Authentication and Certification
|
Records that are being copied to be used in court cases or whose
publication could be
reasonably expected to cause judicial action or even public
debate should be
authenticated or certified as a matter of course. Authentication or certification essentially says "this record
was copied at a certain time at a certain place." By doing
this the client is protected against the possibility of loss or
misplacement of the document by other researcher or NARA staff
or its "withdrawal" by a U.S. government agency for whatever
reason. There are two ways to authenticate or certify documents: one is a lengthy process of certification through the National Archives itself. The other is through a forensic photography technique called Image Authentication at the time of copying. Certification of documents at the National Archives The document that the client wishes to certify is located and copied. A form detailing the name, nature, number of pages, and location of the document is filled out. The completed form is taken to the cashier and a payment of $65.00 is made for each document to be certified. There is also small fee for the photocopy costs of each page. The client waits six to ten weeks for the resultant document, which finally arrives in the form of a black and white photocopy (often a poor one at that) but is stamped and tied with a bow, making it appear more like a bulky Christmas present - one that must be handled with care. A better way to go: Image Authentication Image Authentication using integrated Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) is a technique used in forensic photography. It uses Nikon Image Authentication software on a professional camera which is connected via Bluetooth to a close-by external GPS device. Image authentication firmware produces photographs in which the original image data always remains the same, even if the image is edited later. By integrating GPS data detailing the exact time, location and altitude of where the image was made, the client receives a file a file in electronic format that will stand up in court. This image can be uploaded to a server where the client can download it. Such images are too big to be emailed. The image can be converted into JPGs or TIFs at any time - for printing or for publishing on a website, but these do not retain the same authenticity as the original file, even though they contain the same metadata. Image authentication with integrated GPS takes just a little more time than than normal scanning, photographing or photocopying. The client can obtain the file the same day (usually in the evening of the day in which the image was photographed). I charge a little more for this service. |