In Amsterdam, the Netherlands for MyHeritage LIVE 2019

We are in the lovely and very busy city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands for the MyHeritage LIVE Conference on September 6th to the 8th 2019. Amsterdam is a major tourist destination as well as a center for banking, commerce, and the diamond trade. Because of advanced city planning almost every street in the city has a dedicated bike lane and the number of bikes is amazing. When crossing the street, you not only have to look out for cars, you also need to watch for bikes. All bikes have the right-of-way over pedestrians. We are here in Amsterdam for the 2019 MyHeritage Live Conference.

MyHeritage LIVE in Amsterdam is this week!!!

https://live2019.myheritage.com

At the time of this post, there are only three days or so until the 2019 MyHeritage LIVE Conference here in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I say here in Amsterdam because I am already here enjoying this beautiful city and getting ready for the Conference. We came early to spend some time in the city before attending and presenting at the Conference. I will be posting two or more times a day about the Conference so stay tuned. For up-to-the-minute information see the MyHeritage LIVE Conference website.

Remember that the Conference is in Amsterdam and that is from 6 or more hours ahead of places in the United States so when we are getting going at 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning it will still be the middle of the night in the United States. However, last year's Conference sessions are still online to view, so I am assuming the sessions to be presented this year will also be available. See https://blog.myheritage.com/2018/11/myheritage-live-2018-lectures-now-online/ for last years presentations.

My wife and I have enjoyed a trip around Europe for a few weeks before the Conference but are now in Amsterdam and ready to attend the Conference. We will also have an exhibit table at the Conference and be passing out information on The Family History Guide. We hope to see some of our old friends at the Conference and make some new ones.

Here is the link to the Conference web page with the schedule.

The Ultimate Digital Preservation Guide, Part Twelve: How to Begin to Take Archive Quality Photos

Making archive quality images is not as simple as using a scanner or randomly clicking a camera to make a digital image. When you start being involved with archive quality you soon learn that there are three ways to look at the "quality" or resolution of the image: DPI, PPI, and LPI. (Some of this is a repetition, but it is appropriate at this point to review some of the things from previous posts).

DPI is the acronym for dots per inch. It is a unit of measure for the number of discrete dots used by a dot matrix printer or other devices such as laser or inkjet printers that make images using dots of ink or toner. The most common measure is 300 dpi, the standard for inexpensive laser printers. At 300 dpi, the dots on a page of text cannot be seen without magnification. Higher resolution is possible from more expensive machines and 600 and 1200 or even higher dpi printers are readily available for a price.

PPI is the acronym for pixels per inch. Camera sensors are usually measured in millions of pixels or Megapixels. A Megapixel is a unit of graphic resolution equivalent to one million or more specifically, 1,048,576 pixels. Each pixel has essentially the same function as the dots created by ink or toner-based printers. There are currently digital cameras that are readily available to consumers with the money to pay for them with sensors that have in excess of 100 Megapixels. For comparison, the current Apple iPhone camera has a 12 Megapixel sensor.

LPI is the acronym for lines per inch. This is a term most frequently used by printers and some engineers to indicate the resolution of printed documents. A line consists of halftones (dots of different shades of gray to black), that are made by physical ink dots by a printing device to create different tones. LPI is a measure of the distance between the lines in a halftone grid. Although still in use, LPI is mostly an out-of-date measurement since outside of some commercial printing, there are almost no halftone printers still in use.

It may seem obvious but for the purpose of digitizing original documents and records, the "resolution" of the original will always determine the upper limit of the resolution of a copy whether digital or photocopy. This is the ultimate reason why copies of copies always decline in resolution.

The main challenge of discussing "resolution" in the context of digitizing records and documents is that none of these measurement systems addresses the issue of readability. For example, if the original document is unreadable due to fading ink, water damage, mold, or some other issue, the highest possible resolution will not help restore the lost information. There are ways to capture information from damaged documents but that will be the subject of another installment of this series.

