Introduction
to Imaging
by Howard
Besser
89 pp., illus. Paper, $14.95
ISBN: 0-89-236-733-4
Reviewed by George Shortess,
3505 Hecktown Road,
Bethlehem, PA 18020,U.S.A.
george.shortess@lehigh.edu
This book, in its second
edition, was published by the Getty Foundation.
It is a basic source to guide those involved
with museums and other collections, in the
uses and pitfalls of digital imagery. For
this purpose it is an invaluable guide and
is highly recommenced. The fact that it
is in its second edition speaks to its acceptance
and usefulness. It covers digital imagery
as an archival tool, as a way to increase
collection accessibility, and as part of
a management system.
In addition, I would recommend the book
to anyone who is involved or plans to be
involved with digital images, since all
involvement involves some sort of storage
process. While some of the material is specific
to large museum collections, much of the
material is relevant to users of digital
imagery generally. The book gives a very
good overview of digital imagery with an
excellent Glossary in the back of the book.
It minimizes jargon and presents the basics
in clear and concise ways. The emphasis
is at the strategic or planning level. It
tells you what to look for in a program,
rather than a detailed analysis of any given
program. This makes it much more useful,
since programs are always changing and developing.
I was particularly impressed with its down
to earth treatment of issues that are often
hyped in a misleading fashion by the imagery
industry. Topics such as image resolution,
color, file formats, metadata, scanning,
etc. are treated in a straightforward and
clear manner. It does an excellent job of
pointing out the pluses and the minuses
of the available choices. The authors emphasize
the need for a clear understanding of the
specific purposes that digital imagery will
serve and why it is important to you. Issues
such as obsolete technology, data integrity,
security and resource management are treated
realistically. Its concluding advice reflects
much of the rest of the book: "In reality,
no one knows what the best preservation
strategy or combination of strategies will
be." (p 62) It goes on to recommend an open
approach and regular reviews as the best
ways to maintain useful digital files. The
book provides an excellent basis for carrying
out that strategy.