Submitting a Marker

Photographic catalog of New York State Historical Markers - Discussion and submissions

Moderators: Brenda, Kelly

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Matt
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What differentiates NYHistoric from other collaborative lists of historic markers, such as Wikipedia or Waymarkings, is the creative aspect of the visuals (the photos and site design) and the editorial process, that all come together to create higher quality and trustworthy content.

Contributions will be collaborative and completed over the course of time.
We don't expect, and you shouldn't expect to have everything that is needed for a submission all at one time. Let's take our time and get it right. If you can snap a photo of a sign, but didn't get a chance to walk around the area and snap more photos, that's a great start. Even if someone gets the opportunity to enter and shoot photos and record information about a historic building we previously could only record the outside of, perfect!
Every marker proposed, should start as a topic in this message board. Add your photos, add your information. Let other people contribute. The topic starter and major contributors to a marker will all get credited. The photographers will still get their names on each photo. As a topic is posted, the editors will monitor them. If crucial information is lacking, we will call for it. Anyone can help out. When it is posted as an official entry on NYH, we will let you know.

NYH marker pages are not set in stone.
Keep adding to the message board topic if you want, or even the comments. Quality information and photos will eventually be absorbed into the main content once we verify it.

We provide more than just markers.
We provide insight, both factual AND visual, into the meaning of the marker. This means in history AND in present. Give people a reason to view the page you helped build!

We are a photography site.
We present superior photos that the user cannot find elsewhere.

What we want:
1. Collaborative
2. Ever Increasing Quality
3. To be a resource people want to use

Model posts to see
Here are some model posts that go above and beyond. Keep them in mind when out collecting your next marker
- Jikonsahseh – Mother of Nations
- Hervey Ely House
- Pitts Mansion
- Potato Chips Invented
- Santa Claus
Last edited by Kelly on Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:31 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: added 2 markers
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Matt
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Location: Rochester, NY
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First and foremost, THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE, meant to give amateur photographers the opportunity to combine their artistic vision with the realm of documentary journalism. This is also a resource for tourists, history enthusiasts, people interested in finding more, and students. So we need to keep our photos true to life and our information far from misleading.

And we are looking for above-average photos that have good composition and exposure, accurate colors, and artistic expression.

Photographs should adhere to our Standards of Quality:
1. Well-exposed
2. Have accurate colors
3. Minimal geometric distortion
4. In focus
5. Taken by you
6. No crazy altering of the photo
If you have a photo that does not follow these requirements,it may not be considered for inclusion.

Technically (because we are a website that needs to work right and load fast), we are looking for
1. Dimensions on the long side of the photo: 800 to 1200 pixels (It doesn't matter what the actual dimensions are, as long as the longest side of your photo is within that range of pixels.
2. .jpg (JPEG) files only.
3. Compressed enough to load fast. Saving out to file sizes from 150 to 350 KB. The faster the better, but don't ruin the quality of your image.
4. Named Appropriately. You can just give the files descriptive names. Nothing complicated here.
5. Marked with your name. See below.
Bonus -- as with any image you plan on posting to the web, saving it with an sRGB color profile will allow viewers to see the colors true to how you intended them (assuming your monitor is calibrated for photo editing).

All images we use REMAIN YOUR PROPERTY. We ask that you keep one thing in mind: As an educational resource, we will often get asked for use of images in papers, presentations, and projects at the very least. NYH wants to help people. All images we take in, that are not marked with a © copyright symbol, are subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License. That means, People can use the image for non-profit as long as they credit who did it, and where it came from. Don't like it? Add the © to your photo. Because the contents of the markers may be copyright of the marker's author, and because we want to have at least one photo to share with our visitors, it is good practice to not copyright photos of actual signs or trademarks.

You MUST mark your images
Along the bottom with legible text and must not obscure any important features of the photo.
Follow this format (leave out the ©, if you want your image to be shared (see above)) :

“© Photo credit: {your name} – NYHistoric.com ({month/year photo was taken})”

For example:
“© Photo credit: Matthew Conheady – NYHistoric.com (9/2012)”

And what it looks like:
Image

What to keep in mind when photographing a site
The first things you should keep in mind is that all the photos should stick to the Standards of Quality listed above.
1. Thoroughly read and understand the sign. Make sure you are photographing what you should be.
2. Snap a close up of the sign.
3. Snap a scene of the sign and surroundings (make sure the sign is in focus).
4. Snap any whole buildings or objects of interest.
5. Snap details
6. Snap possibly related things (across the street, down the river, etc) just in case.
7. Snap any other informational signs on the site
8. Take a GPS reading of the SIGN itself.
9. Avoid harsh shadows and lighting, especially on the marker itself.
10. Be creative. Be an artist. Not every photo has to be boring and geometric like mine.
11. Be a storyteller. You need to tell our user what this site is like today by using your camera.

A note about winter :snowflake:
I hate winter, but that's not the main reason why I don't think winter photos are good for this type of site. Not only is winter a bit dull and boring for our cameras, snow and ice obscures detail. It should be covering an old foundation, monument stone, old canon, sign, mounts... anything. We ask that you refrain from shooting new sites in the winter, but feel free to add winter impressions to sites that already exist.

An exception to this may be any particular historic sites that deal with winter specifically. There are a few out there.