Another issue is that focusing solely on the number of pixels, dots-per-inch, or lines-per-inch ignores the reality of the way the digital image is going to be displayed and used. Computer monitor and TV resolution is measured in the number of pixels both horizontally and vertically across the screen. Interestingly, screen size is measured diagonally. Unless the screen is a perfect square the horizontal and vertical measurements will always be different.  For example, one of the highest resolution monitors available in 2019 has a resolution of 5120 × 2880. More common numbers such as an FHD (1920 x 1080) monitor has about a 2.07-megapixel resolution image per frame while 4K UHD has about an 8.3-megapixel resolution. No matter how high the resolution of your original digital image, your view of the original is limited by the resolution of your monitor. However, this limitation can be almost completely overcome by software that allows the user to zoom in on an image and view it at the maximum resolution available. The process of creating a zoomable image is quite complex and likely out of the range of things an individual without extensive programming experience is going to be able to use. However, there are some commercially available programs that provide a zoom function which usually requires multiple images at different resolutions.

It also makes little sense to consider higher and higher resolution for digitization when the upper limit of effective resolution is the human eye. The human eye captures images in almost 180 degrees in the entire field of view unless limited by damage to the eye. It is estimated that the total resolution of the human eye is about 576 megapixels. See "How Many Megapixels Is the Human Eye?". However, it is important to understand that of the total number of sensors in the human eye, only a small number are used to look at a document. For example, as I type on my computer, the computer screen only takes up a small percentage of the total scene available unless I am sitting with my nose against the screen. So the eye seldom uses all of its capacity to view objects.

It is better to ask the question about the eye's resolution in a different way. What is the effective resolution of the human eye when compared to dpi? The answer is probably close to the number expressed by this article: "What is the highest resolution humans can distinguish?"

The visual resolution of the human eye is about 1 arc minute. 

At a viewing distance of 20″, that translates to about 170 dpi (or pixels-per-inch / PPI), which equals a dot pitch of around 0.14 mm.  LCD monitors today have a dot pitch of .18mm to .24mm.

If the resolution of the digital image exceeds the visual resolution of the eye, then then the image can be further away and still appear to have the same detail. That is why you can see photos on billboards along the highway. Visual resolution is easy to understand when you are trying to read a street sign or some other printed notice at some distance.  When you are digitizing documents, you need to make sure that you match the digital resolution of your imaging device (camera or scanner) with the original size of the document. For a detailed explanation of this process see, "Printing and Scanning Resolution DPI / PPI Calculator."

If you are imaging a lot of documents or records of different sizes, then it is wise to have some excess of resolution. FamilySearch.org is presently using some digital cameras with 50 Megapixel sensors. The detail in the images created, using software, allows the user of the digital image to zoom in and see small details. For printing, there are several charts online that tell you the number of Megapixels you need to print at 300 dpi. Here is one example: "Megapixel Chart." A camera with a 50 Megapixel sensor could produce a printed image at 300 dpi of approximately 24 x 36 inches or poster size. If the original is 8 1/2 by 11 inches (standard US paper size) you would really only need about a 10 Megapixel sensor.

What does all this really mean? It means that to achieve archive quality images you have to understand and take into account all of the above complex relationships and much more. As I continue this series, I will be discussing other aspects of the digitization process including lighting, depth of field, and many other issues in more detail. After all, I am calling this series the Ultimate Digital Preservation Guide so the series will have to cover a lot of technical details.

Here are the previous posts in this series.

Part One: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Two: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_10.html
Part Three: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_14.html
Part Four: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Five: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_10.html
Part Six: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_25.html
Part Seven: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_29.html
Part Eight: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Nine: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_13.html
Part Ten: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_16.html
Part Eleven: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_25.html

RootsTech 2020 is Coming and it is time to start preparing

https://www.rootstech.org/salt-lake

Five hotels in the downtown area of Salt Lake City, Utah are already taking reservations for rooms during RootsTech 2020, February 26th to the 29th, at the Salt Palace. Here is the link to the information about the five contracted hotels: https://www.rootstech.org/hotels?et_cid=1484000&et_rid=129929020&linkid=listofhotels&cid=em-rt-9046

Registration for RootsTech will open on September 18, 2019. Register early so that you can take advantage of exclusive early bird pricing.

You might want to check out the routes of the TRAX Light Rail system. In the downtown area, you can ride the TRAX for free and the cost from further away from the downtown area is nominal. If you are driving, there is limited parking available in the Salt Palace parking lot and other lots nearby. The charges for parking vary with the distance from the downtown area. Parking at the TRAX stations outside of the downtown area is free. For information on the TRAX routes and schedule see the following website: https://www.rideuta.com/Rider-Tools/Schedules-and-Maps If you choose a hotel on the TRAX route, you can ride to stops within and block or so of the Salt Palace. Some of the local hotels also provide shuttle service.

