The diversity of the New York Public Library Digital Gallery is really amazing. They have an excellent reputation of curating and digitizing collections, not to mention their ability to represent the items through appropriate metadata. The After Columbus Collection was created in 2004, ten years after a live exhibit of the portraiture, photographs and paper ephemera were placed on display. The collection consists of almost 600 items which are pieces of the Rare Book Collection and Photography Collection in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the NYPL.
Collection Principles
The collection was founded on a system of nomination by a board that determines the pictorial and artifactual significance. They chose the objects based on how often they were being viewed by the public and the objects that have seen better days, also the items that seemed to have the most educational value for the benefit of all. The collection is important in creating credibility for the library and in enhancing patronage and support of the facility. The collection is very easy to use, and a bit simple at times, but serves a broader purpose to the public.
Object Characteristics
The NYPL creates high resolution files for all of their digital collections and they give information on their digitizing practices through their website. They create a high resolution master and three smaller resolution images for use on their site. They differ from 300-1200 dpi for the preservation masters and 150-760 dpi for the user friendly images. Apparently the library does some touching up on the images before they publish them to their site to ensure highest quality usability. I find this particularly noticeable in this collection of photographs, at least in terms of quality. These are some of the finest quality images I have seen, you can zoom in very close and not lose any of the quality.
Metadata
The metadata on this particular site is very well done, it might have something to do with it being a library and all. What I liked particularly about this site was its methods for searching. After selecting an image to view, you are then presented with options to view the different subjects, keywords and collections that contain similar content to the image you are viewing. This does not seem very significant, but the architecture is very intuitive and I found it pretty helpful. You are also presented with a number of ways of viewing the images themselves, which just continues to make this site awesome. The specific metadata is very specific and searchable, for example you can search by creator, subject, location, medium, date added, date acquired.
Intended Audience
Everyone! Enough said. It is a very simplistic and intuitive site, perfect for scholars, or others just wishing to browse and take in a breath of the past. The images themselves are breathtaking and The New York Public Library is doing a great and rare service to the country and the world by providing access to this site. They really are awesome!
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