The Digital Archive
It's worth reflecting on the evolution of archives after 20 years of work with quickly changing technologies. This experience is invaluable gives context to why I make specific recommendations. It’s impossible to be precisely correct, given the unknowns of emerging systems. It is, however, possible to analyze based on the needs of an archive at any given time. It’s important to contextualize a system in the role it plays in a for-profit or non-profit environment.
The switch to digital imaging in the 90's and early-2000's was ground-shaking. The original obstacle I encountered was in 2001 when an agency required six months to digitize 30 black and white prints. Scanners and desktop computers were much slower processing large files. Distribution channels also weren’t clear or defined, being both analogue and digital, and included the emergence of FTP and email. This was a journalistic context. Timeliness was important as photographers and agencies were tried to innovate and adapt.
Another major churn I experienced was working at an agency around 2004. This was when archives were shifting to locally-hosted but web-accessible databases. Scanning technology had improved but servers were prone to crashing and storage space was an issue. We developed triage plans that helped deliver images.
When databases were all online and beginning to grow in scale, acquisitions of companies became common. I migrated content from one database to another with a combination of queries and an interface referred to as a digital asset management system. Businesses were sold to bigger and more agile companies.
Cloud-based digital asset management systems began hitting the market as agencies consolidated and closed. I worked with these systems, keenly aware of the pitfalls of their predecessors. Efficiency grew in leaps and bounds but cumbersome marketing workflows, requirements, and a diversity of media types caused confusing priorities in a fiercely competitive technical environment.
I don’t know what’s next. I believe in innovation for building knowledge and communicating concepts and ideas. The volatility of technology remains a looming cloud on the horizon. Concepts and ideas are important as the world faces adversity in new ways and scales. It will take an expeditious and innovative approach to cross into, and through, the digital unknown.
