In the first week of 2016, the New York Public Library
(NYPL) made an announcement about the release of over 180,00 public domain
images, available in high resolution, including photographs, postcards, maps,
etchings, watercolours, sheet music, stereoscopic views and other from the
library’s special collection.
The difference between this release
and other releases that happened before is that the files made public now are
available for free and immediate download, even in the highest quality
resolution, dating back as far as the 11th century. Users can choose, using a
visual search tool, from blocks of images organized by category, colour and
other filters.
The
library encourages different experiences with the objects, re-using and
creating something new with the historic collections, and wants to increase
interaction by asking the people to tag their new creations with #nyplremix, if they used one or more of
the images and retouched them, to keep an evolving dialogue. “We are trying to
make it so users can not only see things, but can make determinations about
whether to use them in new ways,” said Greg Cram, the library’s associate
director of copyright and information policy.
Some
of the collections open for exploration include 1843 cyanotypes of algae by
Anna Atkins, old illustrations of military uniforms, over 40,000 stereoscopic
images of the United States, manuscripts by Walt Whitman etc. The material
dating back to the 11th century contains Renaissance and Medieval manuscripts,
Babylonian cuneiform tablets, postcards form World War I Germany, and the first
known map of Africa from 1460. This in an impressive and diverse collection of
NYPL, and it’s only the tip of
the aisberg.
“I think that’s absolutely a
trajectory of the library, we should be a set of resources that people can use
for new forms of creation that are contemporary, and ones we haven’t even
thought about yet.” said Shana Kimball, manager of public programs and outreach
for NYPL Labs.
Gordon
Parks, “Anacostia, D.C. Frederick Douglass housing project. Mother watching her
children as she prepares the evening meal” (1942) (via NYPL)
Benridō,
“An autumnal view of Arashiyama in the suburbs of Kyoto” (via NYPL)
Bibliography:
No comments:
Post a Comment
We value your thoughts!