Evaluating Images & Digital Resources

African American History to 1876

Rice Threshing, U.S. South, 1866, Image reference NW0088, as shown on www.slaveryimages.org, compiled by Jerome Handler & Michael Tuite, sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities & the University of Virginia Library.

About LEADR

  • Collaborative space for students to build digital projects and explore digital techniques
  • Equipment, software, & general support for projects
  • Open & staffed 10am-8pm Mon-Thu, 10-5pm Fri

Trustworthy Web Resources

Europeans Buying Enslaved Africans, 19th cent; Image reference Blake2, as shown on www.slaveryimages.org, compiled by Jerome Handler & Michael Tuite, sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities & the University of Virginia Library.

What is an Authentic Artifact?

n. ~ 1. The quality of being genuine, not a counterfeit, and free from tampering, and is typically inferred from internal and external evidence, including its physical characteristics, structure, content, and context.

- authentic, adj. ~ 2. Perceived of as genuine, rather than as counterfeit or specious; bona fide.

Society of American Archivists:

Authenticity

Documentation is Everything

Article: Baltimore Sun http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-04-28/news/1993118056_1_constellation-ship-history-afloat

Photo (2010): Wikimedia, 350z33 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Constellation_Inner_Harbor.JPG

Context is Key

Houghton Library Blog (Harvard) http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/houghton/2013/09/20/myths-debunked-sadly-theodore-roosevelt-never-rode-a-moose/

Determining Trustworthiness

More: 'Bert in the Frame with Bin Laden' BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1594600.stm

Image cropped from snopes.com

  • Is the site reputable?
  • Does associated image metadata tell you everything you need to know?
  • Is there contextual information about the image's creation?
  • If one or more of these is not true, consider finding a new source.

Primary Sources on the Web

Photo from New York Public Library Digital Collection

Locating Images

Places to start - LibGuides!

Cultural Heritage Databases

  • University Libraries
  • Museums
  • Special & Public Libraries
  • Government agencies

Elsewhere on the Web

  • Google Results *

Google Results*

Determining trustworthy sites on the web

  • Who is responsible for the website?
    • Contact info, an 'About' page, credentials
  • Is there a clear purpose or reason for the site?
    • Who sponsors the page? What is the agenda?
  • Determine the origin of the primary source
    • Does the site give metadata vouching for the item's authenticity?
  • What do others say about the web site?
    • Has it been reviewed elsewhere on the web?

 

Guidelines from Reference and Users Services Association, "Using Primary Sources on the Web" http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources

Evaluation Exercise

hitler.org | The Hitler Historical Museum

Is this a trustworthy historical site? Why or why not?

Results?

Results

  • Who is responsible for the website?
    • Contact info, an 'About' page, credentials - none
  • Is there a clear purpose or reason for the site?
    • Who sponsors the page? What is the agenda? - WhoIs.com
  • Determine the origin of the primary source
    • Does the site give metadata vouching for the item's authenticity? - nope
  • What do others say about the web site?
    • Has it been reviewed elsewhere on the web? - uh oh

 

Exercise adapted from T. Mills Kelly, "Finding: Search Engine–Dependent Learning" in Teaching History in the Digital Age (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/dh.12146032.0001.001

Once you have a trustworthy image...

  • What context was the photo taken in?
  • What message is the image trying to convey? 
  • Do other sources back up the image?
  • Takeaways from Handler & Steiner article?

[unretouched]

Published in The North American Indian

Edward S. Curtis, “In a Piegan Lodge,” still image, (1910), http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/iencurt.cp06005

Edward S. Curtis, “In a Piegan Lodge,” still image, (1910), http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002722455/

Copyright & Fair Use

  • Current US Copyright: Author's life + 70 yrs (after 1922)
    • Enter 'Public Domain' after copyright expires
    • Works created & published outside of US have different licenses
  • Fair Use - "the grayest area of copyright law"
    • “fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright"
  • What about a digital photo of a public domain work?

Summarized from Cohen, Daniel J. and Roy Rosenzweig, "Owning the Past," Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/copyright/

Ethics

  • Just because you can doesn't mean you should
  • Be mindful of the context of an object; do not misappropriate materials
  • Different cultures have different intellectual property norms and practices
  • If you edit materials, be sure to mention your edits, and/or cite the original source

 

Image via Queering Slavery Working Group (#QSWG) qswg.tumblr.com

[link]

Exercise

  • Pick a topic (i.e. Plantation slavery in US, the slave trade, etc.)
  • Find a photo
  • Answer as many of the following questions as possible:
    • Is the source trustworthy? Who is responsible for the website?
    • Is the image authentic? Who is the creator of the image? When was the photo taken? Where was the photo taken?
    • What information do you need to analyze the photo? Is it all there? Is enough there?

Evaluating Digital Resources and Images

By brandontlocke

Made with Slides.com

Evaluating Digital Resources and Images

  • 1,233

More from brandontlocke