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[Durova]

Hi, found out about your organization recently and sought to make contact.  Have been doing digital image restorations on a volunteer basis for two years now for another organization.  That work overlaps with your organization's mission; its focus is on educational content.

*Userpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Durova
*Blog: http://durova.blogspot.com/
*Galleries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Durova/Gallery

My digital restoration work has been exhibited in a physical space show at the Tropenmuseum of Amsterdam.  I am the Wikimedia Foundation's most prolific contributor of featured content (with a focus on digitally restored media).  Last month my blog was selected for "Blogs of Note" by the staff of Blogger.

I have been training a network of volunteers to restore historic cultural media and been coordinating with chapters in several countries to encourage cultural institutions to digitize their media collections and share material online with the public.  Part of the reason for this is as a preventative against the sort of devastating loss of heritage that recently occurred in Haiti.

So it is very intriguing to see a nonprofit group actually is restoring photographs from Haiti.

I'd like to help.  Due to other commitments the most useful approach would be a bit different from the usual newcomer welcome.  Does OPR have images for restoration from institutional collections?  Specifically, do you have material from museums or libraries where the copyright has lapsed?  The people I collaborate with normally work with historic material that has cultural/educational significance.

Best regards, and looking forward to replies.

[MarCat]

Hi Durova,

Welcome to OPR and what an impressive list of accomplishments.

Yes, we are working with the Galveston Historical Foundation and the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids. While the majority of these photos may have copy rights that have lapsed, that doesn't mean that these photos are to be shared or published without a written consent from the owners. We signed an agreement all owners that their photos will be used only in connection with Operation Photo Rescue (OPR) and that their photos viewed on the Web will only be used in connection with OPR.

I applaud your efforts to restore historical media and also your efforts to encourage saving on digital media.

I think perhaps you read the part about our helping Hati on our home page wrong. OPR was asking people to help donate:

Haiti needs our help
Please consider donating to the following agencies who are currently assisting in the Haitian rescue effort. Donate to the Red Cross on line here or text HAITI to 90999 and give $10 instantly. Donate to UNICEF here. Donate to Doctors Without Borders here. Send to Facebook Read More →

We are not restoring photos from the Hati disaster, because our not-for profit status only allows us to work within the US. Someday, I hope that we can change that and expand our borders, but right now we are not able to. What we can do is to encourage people to donate to relief organizations helping Hati.

Thanks for you interest and I'm really impressed with what you are doing, but cannot grant you permission to publish photos from our historical collection.

Thanks,

Margie