Digitally Archiving Historical Sites?

Black_Macrame asks: "I have recently moved from 10 years of working with the net in various capacities (read all) to a slightly more analog field. I am now the curator of a Historical Site in Texas which is essentially, a relatively isolated, old (1875) family home. It once was a school, and is now currently a tax shelter for the family, and a fertile wildlife sanctuary. No-one has opened many of the drawers of the furniture here since they were last shut. There are letters of love, war, death, and all the usual human experiences, plus alot of antiques and many old books. It's a big historical database and I want to archive -everything- digitally: letters, furniture, books, 360 VRML of the rooms and even old 78 rpm records. Does anyone out there have any experience with similar projects? Any suggestions for tracking the antiques (books, furniture, knick-knacks) online? Suggestions for archiving the 78's? Anything in general?"

Comments

Don't forget the other senses...

[zulux]

My childhood home was about to be bulldozed, and I realised that I never "could go home again."

In adition to video - I made an effory to preserve sound and smell and texture:

I videotaped the inside of the house, I left the microphone on as I opened closet and doors.

I also saved a bit of the oak flooring that gave a peculular smell and well as a bit of dirt from the back yard - to me, they bring back vivid memories of childhood*

I saved a few well-used door handels - they have a friendly touch.

Those sqeeks and groans and smells are firmly planted in my memory, and I'll be glad to hear them again when I'm feeling nostalgic ten years from now.

The whole package fits into a shoe box - I felt a little weird documenting my old home, as I'm not normally a meterialist person. I'm glad I did.

* there is a throry that because the smell organs are so close to the center of the brain, that smells are uniquely capable of triggering memories.

Talk to an archeologist.

[Samrobb]

You can probably adapt some of the methodologies and techniques they use to help you map out the location of items, make note about condition, etc. In particular, you may be able to find software specifically geared towards mapping out a dig.

You may even be able to set things up with a local university and get a couple of cultural anthropology students to give you a hand with the initial work in exchange for credit.