Evaluation of Historypin
As Shannon Lausch and Chad Garrett observe “the more detail available about where a photograph took place, the better a candidate it is for Historypin.”1 Images with specific addresses and landmarks are best as the strongest feature of Historypin is the ability to embed your digital object into Google Streetview.
Objects uploaded to Historypin are automatically reduced to 92pixels per inch, so there is little risk that images will be republished and distributed for profit.
Observed Limitations
Bulk upload
Bulk upload is a simple process but your institution must be willing and able to upload copies of image files to Historypin. Unlike Omeka and other services, you are not able to simply link to jpg files held in other sites like a online digital repository like DSpace, which is used by York University.
Copyright (non)issues
Institutions should consider carefully if there are any outstanding copyright issues with the content they upload to Historypin. Contributors are able to identify the copyright status of individual objects during ingest, and link images back to their original institutions. However, Historypin is constructed to be collaborative and interactive and the online environment may not suited for all content. The responsibility lies with the contributing institution to clear any copyright concerns before uploading images. Historypin does not assume ownership of submitted content. The issue of copyright in depth in its terms of use and on the project’s FAQ.
Historical language
When I initially tested Historypin, it was to upload historical photographs for Black History Month celebrations. The inclusion of some historical vocabulary in the description of an event caused Historypin’s filters to excise my descriptions. This issue was swiftly corrected after a conversation with the site administrators, but if institutions are hoping to post historical content that contains potentially offensive, controversial or disturbing content, they may wish to contact administrators prior to uploading content.
Features | Step by Step | Evaluation | Getting Started
1. Shannon Lausch and Chad Garrett, “Using Historypin to Illustrate the Past and Engage the Public,”Archival Outlook (July/August 2012): 4. Available for download here.