Denver Public Library Digital Collections & The Museum
of the Rockies Photo Archive Online
The repositories of the Denver Public Library and the Museum
of the Rockies conveniently have online access to their photographic
collections, apart from other materials. http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/photographs/
The DPL separates their collections by format, describing “photographs”
as a single collection, rather than a format for which several collections may
be classified. Within this grouping of photographs, users will find a division
of categories, such as “Native Americans,” and a search bar option. These
categories seem like they should be collections, but there is no descriptive
evidence to support this. The “Wild West Show” category is certainly a group of
photographs involving Bill Cody’s traveling show, but there is no overview of
this assemblage, which suggests that they are only displayed together due to their similar subject. It was not until I selected an individual image that
I found it was described as “part of” a specific collection. I appreciated that
the image contained a link to the collection, but found it troubling that I had
to reach it in this manner.
The site itself appears at first glance to be very well done
with aesthetically pleasing layouts, but navigation of the photographs feels
very backwards. Without a specific search topic in mind, a user must start with
the pre-defined categories, which will take them to several browsing options:
either viewing images individually, or narrowing the search by subject, date,
creator, or format-medium. It can get very confusing, very quickly.
The way the DPL describes the individual images is almost
very well done. Clicking on a thumbnail takes the user to a new page allowing
close-up zooming on any part of the photograph. The descriptive material is very
thorough about what the image is, with information about the creation of the
image, the subject matter, and even the condition of the physical photograph. However,
as Abebe Rorissa put it, “ofness” is very different from “aboutness.” The DPL
does little, if anything, to describe what their images or collections are
about. Perhaps they wanted to avoid giving too subjective interpretations, but
without this information, users are left to navigate as Cara Finnegan did,
seeking answers to the question she described as unanswerable: “what is this a
picture of?”
Finally, users might find the overuse of hyperlinks to be frustrating.
I believe it is a useful idea to contain links within subject descriptions that
will lead viewers to similar collections, but the DPL has somehow managed to
link every single word. In one image the description contains the phrase, “a
fruit packing warehouse is behind them.” The only words not linked in this
phrase are “a” and “them.” A user seeking images of fruit packing in the 1900’s
might find links to “fruit packing” useful, unfortunately it is unlikely anyone
will find what they want through the separate links for “fruit” and “packing.”
What is really strange is the tagging of words such as, “behind” and “sat,” yet
examples like this happen in every photo on the site.
Overall, the DPL could use some work arranging and
describing their photographic collections. The Museum of the Rockies, however,
has an excellent set-up.
While the MOR’s site does not contain a search bar, it does
have several divisions of search categories users may find helpful. It looks
much more dated and much less attractive than the DPL layout, but the beautiful
images and their clear descriptions make up for this.
Users can search the database by subject, location, date,
surname, photographer, or by text and catalog number. There is also a separate browsing
section arranged by collection. Collections contain an opening page with an
overview of information to allow users to read briefly what the collection
contains and decide if it will be of interest to them. This makes for more efficient
searching and cuts back on the time users would otherwise spend scrolling
through pages of images.
Subjects are extensive, arranged alphabetically and
following Library of Congress headings. The MOR could improve on this by adding
a search bar, or at least a top menu of the alphabet so users do not have to
scroll so far down. Scrolling is one of the most frustrating tasks for online
searchers who are not interested in browsing. However, that small inconvenience
is the only issue I find with this online archive.
Individual description of the photographs is superb. The
titles are clear and appropriate and the descriptions seem to give as much
information as possible so users know that any missing information was not left
out intentionally, but because it remains unknown. Also, photographer names,
format, collection sources, and access points are supplied as useful and
relevant tags.
I chose two repositories from the same relative geographic
location in order to compare how the similar materials would be presented.
While I was disappointed with the Denver Public Library, I still think they are
doing a much better job than some of the other sites I have tried to navigate.
The Museum of the Rockies works very well, but should remember that the
internet has a strong bias for aesthetics and would do well to upgrade its
appearance. Each repository must find a descriptive standard that works best
for their unique collections, but it is important to remember the
internet is a melting pot of searching experiences and all users should be able
to find what they need, and understand what it is when they find it. Without
this understanding, what is the point of allowing online access to archival
collections?
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