A little bit of legal: NYH has the right to use your photos on other pages, and in advertisements, on Facebook to promote the site, but NYH will not claim the photo as property of NYH or ever sell prints of it. By submitting, you are essentially giving us a borrower's license and this borrower's license carries over to any owner of NYH, and this agreement lasts until NYH cancels it. Once submitted, its home is on NYH.
Last edited by Kelly on Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: :-]
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Matt
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We are looking for factual information. Not interpretation (unless it comes from an authored source), not rumor, speculation, or hoaxes.

This is what we NEED to consider posting:

About the site…
Give this site a title
Often this can be the first line of the historic marker. Sometimes you may want to add to it to make it less generic. For example, "Pioneer home" is a common marker title... "Pioneer home - {village name}" would better serve our users.



As accurately as possible, please type up the text found on the marker (but don't use all CAPS).
- Be sure to check and make sure you typed the text accurately.
- Use sentence case
- Capitalize proper nouns
- Do not add punctuation if it is missing
- Do not correct mistakes
- Do not expand abbreviations.
- Do not include the "erected by..." line here.

Date the marker was erected / by whom?
This is often at the bottom of the sign.
Example: "By the County of Monroe — 1959"
If it isn't on the marker, say "Unknown"


Briefly describe what's on or around this site now.
This should be a brief factual observation. Commentary, opinions and facts that cannot be verified may be removed. Please also provide photos of things that you note.


The address (for driving purposes)
If you don’t know the exact address, use approximate. You can also type the GPS information into Google Maps and it should give you an address range, which we will accept. Zip code is not needed here (this is just for driving directions).


The county this marker is in
This helps us categorize it properly. To get this, I usually type in the village into Google and read what it says in wikipedia.


GPS Coordinates OF THE MARKER ITSELF
We need to be able to plot the location of the marker accurately on a map. For this we need GPS coordinates of the marker itself. Within 50 ft, ideally. If you don’t have a GPS device, you can map out the GPS coordinates using a website such as ACME Mapper or iTouchMap.

Latitude*
Decimal notation XX.xxxx is best.


Longitude*
Decimal notation XX.xxxx is best.
Last edited by Kelly on Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: :-)
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Matt
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The more facts you provide, the more people will find the page, read your content, and view your photos.

Although collecting the basic information and snapping pretty photos will make for a great post on NYH, it's the extra information we can provide our users with that will not only help them, but boost your contribution's web traffic, and get your work shown to more people around the world.

Investing a little bit more time in collecting some background information on the marker not only helps NYH become a better resource, I have personally found it to be a very rewarding experience. With public domain books and records available, it's now easier than ever to find extra tidbits of information to enhance your post.

An example
If visiting a historic homestead, now a museum, such as the Susan B. Anthony House, snapping the sign and the exterior of the building, perhaps the street, is what we would expect. Taking a tour, snapping photos of the interior, collecting pamphlets or a timeline, would be making your post excel! Go even further and find publications about Susan B, perhaps even ones written by her. Provide excerpts, links, and quotations and you've just built a post that people will bookmark.

Check the "Sources for Research for places you can search for background information.
When collecting it, be skeptical. Not everything you read is true. This is your chance to be a detective. If something smells fishy and can't be verified, don't include it. Thousands of visitors will read what you put together, it's best to leave out questionable information.

You may include short excerpts from public domain sources (government documents, documents in which copyright has expired or never existed). Just mark them as such and credit the publication and author (a date of publication also helps with context).
Please note that just because it is published on the internet, doesn't make it public domain.

You may also summarize or reference copyrighted material, as long as you do so in your own words.

You may provide links to creditable sources
- Wikipedia articles
- Government pages
- Historical Societies
- Museums
- Libraries

If your marker is about an individual, providing the dates and locations of their birth/death is extremely helpful to our readers
For example: "Hellen Pitts was born Oct 4, 1837 in Honeoye, Ontario Co., New York. She died on Dec 1, 1903 in Anacostia, District of Columbia."
A lot of this information can be found on wikipedia or on genealogy websites.
Last edited by Kelly on Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: :-)
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Matt
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Location: Rochester, NY
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A marker may be, but our pages are not set in stone.

When someone submits a post, that post is open to textual edits, additions and deletions and the original submitter is never discredited from the post. New contributors will also be listed as such on the post.

We will replace photos with superior versions if they are of the same subject.
It is in your best interest to meet our quality standards the first time you submit. Although we are not actively seeking to replace photos, if there are some that are accepted as inadequate, they have a higher potential of being replaced int he future by better ones. Of course, those better ones could be taken by you.

We are always looking for more facts and trivia about these posts. If it is added to the post, you get credited along with the original contributors.
Last edited by Kelly on Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: :o)
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Matt
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Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:01 pm
Camera Model: Olympus OMD EM-1 m1, m2; Panasonic GM5, Osmo Pocket
Location: Rochester, NY
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Please try to avoid these
- Markers put up by questionable organizations, families, religious organizations, private companies, or put up as hoaxes
- Tombstones (although they may be photographed and described as a complement to a marker)
- War memorials (unless the war took place on that spot)
- Death memorials
- Park dedication plaques
- Photos of snow-covered scenes (see the note in the Photos section about an exception to this)
- Photos with markers that are out of focus, improperly exposed, or photoshopped.
- Trespassing in order to snap a photo or collect information
Last edited by Kelly on Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: :o)
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