Management of digital photo files in geological archives

(Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology Qingdao 26607 1)

At present, there are more and more digital photo files in geological archives. This paper puts forward corresponding measures and suggestions in view of the problems encountered in the filing and management of digital photo files.

Keywords: digital photo file management of geological archives

In recent years, digital technology has developed rapidly, and digital cameras have been widely used like mobile phones. The advantages of digital camera in shooting, preservation and transmission are incomparable to traditional film photography. With the wide use of digital cameras, at present, there are more and more digital photos in geological data archiving, and researchers often send digital photos to archives as part of field work results. Although digital photo file is also a kind of electronic file, it has unique attributes and characteristics after all, and should be different from ordinary paper files and electronic files in preservation and management.

1 Features of digital photos

1. 1 Digital photo files are also electronic files.

Digital camera is a kind of camera that uses electronic sensors to convert optical images into electronic data. It has the characteristics of digital access mode, interactive processing with computer and real-time shooting.

In the Archives Rules of Original Geological Data, the definition of electronic files is "files generated in digital equipment and environment, stored in digital form in carriers such as tapes, disks and optical disks, read and processed by digital equipment such as computers, and transmitted on communication networks".

Judging from the above definition, digital photo archives are a kind of electronic documents.

1.2 Digital photos still belong to the category of photos in essence.

Digital photos are not only electronic files, but also have the properties of photos. The definition of photo archives in the Regulations on the Management of Photo Archives is: "A historical record that is directly formed by state organs, social organizations or individuals in social activities and mainly reflected by still photographic images and has preservation value. Photo archives generally include negatives, photos and descriptions. " The main purpose of generating digital photos is to record various activities mentioned in the definition with still photographic images. Although the original expression forms and storage carriers of digital photos and paper photos are different, and there is no negative film in the traditional sense, digital photos themselves can be developed into paper photos or generated negative films, and traditional photos and digital photos can be converted to each other. So the main attribute of digital photos is photos.

1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of digital photos

The advantages of digital photos are obvious: fast imaging, fast transmission, easy processing, easy editing and easy access, even if they are stored for a long time, they will not change color or deform, which is convenient for long-term preservation; Another advantage of digital photos is that they can be displayed, viewed and processed on digital cameras and computers. It can be connected with tape recorders, printers, televisions and other devices for transmission, and can be published on the Internet.

While digital photos have obvious advantages, they also have some disadvantages that cannot be ignored. First, the separability between the information of the digital photo file and the carrier will make it difficult to identify the authenticity of the digital photo. Digital photos can be easily processed and modified by computer, which brings difficulties to the identification of original files. Secondly, it depends on software and hardware. Digital photos mainly use data storage, and the processing process must go through computers and various software. Once the two are damaged, the damage to digital photos will be devastating.

2 Geological data in the digital photo management problems

Although all geological units attach great importance to the management of digital photo files in geological archives, there is no real standardized management of digital photo files, which mainly includes the following two aspects:

2. 1 Lack of unified data standards and management standards.

The format and resolution standards of digital photos cannot be unified. Some units manage digital photo archives with reference to the standards formulated by the local archives management department, while others simply make their own management measures with reference to "Photo Archives Management Standard" and "Electronic File Archiving and Management", which will directly affect the quality of digital photo archives management.

2.2 There are a series of problems in the collection, archiving and storage of digital photo files.

Most digital photos are stored in the form of data rather than objects. They have no negative film in the traditional sense and do not need to be developed. The photographer of digital photos may not file the photos in time immediately, and the archivists cannot monitor the formation process of digital photos, which will lead to the untimely filing of digital photos and easy omission. There are also problems with storage. Digital photos must rely on storage devices such as computers to exist, and the condition and failure of these devices, coupled with computer viruses, will cause damage and loss of digital photo files.

3. Main measures to strengthen digital photo archiving of geological data

Compared with paper photo archives, digital photo archives are different in original expression and preservation carrier. Therefore, the management is very different, and the management of digital photo files is more complicated. We should strengthen the management of digital photo files from the following aspects.

3. 1 Archives managers in the geological industry should constantly improve their comprehensive quality.

2 1 century is the era of knowledge economy, knowledge has a very prominent position, and new ideas, new knowledge and new carriers appear constantly, which objectively requires archivists to constantly enrich themselves and update their knowledge. In addition to mastering the basic knowledge of archival science, we should learn more about the geological industry and the professional knowledge related to the professional and technical content of our unit, and strive to become a compound excellent archives management talent who is familiar with both the archival profession and the relevant professional knowledge of our unit, and is familiar with the operation of modern equipment.

3.2 Improve the filing system of digital photos

We can learn from the experience of other cities, other industries and brother units and make great efforts in collecting and archiving. Geological archives management personnel should keep abreast of the progress of the project, urge photographers to hand over the digital photos to the archives management department in time, and make a good description of the photos, including the date and place, and try to reflect all the information of the photos.

3.3 Identification of originality of digital photos

Originality is the basic attribute of archives, which also applies to digital photo archives. Archivists should learn more relevant knowledge and accumulate experience. When archiving digital photos, make sure that they have not been modified, synthesized and other post-processing. This work requires the care and patience of archivists. We should carefully analyze the picture, tone, proportion and overall style of the photos with reference to other achievements of the archiving project, and invite experts from relevant professions to identify the authenticity if necessary. In a word, the identification and confirmation of the originality of digital photos is a very important link.

4. Organize and save digital photo files

The management of digital photos in geological archives should be the same as that of electronic files. A complete set of digital photo files should include digital image files, paper digital files and text descriptions.

4. 1 digital image file part

Before filing, first, filter the digital photos together with the archivists, and eliminate the duplicate and unclear digital photos. Then, record the archived digital photos as electronic files and save at least two copies on different computers. Burn at least two sets of CDs, and one set shall be filed together with other research reports and maps as a part of the archived contents, and numbered in sequence, without separate classification. In this way, it will be more convenient and quick to find the files of the same subject in the future. The other set is stored separately and sealed.

4.2 Paper digital photo section

Some authors think it is not necessary to make digital photos into paper photos, but I personally think it is necessary. Compared with digital photos, paper photos have their unique advantages. Backing up 1 set of paper digital photos can prevent the loss caused by the destruction of important digital files. For specific management methods, please refer to the filing management methods of paper photos. When paper digital photos are filed, they should be carefully checked with digital image files, and the contents of digital image files are completely consistent with the corresponding paper photos before filing.

4.3 Text description of digital photos

The text description part should reflect the main information content of digital photos, indicating the name of the shooting subject, shooting time, location, photographer, pixel, image format, etc. After digital photos are burned into a CD, external labels should be attached to the CD and pasted on the CD packaging. You can't write or paste marks directly on the CD, so as not to affect the reading of the CD. The label shall be filled with the file number, carrier number, title and date of data preparation of geological archives. In addition, the hardware and software environment of the CD must be marked on the CD box.

At present, although there are still many places to explore in the management of digital photos in geological data, as long as we can clearly understand and correctly treat these problems and take corresponding measures, I believe that a set of effective standardized management methods will soon be formed to ensure the originality, authenticity and reliability of digital photos, so that digital photo files can play their advantages and greatly enrich the contents of geological data.

refer to

Li Liyun. Some thoughts on strengthening the management of digital photo archives. China Archives, 2007(3)

Wang Fenggang. Reflections on the management of digital photo archives. Science and Technology Information Development and Economy, 2006( 1)

Fu Rongxiao, Weng Minxi. Comparative study on digital scanning and storage formats of archives. Bulletin of Archives Science 2007(2)