P3D Re: Re: Dan's 2 cents on the museum thing...

[Dan Shelley <dshelley@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dr. George A. Themelis wrote:

> I only have one question:  How far can it grow before it becomes
> unmanageable?

(Actually, this was the first of several questions... ;-) ) At this
point, space is already an issue, but that is being discussed a bit. So,
you have a valid concern on several fronts. 

> David Starkman has reported that most of Lloyd's slides were snapshots
> of rather poor quality.  Is this something worth putting on a library/
> museum?

IF this collection happened to be donated, maybe the NSA library would
only keep the best 500 or 1,000 pairs, and sell the rest off to
genereate more operating capital to continue to grow the collection of
books, magazines, views, viewers, etc... This way, the "collection"
could continue to grow, and individual collectors could benefit as well.

> >(BTW, I believe that the majority of the information available at the
> >NSA library will make it to the web, or whatever replaces it allowing
> >for a much wider distribution base for the information and pictures
> >contained there. I do not know when, but it is being thought about...)
> 
> Again, we have the same problem.  We cannot put everything.  Someone
> has to decide what goes.  And someone has to find the time to do it.

A bit here, a bit there... It is possible! I don't think lack of time is
a valid argument against putting images (or anything else) in the NSA
library collection. 

And 3D popcitures can be placed on CD's as well as the web. Imagine a
few hundred super high resolution keystone stereo cards on a cd that you
could rent or borrow from the library. You could view the images at your
leisure, and the library does not risk the originals... Yes, it's not
the purest form of viewing the images, but it could be one of a series
of ways the information could be disseminated. 

> There seems to be plenty of room for individuals (not institutions) to
> preserve our stereo treasures.

I am not saying that having individual collections is bad... BUT - how
many hundreds of thousands of stereo views do we as a list take that
never get seen by more than just a few people? I know I have hundreds
myself, and frankly, I don't shoot THAT much 3D. I am glad that some of
my work can be shared on the web. I am also glad that visitors to the
NSA library will have a chance to see images that I really enjoyed
taking, if they so choose.

I guess I was trying to make two points:

1 - Give something to the NSA library every once in a while, even one
good view a year would be great IMHO.

2 - There is an institution that would take care of and use a well made
collection like the VM collection of the Sells. Maybe they don't have a
way to display it all right now, but isn't that a future possibility?
And, aren't the odds of that future possibility better with a 3D
collection, than a museum who doesn't already have a 3D collection...

Enough opinion from me. =)

Dan
dshelley@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.dddesign.com/3dbydan


------------------------------