Betsy and I spent a few days at the Albany Institute of Art and History, in beautiful downtown Albany, taking part in a workshop sponsored by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).
The workshop was an introduction to the process of digitizing historical collections. Day one covered the workflow, day two concentrated on the scanning process, and the final day was devoted to metadata. Ah, sweet metadata.
We had a great time and met a number of people in the New England area who are working on varied historical preservation projects.For our little business here, the workshop helped me understand the total scope of digitization projects and what resources are needed to make them happen. It also opened up some ideas for doing joint projects and possibly creating a “hybrid outsourcing” capability here in DMG Photography (we provide the technology and expertise, but we’ll do the work on-site). We’ll see how that flies.
I’m not a “city mouse”, but Albany’s Empire State Plaza was an interesting place to visit if only in that it was an example of what someone thought was a modern space — maybe it is nicer than what was on the surface. The architecture is contemporary 60’s, complete with sculptures by famous people. But it bright, cold, and almost antiseptic. Washington Square, which is nearby, was comparatively packed with people eating lunch on the lawns.
I really wanted to visit inside the state capitol building, but I was unwilling to give up my tiny pocket knife for the sake of some false sense of security people get by knowing that I won’t be carrying a knife with a terrifying 1.5 inch blade. Sigh!
I’ve added AASLH to my blogroll. They are good people.