Managing an Archive of Images

NASA Tech Briefs, Jun 2004

The SSC Multimedia Archive is an automated electronic system to manage images, acquired both by film and digital cameras, for the Public Affairs Office (PAO) at Stennis Space Center (SSC). Previously, the image archive was based on film photography and utilized a manual system that, by today's standards, had become inefficient and expensive. Now, the SSC Multimedia Archive, based on a server at SSC, contains both catalogs and images for pictures taken both digitally and with a traditional, film-based camera, along with metadata about each image. After a "shoot," a photographer downloads the images into the database. Members of the PAO can use a Web-based application to search, view and retrieve images, approve images for publication, and view and edit metadata associated with the images. Approved images are archived and cross-referenced with appropriate descriptions and information. security is provided by allowing administrators to explicitly grant access privileges to personnel to only access components of the system that they need to (i.e., allow only photographers to upload images, only PAO designated employees may approve images).

This work was done by Vines Andres and David Walter of Stennis Space Center and Charles Hallal, Helene Jones, and Chris Callac of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Inquiries concerning rights for the commercial use of this invention should be addressed to the Intellectual Property Manager, Stennis Space Center, (228) 688-1929. Refer to SSC-00185.