Digital Images for the Information Professional

Production of digital images is one of the earliest and most popular ways to digitise paper holdings of archives, libraries and museums. In spite of vast literature, covering diverse aspects of digitisation initiatives there is still a lack of sources explaining the features and management of digital images in a way understandable for non‐technical professions. In this light Digital Images for the Information Professional is a useful handbook for information specialists willing to make informed decisions of managing digital images.

The advantage of this publication is that the author – Melissa M. Terras – has both humanities and computer science education. There is no technical jargon in the book that makes the material hardly digestible for information professionals.

The book consists of eight chapters dedicated to specific issues of digital imaging and ranging from background information and definitions to image management concerns.

In “Introduction” the author provides an overview of the role of images in society and human perception and presents a definition of digital image. This chapter is also designed to explain the structure of the book and main issues presented in further chapters.

The second chapter “The history of digital images” focuses on the evolution of technologies that enabled digital imaging. Melissa M. Terras starts with the “age of telegraph” and proceeds to conceptual developments that underlie the modern production of digital images. Such themes as facsimile machines, first computers, personal computing and internet, first digital images, image capture devices (cameras and scanners) and others are covered in this part of the book. It should be noted that the author deliberately avoided any extended presentation of the contemporary devices and software due to their rapid obsolescence and change. Interesting facts from cultural, social and political life surrounding the discovery and widespread dissemination of specific imaging predecessors or related technologies make reading more attractive.

In the third chapter “Digital image fundamentals” the author proceeds to major concepts and features related to digital images. Basic concepts as pixels, resolution, interpolation, bit depth, compression are covered by this part of the book. The chapter is a useful introduction to those who make the first steps in the world of digital images.

Logically, the next step to know more about digital images is to introduce image file formats. In the chapter “Image file formats” the author discusses s a concept of image file formats and provides an overview of popular formats (such as GIF, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.). The principles for choosing appropriate format for digitisation purposes are introduced in the end of the chapter. Here the reader can also find useful references to recommendations and best practices in the field.

The perspective of memory institutions on digital imaging is provided in the fifth chapter “Digital images and memory institutions”. In the chapter benefits, issues and history of digitisation initiatives in memory institutions are discussed. It includes traditional overview of digitisation advantages (i.e. extended access to collections for various user groups) and concerns (i.e. copyright, costs, and digital preservation). The history of digitisation is structured around three periods: early years, the 1990s, post 2000. It provides a mix of projects, policy initiatives and experience of certain memory institutions (mostly libraries) with major focus on UK and US digitisation initiatives. This chapter may provide the “look and feel” of digitisation developments, though generally it is not very structured and systemic overview.

The chapter “Personal digital image collection” reflects recent discussions on the role of information professional in advising users on their own collection management. Lately, an increasing number of papers are devoted to digital information management practices of particular user groups (especially scholars), some projects are researching such management behaviour as well. The chapter discusses the dramatical increase in use of imaging for creating personal archives of photos and concerns of their longevity.

In the seventh chapter “Image metadata” the author introduces the concept of metadata and provides a brief overview of widespread metadata schemes. Some of the schemes were developed in the information professionals' community and are well‐known (e.g. Dublin Core), other image specifications originate from imaging industry (e.g. Exif, DIG35) and may be less familiar to memory institutions. Notably, alternative approaches to metadata as a web 2.0 development – folksonomy, in other words, user‐generated classification – are introduced. A brief overview of content based image retrieval (CBIR) is provided as well. These two developments are increasingly employed in digitisation initiatives. For instance, archives, libraries and museums publish their collections on Flickr and allow users to tag them. Memory institutions holding artworks or photos provide an opportunity for search by elements and colours of the image.

The book is concluded with the chapter “Current issues in digital images”. Some of the issues discussed here originate from technical peculiarities of tools and digital environment in which images are created and managed. These are colour management and quality and related issues of authenticity and wide opportunities for making changes and manipulations. Other issues like copyright and sustainability issues are a part of information resource management processes but also stem from the new imaging environment and tools.

The language and the scope of this book suggest that it would be useful for professionals willing to get basic knowledge about digital images and associated digitisation issues. This book is not a comprehensive overview of all possible digital imaging concerns for memory institutions but it provides a good starting point for further studies. Library and information, archival studies students would benefit from reading it to acquire background understanding of digital imaging. Notably, the book helps students to organise the process of study better by providing annotated lists of literature for further reading in the end of each chapter. However, this book is not of interest for professionals who are experienced in working with digital images and wishing to concentrate on specific digitisation concerns or extend their knowledge.