american museum of natural history photography collection diana rosenthal
TRANSCRIPT
American Museum of Natural History
Photography Collection
Diana Rosenthal
Origins of AMNH photo collection
● AMNH founded in 1869● Photographs collected
purposefully from the beginning
● Oldest negatives date to late 1800s
● Photography studio opened in early 1900s
● Current collection contains more than 1 million photographs1907
What formats are in the collection?● Black-and-white negatives, ranging from 35 mm
to 11 x 14 inches (>850,000)
● Photographic prints representing more than 900 different collections (125,000 individual photographs)
● Scrapbooks created in various AMNH departments (52)
● Large-format color transparencies (>9,000)● 35 mm color slides representing more than 600
collections (>150,000 individual slides)● Lantern slides (>55,000 colored/uncolored
slides)
Subjects pictured in the collection● Images document scientific
work worldwide● Cover fields of
anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, geology, paleontology, zoology
● Photographs from every continent
● Photos of the stars● Images document history of
AMNH, AMNH staff at work
● Images also depict permanent and temporary exhibits
1912
Who generates the photographs?● Photos created by
scientific staff and AMNH photo studio
● Some images donated, some purchased
● Photography collection maintained by AMNH education department until 1967, transferred to library
● Photos housed/managed/cataloged by AMNHResearch Library
Unknown, but pre-1925
Who uses the collection?● AMNH curatorial
and scientific staff
● Academic researchers
● Writers● General public● Most groups rely
on library catalog/help from librarians to find materials
1914
Digitization of the collection
1898
● Library won grant to fund pilot program to digitize, describe, and make available online 1000 images
● Pilot program turned into larger, grant-funded project to digitize and describe more images
● Digital Special Collections page launched in April 2014 with 7,000 fully cataloged digital images on Omeka
More on digitization
● Currently, Digital Special Collections page has nearly 11,000 images
● 5,650 digital images currently being cataloged
● 194,000 images in various stages of post-scanning processing
● 7,000 scanned and cataloged legacy images to be incorporated into Omeka
Unknown
How is the collection accessed?
Unknown, but pre-1904
● Library catalog/slide inventory provides most info on physical collections
● Digital Special Collections can link researchers to library for more help/info about collections
● Research appointments necessary to view physical materials; often, photos are scanned and provided for non-commercial use
● Licensing and reproduction now handled by Global Business Development office
Metadata and authority control
1962
● Images described using Library of Congress Subject Headings, Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
● Local AMNH vocabularies also employed
● Metadata entered into modified Dublin Core fields in Omeka database
Spotlight: Lantern slides
Unknown
Unknown, but pre-1919
● Collection contains about 55,000 lantern slides
● Once circulated to NY schools to educate students on natural history
● Used for AMNH lectures to educate public
● Prized accomplishment of Albert Bickmore, founder of AMNH
Spotlight: Expeditions and exhibitions
1894
● Recent effort to categorize some images by expedition based on existing collections
● Beginning with oldest, most famous expeditions, like Peary, Jesup, and Pepper
● Currently, most-accessed collection is Chinese expedition of early 1900s
Final thoughts
1936
● Surprised by low numbers of digitized images
● Library relies heavily on volunteers and interns to maintain project
● Photos are a priority for library and generate grant money
● Would like to see input from AMNH staff to enhance record linkages
