Without such evidence, rather than preserving photographic materials in their original form, the process of digitization creates an entirely new material object: a digital surrogate that represents the original virtually. This distinction highlights the elimination of the evidence of the object’s manufacture and the patterns of its use, which are arguably those qualities that define the object as a document from an archival perspective. This article examines the viability of digitization as a method of preserving photographic materials through what the author has termed “virtuality.” It is often argued that digital versions of material photographs preserve a representation of the object’s content rather than a reproduction of its material form. However, although there are many digital collections and projects that incorporate archival photographs, the digital materials are linked to a larger preservation initiative only through the notion that the originals are subject to less wear and tear. Archival photographs are unique in that they are most often considered to be documentary by nature, so to provide additional access to their visual content is considered a valuable use of resources. Photographic materials in particular are considered excellent candidates for digitization efforts because their material forms (i.e., negatives, filmstrips, slides, and a variety of print styles) lend themselves well to digital reformatting. Archivists have generally rejected the notion that surrogates carry any archival value as a result of this, 3 and their value is therefore measured primarily through the provision of immediate access to the visual and/or textual content of the original object. A potential consequence of this intellectual division is that digital surrogates of material objects (i.e., a JPEG file that is a digital scan of a 35mm slide) become far removed from their physical counterparts. 2 This division of formats applies not only to the practices of preservation, but also to collection management in general. In most institutions, material and digital preservation processes and procedures are considered separate areas that require different sets of skills and approaches. 200).The Society of American Archivists’ online glossary of archival terminology defines preservation as “the professional discipline of protecting materials by minimizing chemical and physical deterioration and damage to minimize the loss of information and to extend the life of cultural property” and “the act of keeping from harm, injury, decay, or destruction, especially through noninvasive treatment.” 1 The broad scope and vague language of these definitions invite a variety of interpretations regarding the nature and practice of archival preservation.Īrchivists and librarians undertake numerous preservation initiatives that protect the material integrity of their collections, and they are now discovering how to extend the life of their born-digital information and digitized objects through digital preservation. As Whitehead says: "Sensitiveness without impulse spells decadence, and impulse without sensitiveness spells brutality" (1925/1953, p. The realm of the aesthetic, of patient and sensitive attention, the full range of immediate bodily feeling, and the variety of real values revealed therein, turns out to be both the victim of and the remedy for the FMC. More than half of the paper involves a representative range of concrete examples of the FMC. In this paper I identify the FMC as a set of variations on the central theme of misplacing concreteness, by mistaking the abstract for the concrete, and I define the component notions involved. This paper is part of a panel of four presentations relevant to the theory, practice, and teaching of science. The fallacy of misplaced concreteness (FMC) is a notion central to his analysis, both of the process of inquiry and to the general sustainability of quality of life. In Science and the Modern World, Alfred North Whitehead (1925/1953) critically discusses the historical development of science and its larger impact on our civilization and culture today.
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