Hi,

Regarding the following suggestion:
" I also
have an external 250 zip drive which is essential for
backing up the database.  (100 will work too -- but
more is always better, isn't it??)"

I have some serious reservations about using transient media for accomplishing
any critical tasks. The Zip disks are nothing more than bigger and glorified
floppies and DO fail -frequently, in my experience. They also degrade over time,
as does everything in the computer world.  I would push for investing in some
sort of external hard disk array, kept separate from your main computer drives
and write/back-up your data to the external drives on a regular basis (nightly
or weekly) so that you can access the materials WHEN (not if) your primary
drives crashes .

I 'll be happy to 'talk' to folks about this -off-line so as not to hog the
list.

Guha Shankar
Media Production Specialist
P.S:  Also check out this link for standards from Smithsonian for digitizing
images

http://voom.si.edu/anthro/imaging_standards.htm


-----

We are digitizing our collection at this time too.
This is what I have:


**Dell Optiplex GX260 with 2 hard drives (one is
devoted only to the database -- which came in VERY
useful when Windows 2000 locked me out one day
mysteriously when I first got the computer -- the
database was untouched through all of the trauma of
moving files off the C drive and reinstalling
everything -- it serves for peace of mind).  I also
have an external 250 zip drive which is essential for
backing up the database.  (100 will work too -- but
more is always better, isn't it??)


**PastPerfect with the Digital Imaging Module and
Networking interface


**Sony MVC-FD75 digital camera with 10x OPTICAL zoom


**Epson 1000 ICS printer/scanner


All of this is working wonderfully for me.  I don't
use the scanner as often for digitizing the collection
because we seldom make prints of anything anymore.  I
know you are doing archival work, so the scanner is
something you will be using far more than I do.  The
camera takes jpegs directly onto a disk, which allows
me to have volunteers taking pictures of the
collection -- they clip a full disk (usually about 36
pictures) to a form listing the numbers of the objects
they photographed and the storage location.  (I love
to design forms...)  Then it is simple for me to
insert the photos into the records in PastPerfect.  If
we get a photo of someone wearing a dress, or for some
reason a donor has a good photo of an object, then we
scan it.  It goes right into PastPerfect from the
scanner.


PastPerfect is the simplest collection software I have
ever worked with.  The digital imaging is fool-proof!
You can manipulate the photo within PastPerfect to
rotate it, lighten, darken, etc.  Not real fancy
stuff, but enough to make the image better.


Hope this helps.  Feel free to contact me if you have
any questions about what we use.


Kim Kenney


--- Ruth Lang <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I work for the Fresno Historical Society which
> administers the Kearney
> Mansion Museum (valleyhistory.org).  We are
> currently looking at funding to
> digitize and computerize our archival collection.
> What computer equipment do
> other organizations on this list use?  What do you
> like or dislike about the
> equipment? We are looking at Dell models. What
> collection software do you
> recommend?  We have looked at Past Perfect.  How
> does that compare with other
> programs?  We have also looked into the Epson
> Expression 1640XL Graphic Arts
> scanner.
>
> Any help would be most appreciated!
>
> Ruth Lang
> Archival Assistant
> Fresno Historical Society
> 7160 W. Kearney Blvd.
> Fresno, CA 93706
> 559.441.0862
>
L" (without the quotes).

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