APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2002-08 > 1030107932


From: "Morris Simon" <>
Subject: [APG] Photocopies and digitized images
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 08:05:32 -0500
References: <DPECJLIHFEOGBIMHFKLLIEGBCHAA.jmlowry@earthlink.net>


The current thread regarding the value of photocopies and/or digital images
as primary or derivative evidence underlines the need to be more aware of
copying processes when evaluating source material. In my opinion, it is not
as much a question of the photocopy or image itself, as it is the actual
source procedures and circumstances of the copy. With modern technology,
photocopies and digital images can be altered or even created from scratch
to appear very genuine or "original" but which differ in significant ways
from the document (if any) being copied.

A good current example are the online census images at Ancestry.com.
Distortions of the images occur when switching from one resolution to
another which may alter the readability of information on the screen and/or
a hardcopy. Even worse, the Ancestry.com "watermark" sometimes appears on
the screen or printout in positions which mask or modify original data.
Compared with these online census images, a digitized printout or screen
from a microfilm reader is much closer to the original document, although
the Ancestry.com images may have been scanned from the same reel of film.

So in this comparison, there are several "sources" to be evaluated: the
document itself, the original microfilm "silver" master and the filming
process, microfilm acetate copies from the master, the microfilm
reader/printer itself (which can vary in quality from one model to another),
the equipment and process used to digitize microfilm reels, and the
enduser's personal viewing/printing equipment. An accurate assessment of a
photocopy or digital image as evidence must take all of these circumstances
into account, and labeling it as "primary" or "derivative" does not affect
its value. In fact, only the original census pages are the "primary" sources
and all of the others are derivative, each with their own degrees of value
as evidence.

That is why all source material must be clearly identified so that others
may be able to weigh its evidentiary value when approaching the "Genealogica
l Proof Standard" in combination with other evidence.

Morris
________________________________________
Morris Simon
http://personal.bellsouth.net/~simonsl/msimon.html

This thread: