Steve,
If you were to create an index such as you describe, all you would need to do is order a copy based on the index number you would not have to go back to the archives.
In the US most of the photographs are copyright free since they where created by a government agency it is in the public domain. Some of the newer photographs do however have copyright restrictions.
But as far as I am aware of unless it is noted on the card most of the WW2 to Vietnam era stuff can be copied. You can also take a camera into the Archives and photograph the prints as much as you wish. They provide photo tables with lamps to take the your photos on.
If you think photographs are fun the motion picture depository can be even neater, just the catalog alone takes up several feet of space on a library stack type system.
Rick Lathrop
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Steve Malikoff (MIL-VEH account)" <44gpw@phaedra.apana.org.au>
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 21:07:34 +1100
>G'day all,
> This sounds like a money-making opportunity to me: go to the archives,
>and, with PLENTY of time to spare, go through ther photos sequentially. Write
>down the vehicles and equipment seen in each one, along with its catalogue
>number. Type this all up into a spreadsheet or database, add a good index,
>plonk it on a CDROM and flog same in MV magazines :) There's bound to be
>people who'd buy it. Problem is, of course they'd then have to go to the
>archives themselves to look up the catalogue (I wonder if NARA is anything
>like the Australian War Memorial's archives, where they don't allow outright
>distribution of their images; in fact they don't allow cameras, scanners,
>notebook PCs or other recording devices into their repository).
>
>Steve.
>steven@phaedra.apana.org.au
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 06 2002 - 11:49:25 PST