Heritage Grants
Special Guidelines and Recommendations for
Photographs (Cataloging and Care of Collections) 2008
Click here to download
these Guidelines for Photographs 2008.
QUESTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED
As you plan your Heritage Grant project and application, we encourage
you to think about and address the following topics and questions
with your Heritage consultant. These questions should also be answered
in your final application. The underlying theme of all KHC Heritage
Program grants is to preserve our cultural heritage while encouraging
and providing more ready use of valuable resource materials.
APPRAISAL
1) How many and what kinds of photographs are involved?
If your photos are in boxes and have never been surveyed,
you might start by counting the photographs in a sample box and
estimating the size of the collection based on the number of boxes.
Discussing the types of photographs in the collection is also important.
Slides, glass negatives, photo albums, and other unusual formats
may require special attention.
2) What is the significance of the collection?
When you prepare your application, it’s important to convey
the importance of your collection to local history. What stories
do your collection of photographs help to tell? What time periods(s)
and subjects are represented? Is it the only public collection of
historic photographs in your town or county? If not, what makes
it distinct from other collections? What are the collection’s
strengths and weaknesses?
3) Do copy prints and / or negatives of photographs exist
for part or all of the collection? Most Heritage program
care of collections projects involve the protection of original
photographs by one or more of the following:
- Making photocopies of photographs that patrons can handle and
view in lieu of the originals, which will then be stored;
- Creating copy prints of photographs or printing images from
negatives where no print exists;
- Creating negatives from original photographs where no negative
exists.
The purpose of making copy prints and/or photocopies is primarily
to preserve the original photos and protect them from frequent handling.
Making copy prints is relatively expensive and usually needs to
be done selectively.
Copy prints can be made:
a) in-house by staff and volunteers,
b) by a professional photographer or
c) by another museum or archive such as the Kansas State Historical
Society.
You should compare prices and also consider the security of the
collection if it needs to be removed from the premises. Be sure
that the copy prints you obtain will be archival quality —
not all photographers have this capability.
Producing copy negatives from original prints can help to make
the collection more available to the public, since copy prints can
then be produced by your institution for patrons. In developing
a plan to make negatives for a large collection, the grant applicant
must be practical. Criteria must be established to determine which
images are of greater historical value and interest to the public.
(Once the project is completed, patrons can still obtain copies
of those prints of lesser historical value by paying for the cost
of creating the negatives when they order a copy print. The negative
is retained by the institution.)
TOP
ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Is there a cataloging system in place?
Are photographs numbered and labeled according to subject headings
and classifications? Explain what system of cataloging and subject
headings you are currently using in your grant application and in
discussions with your consultant. If photographs have never been
cataloged, you should discuss how the photographs will be identified
and labeled as part of the project. This will help keep photographs
and negatives linked and the entire collection organized and accessible
in the future. Often, care of collections projects are combined
with cataloging projects, or a cataloging project is anticipated
upon the completion of the care of collections project.
TOP
PROVIDING ACCESS TO THE COLLECTION
1) Creating displays. Heritage funds may be requested
to make copy prints of selected photographs in a large format size
for a display that interprets the collection for the public. However,
the creation or refurbishing of entire photograph exhibits, especially
those that involve the display of the entire collection on multiple
panels, is beyond the scope of the Heritage Program and should be
done with local cost share funds.
2) Digitizing images. Many organizations plan
to make portions of their photograph collections available to their
patrons via Internet sites that feature digitized (scanned) images
and/or an online catalog of the collection. These are excellent
ways of sharing your collection with a wider public. However, the
digitizing of images should not be viewed as a preservation method,
since technology becomes obsolete rather quickly. Projects which
involve a large-scale digitization of photographs are generally
beyond the scope and purpose of the Heritage Program.
TOP
PRESERVATION ISSUES
1) Prioritize your holdings. Each institution
should have a mission statement and collecting policy. If you do
not have one, take time to write one. These two documents will guide
you through the tough decisions of which images to dedicate time
and money for preservation.
2) Storage of photos. The conditions under which
the collection will be stored at the end of the project are important
to care of collections projects. The sponsoring organization should
strive to provide housing for photographs which
- Has basic climate-controls (protected from moisture, heated
in winter and cooled in summer).
- Makes use of wire shelving (for boxes) or enamel-coated file
cabinets (for files).
- Stores photographs and negatives in separate locations (preferably
separate building) to ensure against disasters such as fire, flood,
and tornado. Ideally, negatives should be stored off-site in a
fireproof cabinet.
- All photographs should be stored inside archival quality folders,
boxes, and/or sleeves, at the end of the project.
Grant funds may be used to purchase archival folders, boxes, and
sleeves. The improvement of climate controls and purchase of file
cabinets and shelving is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization.
WORKING WITH YOUR CONSULTANT
The consultant may be involved in the project at varying
levels, depending on distance and the skill of your organization’s
staff. We recommend having the consultant visit at least
twice during the project, preferably once before the application
is submitted or right after you receive the grant. Having the consultant
host a training workshop for staff and volunteers on handling, storage,
and identification of photographs is also recommended for those
groups who are new to this type of project. For experienced organizations,
the consultant can provide ongoing advice and evaluation of the
project results.
As part of the project raining, written guidelines for handling,
storage, and identification of photographs should be developed by
the consultant and the sponsoring organization. These written guidelines
can serve as a reference for cataloguers both during and after the
project.
ACCESS TO THE PROJECT MATERIALS
At the end of the project, photographs cataloged and preserved
with KHC Heritage Program funds must be housed in a public archive
such as a library or museum that is accessible to researchers during
regular hours. In general, Heritage Program grants are not awarded
for the care of collections that are privately held.
In addition, the Heritage Program requires you to contact a statewide
archive and offer them the option of copying selected photographs
for their own collection.
Choose one of the archives from the list below, and contact the
archivist to talk about the project as early as possible. The cost
of copying photographs will sometimes be borne by the archive. In
other cases, funds may be added to the KHC grant award for this
purpose. Contact KHC staff for more details and for exceptions to
this requirement.
STATEWIDE ARCHIVES
Farrell Library, Kansas State University, Manhattan
KS 66506
Archivist: Anthony Crawford, 785-532-7456
Kansas Collection, Spencer Research Library, University
of Kansas, Lawrence KS 66045
Archivist: Sheryl Williams, 785-864-4284
Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th,
Topeka KS 66615
Archivist: Patricia Michaelis, 785-272-8681, ext. 270
Special Collections, Ablah Library, Wichita State University,
Box 68,
Wichita KS 67260
Archivist: Michael Kelly, 316-978-3590
Special Collections & University Archives, Leonard
H. Axe Library, Pittsburg
State University, Pittsburg KS 66762
Archivist: Randy Roberts, 620-235-0483
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR FINAL GRANT APPLICATION
Remember to discuss in your final application:
-
The approximate number of photographs and
a discussion of their condition.
-
The historical significance of the photographs.
-
A discussion of your cataloging system (existing
or future).
-
Housing and storage of the collection when
the project is done.
-
The name of the archives that will be offered
the opportunity to copy photographs at the close of the project.
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