Hot linking to a photo is much like tagging it for your own use. It may prevent copyright/citation issues, but it create other problems. Think about this:
- It could allow someone to track the usage to you.
While this may be negative or positive, it is something to consider. There is a link between their photo and their site and your site, even if it is a one-way link. Improper use of an image and your link could create issues for you. - What if the admin of the site changes the photo, but uses the same location name?
Your purpose for linking might not make sense with the image that now appears. The new image may be wholly inappropriate or controversial. - Bandwidth
While hot-linking in itself does not take up a lot of bandwidth, many people doing it to the same place does. The host of the site ends up hosting the image on the many other sites that connect to it and that can cause traffic issues, as well as incur costs to the hosting entity. In general, it is poor etiquette from one site creator to another.
What is my solution on this site?
I save images to my hard drive and then give credit to the image if I haven’t provided a link to the site or to the individual image. One reason I have embraced this practice with more earnest is due to limitations in some locations about viewing. Companies with certain restrictions on websites cannot view the images which appear through a hot link only. Having the image hosted by my site ensures that if they can view the site they can view the images posted with it.
What e-archival implications does this have? Why am I tagging this with electronic records?
This again stems from the DIRKS project and my records management class. As part of my file structure, one could see My Pictures–>Not Mine–>Archives Blog. I save the images to this folder to upload to the sire. The questions of copyright and image credit do concern me, especially having artistic photos of my own, and I prefer to give credit where credit is due.
The archival-or perhaps this falls more under records management-issue is that of origination. Where did it come from? Who created it? Is it safe? Looking through the picture folder, I right-click on the images and some have a warning: “This file came from another computer and may be blocked to protect your computer.” I haven’t seen that before, so it helps with security, but it does not tell us the author or purpose for its creation. Just because its on my hard drive does not mean that I’m the creator, but it is definitely evidence of my activities as a blogger.
Me, as a blogger. I also realized that my file structure is flawed. With the Archives Blog photos also in the Not Mine folder does not account for photos that ARE mine that I wish to put in the blog. Slightly semantic, though.
Afterthought: I think this is the first example where I really, truly grasp the meaning of evidential value. The previous entry includes an image of the PARADIGM logo. It is not my creation, but I use it was illustration in my blog and it is evidence of that activity. Yay!
Tags: archival theory, Archives, blogging, electronic records, records management, Visual Materials