Stock Artists Alliance preserves digital collections

The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) has become a founding member if the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), an organisation with the objective to preverse digital collections for the future.

PRESS RELEASE

The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) is proud to announce their affiliation as a founding member of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA). NSDA was created in conjunction with partners of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) to aid in the preservation of digital collections for the benefit of citizens now and in the future.

The Library of Congress is organizing NDSA as an outgrowth of the NDIIPP. It is truly a collaborative effort among government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and business entities.

“During the past several years, the Standardized Metadata for Stock Photography project made significant contributions to the NDIIPP network,” stated Lauren Campbell, the Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives Chief Information Officer at the Library of Congress. “This project determined current metadata practices and identified problems in metadata preservation; developed Photometadata.org to educate the SAA membership and other interested parties about best practices for metadata in the field of photography; and also conducted outreach activities to promote improved metadata handling and related preservation practices at SAA education seminars and imaging conferences.”

Those activities have forwarded the understanding and practices of the digital preservation community as a whole. With the creation of NDSA and SAA joining as a founding member, the goal is continue the progress.

In addition to being the only photographic trade association focused on the business of stock photography, SAA also created the Photo Metadata Project to promote industry-wide use of standardized photo metadata in every digital file. For more information, please visit www.photometadata.org.