Glencairn Museum News | Number 7, 2022
E. Donald Robb, an architect working on Bryn Athyn Cathedral, strikes a pose for the camera as Raymond Pitcairn looks on.
Figure 1: Archivist Greg Jackson manages the Bryn Athyn Historic District Archives at Glencairn Museum.
What is the scope of the Bryn Athyn Historic District Archives photo digitization project?
We have already digitized the photographs in the John and Gertrude Pitcairn collection, as well as those in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral collection. The Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn collection is the last of the photographs to be done. In addition, we have digitized a large segment of the reel-to-reel audiotapes that are part of these archival collections.
How many historic images in the collection are now available to the public online, and how many remain to be digitized?
At the time of this writing, there are 5,981 still images available online, along with 99 other types of items such as audio files. At this time, we are only digitizing still images (photographs), and a rough estimate would be approximately 6,000 more images to go. After our photograph collections are completed, a decision will be made regarding the next step. Perhaps correspondence, blueprints, and other documents will included in future digitization.
Figure 2: The “Cairnwood Girls” were young New Church women who were employed to work at Cairnwood in a variety of capacities. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Figure 3: Gertrude Starkey Pitcairn, wife of John Pitcairn, holds their son, Raymond (born April 18, 1885). Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
How can researchers, genealogists, and casual browsers find what they are looking for online?
There are four ways to find what you are looking for. The first is to browse individual items. You can sort the items by title, creator, or date added. As there are over 6,000 items currently online, this is probably the least effective method of finding something you want, but the best method for getting a sense of what is in the collections.
You can also browse by collection. There are currently three photograph collections available to the public: the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn collection, the John and Gertrude Pitcairn collection, and the Bryn Athyn Cathedral collection. A segment of Glencairn Museum's archival records is kept on Omeka as well but are not available for public view.
The third way to search is to browse by tags. Each item is assigned certain tags (names, locations, topics, etc.) in its catalog entry. Those tags are presented in an alphabetical list, which makes it easier to find a specific item.
Lastly, you can type a term into the search box at the top of any page and the application will return a list of items that contain that term in the description. So, for example, searching for “lake” may give you results for someone named Lake, photos of lakes, anything with “lake” in the description or tags, etc. Advanced searching is also available via the search box.
Figure 4: Two workmen seated on a cart beside a limestone pinnacle carved for Bryn Athyn Cathedral. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Figure 5: Scaffolding in place for the construction of Bryn Athyn Cathedral’s main tower. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Is there an online user guide?
There is a brief user guide that provides a guide to the Dublin Core terms. The user interface is pretty intuitive, even for those who are not tech-savvy.
How can users download photographs, and what resolution are they?
Clicking on the item from your list of results will take you to the catalog entry for that item. The page will contain a small version of the item near the bottom of the entry. By using the right-click function on your device, you can select “save image as” to download it. All items are scanned as 300 dpi .jpg files and 600 dpi .tif files. Only the compressed .jpg files are available for download due to file size constraints. These files are generally good enough for all uses, although sometimes publishers require the uncompressed .tif format that can be substantially larger. These are sometimes large enough that they cannot be emailed but must be provided using a file transfer service such as Dropbox.
Figure 6: Raymond, Mildred, and Vera Pitcairn pose with workmen on the east wall of Glencairn as the chapel is under construction. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Figure 7: Raymond Pitcairn waves to the photographer during a dance at Glencairn for students and friends of the Academy of the New Church. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Under what conditions can users download these photos (that is, what permissions are necessary)?
Anyone can see and download a medium resolution image for personal use. We generally provide, and grant free permission to use, a high-resolution version of the image (not available to download online) for research papers, journals, books, articles, etc., as long as the Archives grants permission and receives acknowledgement in whatever form is appropriate.
Why is Omeka a good software choice for this project?
Omeka is an inexpensive but very useful application for cataloging and making photographs, documents, and audio files accessible. The version that we use (Omeka.net) is web-based, which allows us to concentrate on the archival work without needing to manage the application on a local server.
Figure 8: Raymond Pitcairn and his daughter Gabriele pose with a large granite relief of a ram and ewe. It was later installed above the main entrance to Glencairn. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
Figure 9: Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn pose for a family photograph with their children in the woods just below Glencairn. Click here to see the Omeka database entry.
How many people have worked on this project, and exactly what do they do?
We are now on our third of three part-time archives assistants: Rebecca Jackson (now Synnestvedt), Reade McCardell, and Bill Thygeson. Rebecca was the first to use the application. She was responsible for the design and function of the public-facing page and liaising with the folks at Omeka to make that happen. Our photographs were arranged by the former archivist in a manner that is generally chronological, with a couple of special categories (e.g., important visitors, employees). Beginning with the earliest in each archival series, the assistant selects a photograph and scans it in both .jpg and .tif formats, saving it on a portable drive. The catalog information is entered into an Excel spreadsheet using the Dublin Core descriptive standard. Dublin Core, in Omeka, contains 19 first-level categories of description, such as title, subject, descriptions, creator, or date.
There are also type-specific categories that need to be annotated. Photograph entries, for example, also can list original format and the physical dimensions of the original. Likewise, audio recordings can list original format (e.g., reel-to-reel, cassette), length and tape speed, etc. Entering this information often includes checking for anything written on the photograph or contacting others in the local area to verify names (babies are especially problematic if not identified on the back of the photograph). Each photograph, identical copy, and its accompanying digital file is assigned a unique identifier (one of the first-level categories). When a large number (usually a box full) of images have been completed, the information on the spreadsheet is imported into Omeka and the files are uploaded.
Can members of the general public help identify people in the photos?
Each item’s catalog page includes a comment section. These comments are emailed directly to me. We occasionally receive an email that lets us know that we have misidentified a person in a photo or that provides us with the name of a person that we didn’t know before.
(Interviewed by CEG)
Greg Jackson, a Certified Archivist, manages the Bryn Athyn Historic District Archives at Glencairn Museum. He is also the archivist for the Academy of the New Church Archives, located across the street from Glencairn at the Swedenborg Library on the Bryn Athyn College campus.
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