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Re: Mounting Images on the Web



In response to Sue Gardner's reply to my query.

First let me assure you that we do have a sliding scale for our fee
schedule and non-profit organizations and individuals do not pay the same
amount for images as for-profits. This same sliding scale will apply to our
electronic images, as well.

But, I also feel that if we do not place value on what we hold - no one
else will either.  Because the age of electronic files has made it so easy
(at least seemingly)  to send and receive images it creates a sense  of
casualness about the objects/images that the digital files represent.

You are right, proper credit is great promotion for any institution, but I
can't tell you how many of our images we see on the web without credit and
without permission.  Generally, images that have been scanned from books or
other publications.

Ultimately, the reality is that anything mounted on the web is fair game
and control is virtually impossible (no pun intended).
With that in mind, having policies regarding resolution, file size
etc.,  seems to be one way of limiting image use to its original purpose.

I have received several e-mails asking for a list of responses to my query
from other institutions out there struggling with the same problem.

Again,  any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.





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Date:    Sat, 13 May 2000 07:43:23 -0400
From:    Sue Gardner <sgardner@RCLS.ORG>
Subject: Re: Charges for Mounting Images on the Web

In reply to Anne Cadrette's query regarding charges for those wanting
permission to use images of an archive's material on their web pages,
I wanted to comment that the comparision to images in a printed
publication doesn't really work-- most printed matter at least has the
potential to generate income, while non-commercial webpages do not.
While I agree that fees for use by a commercial website should be in
place, fees for an individual page or a non-profit organization should
be minimal.

I have worked to locate materials about local history in other archives
for our web page, and have been able to provide our population with
images of items such as primary documents which the holding archive had
no interest in publishing, and was charged a minimal digitization fee.
Researchers of our history now have access to the high-quality images
quickly.  I would not have been able to pay for a higher fee, given our
budget.

One of the primary benefits of this type of cooperation, when properly
credited, is promotion of the holding archive.  How much would we "pay"
for an ad which promotes our institution and its holdings that can be
seen world-wide?  If the request is for material that the owner is going
to publish on the 'net, or something that would compete with an in-house
income-producing print publications, that would be a different story.

Please weigh the value of ennabling previously hard to access material
to be viewed by researchers against the need to generate income, and
scale your fees accordingly.

Sue Gardner
Local History Librarian
Albert Wisner Public Library
Warwick NY 10990

------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne M. Cadrette

Assistant Librarian
American Textile History Museum
491 Dutton St.
Lowell, MA 01854

978-441-0400 x225
acadrette@athm.org

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