7
RANDOM THOUGHTS 143
June 13, 2007
IPTC Releases Photo Metadata White Paper
The International Press Telecommunications Council, a U.K.-based consortium that develops and maintains technical standards used by news organizations worldwide, has released a white paper that focuses on better ways to catalogue and search images via photo metadata.
Headed by elected chairman Stephane Guerillot of Agence France-Presse, the IPTC's core business has been news-related photos. It's now widened the scope of IPTC data standards to include stock photography and image archives. The white paper aims to improve photo workflows through more consistent use of metadata - structured information embedded in the image to describe its content, subject matter, author and creation date, technical characteristics, copyright, etc. Such metadata is entered in multiple ways, including digital cameras, imaging software and digital asset-management systems.
Chapter 5 of the white paper is particularly relevant to the stock image industry. It outlines and discusses photo workflows that should be improved, including those of stock photo agencies. Agencies need a detailed structure of metadata to ensure that potential clients can easily find images. Existing IPTC standards cover part of the needed structure; descriptive data is often added by an agency's in-house staff. Such data is not compatible with existing standards and often damages the image's metadata and complicates future technical processes. In addition, current standards cannot accommodate the amount of rights-related information needed by stock agencies.
The white paper concludes by presenting a set of open issues the IPTC considers urgent. "Anyone who works with photos professionally needs to read this white paper," says Walter Baranger of The New York Times. He points out that the paper addresses the pressing issues of indexing multimedia and managing rights. It not only outlines problems but presents solutions.
The issues discussed in the paper figured prominently at the First International Photo Metadata Conference, which was held during last week's CEPIC Congress and attracted 120 attendees. The 27-page white paper is available online, free of charge. The IPTC also invites discussion and comment by email to office@iptc.org.
Corbis Doubles Media Management Business
By: Julia Dudnik Stern
Corbis reports a 50% increase in the number of organizations using its hosted media-management services since early 2006. New customers include American Greetings, Malibu-Kahlua International, the ASPCA and several small- and mid-sized businesses. Corbis Media Management handles clients' digital assets, including photography, graphic files, video, audio, presentations and sales materials.
Northfoto to Distribute Chinese News Images
By: Julia Dudnik Stern
The Budapest, Hungary-based picture agency Northfoto signed an agreement to distribute images by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, in Hungary and Romania. According to Northfoto director and founder Mark Milstein, the two countries are Europe's fastest-growing media markets. The agreement will allow Northfoto to expand its news, travel and sport coverage, including coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer, thus providing local news agencies with an alternative to images offered by Reuters and the AP.