Hi Jessica....

At my last employer, we included photos as part of the ECM solution.
For the most part it was a good fit as we wanted one stop shopping for
all records within the organization.

The biggest issue was the metadata assigned to the photo.  In many cases
it was listed as DSC_261 which is the default name assigned by the
camera.  You will need to change this.  With the 30,000 photos you will
want to initially bring them all in one location.  Use something that
will enable you to view as thumbnails.  This will allow you batch
similar photos together and assign a basic content name.  You will need
to build classification schemes very similar to what you would do in the
paper realm.  Of course, this involves some sort of an inventory or
assessment of the existing photos.  When you batch similar photos the
system will not allow you have more than one name so the batch may look
like Humber River - Raymore Drive(1), Humber River - Raymore Drive(2)and
so on.  Later you can better define the name if time permits.

In the batch process you may also want to assign tags or keywords to the
photo.  For the above illustration your keywords may be Hurricane Hazel,
James Park, Etobicoke which are all defining characteristics of the
location or events which have happened there.  

All our photos were shot by a staff professional photographer so the
images were shot at 16 megapixels resulting in rather large image files.
When we input the photos into the ECM we reduced the file size down so
that the photos could be used in a report, up to 8 1/2 X 11 size and
still have acceptable quality.  If the image was going to be used beyond
that size, the metadata of the original image was included so it could
be found later if needed.  This made it easier for users to find and use
photos for reports, flyers etc.  They simply cut and pasted the photo.  

You would not want to store large image files within your ECM.  Your IT
guys would have a fit.

As far as retention, we had some historical photos which were of a
permanent nature.  We hadn't decided on retention for everything else.
Our concern was to make the photos available to staff in a quick and
easy way.  It also drove them to the ECM as for some users this was the
only feature they would use within the ECM.

With the thumbnails, staff were able to quickly pick and choose the
correct photo for their needs.  Without it, it becomes a nightmare.

Hope this helps, sorry for being so wordy.           


John Annunziello, CRM, CDIA+, ermm
Records and Information Audit/Compliance Officer
Corporate Services Department
Office of the Regional Clerk
The Regional Municipality of York
Newmarket, Ontario

(905) 830-4444 x1318

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Jessica Fairchild
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 4:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Managing Image Collections

Greetings illustrious listserv,
Does anyone have a recommendation for software products and/or metadata
(tagging) applications to help manage a digital image collection.  We
are
small public agency, so many of the products I'm familiar with from my
archive and library days may be a bit robust for our current needs.

Here is a brief background:  The Department currently maintains
approximately 33,000 images on their network drive.  With the right
appraisal strategy, I think they will be able to significantly reduce
the
number of images - but like any image collection it will continue to
grow
over time.  They are looking for a better way to manage these images
over
time and to increase searchability of their collection.

On a related note - I've been reviewing our network drives to get a
better
handle on our electronic files, and I've noticed that photos
abound...everywhere.   If other organizations have grappled with this
same
issue, I would be interested in hearing how you curbed photo/image
storage
and retention.

As always, I am grateful for all of the wonderful points of view, and
many
thanks in advance for your consideration!

Cheers,

Jessica Fairchild
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
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