We have ridden the FrontRunner train from Provo to Salt Lake for RootsTech and also used the TRAX. The past few years, we have stayed with relatives. My wife and I will both be at RootsTech helping with The Family History Guide and other exhibitors. I will keep you posted about my presentations as soon as plans are announced for activities at the Conference. 

The Ultimate Digital Preservation Guide, Part Eleven: Focus, Focus, Focus

While working in the Maryland State Archives digitizing probate records for FamilySearch, we became acutely aware of the need to have the images properly focused. The software we used to digitize the records automatically gave a warning signal on the computer processing the images when the images were out of focus. Essentially, even with taking thousands of images, we had to be aware of the focus for every image.

Unfortunately, if you are using your own camera to copy documents for preservation, you will not have a program that will tell you that your images are out of focus. The only remedy is to review your images before you move on in your next project. Obviously, now that we have returned to our home in Utah, we will not have the opportunity to go back and retake images in Annapolis, Maryland. This can also happen with individuals when they take photos in cemeteries or other locations where returning to retake an out of focus image might not be possible.

The title of this post says, "Focus, Focus, Focus." This means focus on the need for preservation. Focus on the act of preservation and focus on reviewing and immediately correcting any errors in making the digital images. The three most common problems when making a photograph are out of focus images, movement of the camera, and having the camera tilted at the wrong angle cutting off part of the intended image. Adobe Photoshop or some other photo editing program cannot resolve these particular image issues. No matter how careful you are, you will always have a small percentage of your photos that fall into one of these categories. It is tragic when the exact information you are trying to preserve is lost to poor camera practices.

A camera is essentially a box with a light-sensitive device and a way to save an image. Historically, various types of light-sensitive film, usually based on silver nitrate or similar chemicals were used to record the image. Today, photographs are made with electronic sensors. You can read a good introduction to digital camera sensors here: "Demystifying digital camera sensors once and for all."
The quality of the images captured by any particular camera depends primarily on the quality of the lens system. You can make a photographic image without a lens using light-sensitive film and a pinhole camera. See "Build Your Own Pinhole Camera." Once you see how simple a camera can actually be, you start to understand that there is a lot more to making good photographs than simply buying or making a camera.

Currently, the advertisements for cameras focus on the number of Megapixels and the other electronic add-ons such as image stabilization. Think about it, to repeat, the quality of the image depends primarily on the quality of the lens. The lens is the light gathering part of the camera. The light to form an image has to pass through the lens on its way to the sensor. No matter how high your Megapixel count, if your lens is poor, your photographs will be of poor quality. The major camera manufacturers recognize this fact and sell up to three levels of lens quality. For example, you can buy an inexpensive Canon 50mm lens for under $50 but the top-level quality 50mm L system lens from Canon is around $1,400. In this case, you are not just paying for a fancy name, you are actually getting a higher quality lens. You can buy a number of good quality third party 50mm lenses for less than the price of the Canon L-series lenses, but the cheaper lenses simply lack the quality of the more expensive products.

So what is focus? A camera is in focus when the image is as sharp as it possible on the film or sensor. The factors that affect focus include the quality of the lens, the movement of the camera, the physical distance (adjustable) of the lens from the sensor and the degree of resolution of the sensor or film.

Most cameras sold today have an automatic focus function. When the camera is set on "auto-focus" The camera takes over the task of focusing on the subject. The fact is that a less expensive camera will usually have a very limited auto-focus function. If you rely completely on the auto-focus function and do not check your photos, you will likely end up with a significant percentage of out-of-focus images. More expensive cameras have more sophisticated auto-focus functions that work a higher percentage of the time but there are always conditions when the auto-focus does not work and the image is out-of-focus.

If you are taking photos of documents or a series of other items, you should put your camera on a stand or a fixed tripod so that the distance from the object (document) to the sensor does not change for every photo. If you are trying to shoot photos by holding the camera, you should try to stay as near as possible to the same distance for every photo. But with hand-held photos, you are very likely to have camera movement that will also cause some or all of the photos to be unusable.

