a promotional function. It can support the management
of resources by providing, for instance, a straightforward way of
identifying different assets. It can indirectly facilitate the conservation
of original artifacts, because use of a digital surrogate can decrease
wear and tear on the original, although it should be noted that,
conversely, the additional awareness created by the availability
of a digital surrogate can actually increase demand to view the original.
High-quality or specialized imaging can reveal previously indiscernible
details that might be useful in the conservation and/or analysis
of original artifacts. Aside from all such considerations, it may
be that the expectation of all cultural heritage institutions to
offer digital surrogates online has reached a point where both target
audiences and funding sources require its fulfillment at some level.
These incentives must be balanced against the time and expense involved
in establishing and maintaining a digital image collection-factors
that are all too easy to underestimate. While funding is often available
for digitization projects, costs frequently go beyond the actual
scanning process to include, for instance, conservation of originals,
cataloguing of originals and surrogates, photography, salaries, training,
and investment in the technical infrastructure to facilitate management,
preservation, and access. Because image files are so large compared
to text files, the construction of a networked image repository is
likely to affect system resources significantly, and system architecture
and network topology are therefore likely to become significant
concerns. License fees may be required to reproduce the chosen material
and offer it over the World Wide Web or in any other digital form.
Even if various tasks are outsourced to either commercial vendors
or collaborative nonprofit consortia, the creation of a digital image
collection will inevitably consume resources that might have been
spent on some other task.
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