Developing New Approaches and Tools for Improved Management and Delivery of Online Digital Photos

Abstract

More and more of the Department's academic and outreach communications on the Internet involve the use of digital photos. While enhancing visual appeal and conveying information that cannot be communicated via text is an obvious benefit, it is critical that digital collections be efficiently and effectively managed at the client level (personal workstation) and also the server level. To assist faculty and staff who routinely publish on the web and those who contribute to the Ohio State Univ.'s WebGarden online image database, a new client application was developed to assist in viewing and organizing digital photos on their workstation. Based on FileMaker Pro database software, a standalone program name DPM (Digital Photo Manager) was developed that runs without the user having to have FileMaker software installed on their system. DPM allows the user to scan a folder of digital photos, create thumbnails, add appropriate captions and cataloging information, and even display a full-screen slideshow. When the user is ready to publish on the web, they upload their file into a portion of the department website managed by Gallery software, a free PHP-based application that integrates with various web server programs and handles any number of user-specific digital albums. Following this, a website was developed that allows the user to select a photo from their online album, add 1-3 lines of captioning, and enter their name for a photo credit. The website automatically applies a standard background, creates four different sizes of the image, renames the files into a standard naming convention used for all images on the server, saves each file into a specific folder, and provides the user with the URL address for the digital files.