The amount of light needed by the camera to make an image depends, in part, on the size of the lens. The size of a lens or its light gathering ability is usually expressed by an "f-stop" number. The smaller the number the more light it gathers. Lenses with low f-stop numbers are considered to be "faster" than smaller lenses, that is, that they can gather more light at faster shutter speeds. For example, an f1.8 is faster than one with an f-stop of f2.8. The second factor determining how much light reaches the sensor is the speed of the shutter. The shutter opens and closes when you push the button to take a photo. With some cameras, you can also connect the camera to a computer and click the shutter with software controlling the camera. Obviously, the faster the shutter speed, the less light reaches the sensor. On some cameras, the shutter speed is adjusted automatically along with the f-stop. Some cameras allow the operator to manually adjust all of the functions of the camera or allow the camera's program to make those adjustments.

All camera lenses focus only at a certain distance range from the sensor called the depth of field. The size of the depth of field varies with the f-stop. Low f-stop numbers have a very narrow or limited depth of field or focus. At any given f-stop, there will be a part of the image that is out-of-focus either because it is too close to the sensor or too far away. Most camera lenses will focus on "infinity" and everything past a certain distance from the sensor (sometimes inches and sometimes feet or even yards) will be "in focus." However, when you are using a camera to photograph documents or artifacts you need to make sure that the object being imaged is at the right distance from the lens that the entire object is in focus. This is not really much of an issue with flat paper but books and other three dimensional objects may be partially out of focus. There are now some cameras that will take a series of photos at different focal lengths and put them all together into a completely focused image, but this function is still not generally available. See "Extended Depth of Field Camera."

Learning how to set the f-stop and what shutter speed to use with different lenses is part of the complicated art of making good photos. However, unless the photo is ruined by one of the focus/movement issues, almost all the other issues can be corrected using a program such as Adobe Photoshop.

Part One: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Two: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_10.html
Part Three: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_14.html
Part Four: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Five: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_10.html
Part Six: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_25.html
Part Seven: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_29.html
Part Eight: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide.html
Part Nine: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_13.html
Part Ten: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-ultimate-digital-preservation-guide_16.html

FGS and NGS to Merge

https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/

In an announcement dated August 21, 2019, the boards of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced that the two organization will merge. Here is the press release from the FGS:

In a historic move, the boards of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced today their intent to merge. The two organizations, both non-profit leaders in the dynamic genealogy industry, will form one consolidated group that will continue to operate as the National Genealogical Society. Both boards approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier this week, and jointly announced the news at the Opening Session of the FGS Family History Conference in Washington, D.C. this morning.

Leaders of both organizations believe this merger will serve the genealogy community by improving support of both individual members and societies in the pursuit of genealogical excellence.

The organizational structure of NGS will be modified to increase functions that support genealogical societies and family organizations. Digitization projects of genealogical importance such as the War of 1812 pensions will continue. The two organizations will continue to operate independently while all details of the merger are completed, no later than October 1, 2020.

Faye Stallings, President of FGS, said: “We are excited about this opportunity to combine with a premier organization that has been in operation since 1903. This will allow for improved and expanded services to help support societies.” Ben Spratling, President of the NGS, commented, “We look forward to continuing the strong legacy of FGS as a ‘gathering point’ for family historians and societies all across the nation.”

About FGS
FGS was founded in 1976 and empowers the genealogical and family history community, especially its societies and organizations, by advocating for the preservation of records and providing resources that enable genealogical organizations to succeed in pursuing their missions. FGS launched the Preserve the Pensions project in 2010 and raised more than $3 million to digitize and make freely available the pension files from the War of 1812. Fundraising was completed for that project in 2016 and the digitization continues. FGS was also the driving force behind the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors project alongside the National Parks Service. To learn more visit fgs.org.

Technology and the economy are challenging the traditional formulas for a national society regardless of the subject of the organization. Genealogical societies are not immune to these major shifts in the way people obtain information and organize. See "Association Meetings." One important development is the general availability of online webinars and the introduction of online or virtual conferences.

Traveling and offline

My wife and I are talking some time to travel at the end of summer. We will be off and online and not getting much published for a while. Watch WalkingArizona.blogspot.com for photo updates.