The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 1, January 7, 2007, Article 19

ANA CONVENTION PHOTO ARCHIVE

Prompted by last week's item regarding the 1974 Numismatic Literary Guild
Bash, Barbara J. Gregory, Editor-in-Chief of the ANA's NUMISMATIST Magazine
writes: "The American Numismatic Association's Publications Department
maintains an archive of convention-related photographs dating to the late
1960s.

"For the 1974 gathering in Miami, the ANA apparently obtained the services
of a professional photographer who documented the event with a prodigious
number of 8" x 10" black-and-white glossies (among them images of the
infamous NLG Bash).

"The subjects of some shots are readily recognizable--such as Virgil
Hancock, George Hatie, Grover Criswell, Eva Adams and a youthful David
Ganz--although the majority are not. Leisure suits, white belts and shoes,
hip-hugging skirts, bell-bottom pants and long sideburns were de rigueur.

"For years, we've hoped to find someone with the time, knowledge and
inclination to review the several hundred photos and identify the
participants."

[Unlabeled photos are a common problem for households everywhere, not
just institutions.  In the future perhaps this is where the Internet
can help organizations (and individuals) label their convention photos.
There are a number of web sites where electronic images can be uploaded
and made available for comments.  If a set of convention photos were
made available and links publicized, a handful of individuals working
from the comfort of their homes could label a large number of photos
within minutes.

While far from a perfect solution, it sure beats having a box of
completely unlabeled photos decades later when all the participants
are dead.   One term for this method is "crowdsourcing" - outsourcing
the work to a crowd of interested participants.  C'mon, who WOULDN'T
be willing to take a couple minutes to help out, even if only to find
and label your own smiling face for posterity? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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