I'm a little concerned about the recommendation that museums
take low-resolution images of artifacts (see below). The key principle of
digital imaging is "one scan, many uses" and this holds for
digital cameras too. If you are digitizing cultural heritage materials
you want to digitize at the highest possible resolution, save those
images and then create derivatives for display on the web. The beauty of
digitization is that the images can be used for a whole slew of purposes
without having to digitize the piece again. By digitizing ONCE, you save
considerable expense in the long run. Every time you have to retake the
image, it costs time, money, and places more stress on the artifact.
There's not a lot of great material out there on digitizing
three-dimensional artifacts, but if you're digitizing anything, a
good place to start is the Handbook for Digital Projects, which is
available online at
http://www.nedcc.org/digital/dighome.htm.
Trevor Jones
Project Coordinator
Illinois Digitization Institute
Visiting Assistant Professor
University Library
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
"As for the expense, you
probably do not need the highest resolutions out
there, most computer moniters do not display the full resolution of
the
pictures and they will eat up memory. If the pictures are for
reference
in a database just stick to the lower end and hire a photographer
for
professional/publicity shots and slides when you need
them"
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