Jones Photo Historical Collection
Frequently Asked Questions

May I get copies of the photos, and how much do they cost?

Yes, we make custom "giclee" prints using pigmented inks on archival paper with a luster surface. Standard traditional sizes, actual paper sizes and costs are:

8x10 or smaller on 8.5x11 paper $20
11x14 or smaller on 11.7x16.5 paper $35
16x20 or smaller on 17x22 paper $50
24x36 or smaller on cut roll paper $65

Standard ground shipping and packing for most orders is $10; for large orders or prints 16x20 and bigger, $20. Prints 16x20 and bigger will require that each original photograph be rescanned at an additional cost of $15 per scan. For other sizes and services, or to receive an order form, please contact us.

Why do some photographs have lots of information about them, while others do not?

More than 10,000 photographs are presented on this website. All of them include the original information about the photo assignment as recorded by the Jones Photo Co. In most cases, this included a date, the name of the client and a basic identification of the subject. This historic information was transcribed during an inventory process, and formed the basic database used to create the website.

We have now begun a second phase, a cataloguing process, which adds additional information about each photograph. This work is not yet finished, so some of your searches may give incomplete results. But we are happy to invite your participation as we continue this important work. If your local knowledge and experience can help to add information about these photographs, please contact us by email or via the feedback form located below each photograph. Thanks!

What is the best way to search for a photograph?

Before searching the database, please read the Terms and Conditions page and check the box near the search dialog stating "I accept this site's Terms and Conditions." You will need to do this only once during your session.

This site is generated by a customized version of EmbARK Web Kiosk from Gallery Systems.

There are four ways to search. Each has its advantages, depending on what you are looking for, and each of them can be combined with the others to create more powerful and precise ways to find what you want.

Basic Search

The basic SEARCH box appears on all pages of the site and is very easy to use. Simply type in a word or words and the database will find every picture catalogued with the word(s) specified. Although it is easy to use, the basic SEARCH is very broad, and can deliver some false, unnecessary, or surprising results. For instance, look for cat and you will find some portraits of housecats, but you will also see pictures of cattle, a catch of salmon, and Catholic youth groups. Why? Because these words contain the letters "cat".

Quick Search

To search more precisely, go to the Advanced Search page and click on Quick Search. The Quick Search is similar to the basic SEARCH box, but adds more options to control your search terms. It allows you to search on whole word(s) only. Search for cat with the whole word(s) only box checked, and the search results will be more accurate: no more cattle, just cats! Like the other advanced search methods, Quick Search lets you build new searches based on a previous search. If you first perform a search using any of the four methods, you will see a summary of your search results (the Current Selection) near the bottom of the page. Then, pick one of the round buttons to direct the search tool to make the next search either a New Selection; or to Add to the Current Selection; or to Search Only the Current Selection. These options allow you to expand or contract your searches.

Advanced

The Advanced Search looks only at a narrowly defined set of possibilities and allows you to quickly refine those preset possibilities for a precise result. The "Field to Search" dropdown lists show you the types of information available in an advanced search. Pick one of them, for instance Cities or Towns, then click on the "Values" list and pick a value that interests you, such as Pacific Beach. Then click the FIND button to see all the currently catalogued photographs of Pacific Beach. If you had searched for Pacific Beach in the basic SEARCH box, you would see all the pictures identified with either the words pacific or beach, for instance Long Beach or Pacific Ocean. So an Advanced search can be more precise.

Date

The Date search is also located on the advanced search page, and is very easy to use. Choose the appropriate operator from the dropdown list. The first choice, "is circa", has been preset to pick a date range of 10 years. For instance, if you enter 1945 in the date box, you will see all photographs catalogued with dates from 1940-1950. The other two operators, "is earlier than" or "is later than" are self explanatory. Unfortunately, exact dates are not searchable in this database.

Build a Search

Here is an example of how you might build an advanced search. The basic ideas presented here can be mixed, matched and combined with the various search types to create your own custom searches.

To build a search across both a subject and date field, try this:

  1. From the advanced search link on any page, select the field to search from the dropdown (try Cities or towns)
  2. Then pick a value from the next dropdown (try Hoquiam)
  3. Then click FIND, and you get the catalogued pictures of Hoquiam.
  4. NOW, click on advanced search link again, choose Date from the column at right for the next search type, from dropdown, pick "is circa" and in next box enter the year you want, for instance 1922.
  5. NEXT important step, click the round button that says "search only current selection".
  6. Click the FIND button again.
  7. You'll see a smaller, more focused set of results, containing all the catalogued Hoquiam pictures from a 10-year period of 1917-1927 with your circa date of 1922 in the middle.
  8. Try repeating this with a basic SEARCH for Hoquiam, followed by steps 4-7 in the date search, then try it again with a Quick Search for Hoquiam, and you will see that searches can be built from a variety of starting places, and may deliver slightly different results. Have fun building your own searches!

Please note that after you have completed a search and picked a single photo from the search results page, you will see two buttons under the single photo. One is marked <prev and the other is marked next>. Click on either of them to easily scroll through the other images from your search results page at full size. Beware! From the single photo page with most web browsers, if you click the Back button on the tool bar, it seems that your results page of thumbnail pictures is no longer available. This can be easily fixed with some browsers. Here's how: From the single image page, click the Back button. At first, you get a dire looking message that says, Warning: page has expired....click the refresh button. So click the refresh button on the toolbar, then click on the word Retry, and you should return to your search results page.

How do I use the zoomify tool?

When you are viewing a single image, just put the cursor over the picture, and click in the area where you want to get a close-up view. Keep clicking until you are as close as you want to be. Click, hold, and move the mouse and you will move the view around within the picture. Notice the red rectangle in the small preview image, it shows your zoom area within the full image. Or, you can click on the various buttons at the base of the zoom window to move in or out or left or right.

Why do the photos have rough and crooked edges?

The print or negative has been scanned to its edges so that you can see the entire picture. When a print is made, the rough edges will be cropped out. Custom prints can also be made, cropped to order.

May I use pictures from the website in a school project?

Yes, Anderson & Middleton welcomes students and teachers to use pictures and information from this website for school projects, with credit to the Jones Photo Historical Collection, Anderson & Middleton Company. Please see the Terms and Conditions page for more information.

May I see more of the collection in person?

No, at this time the remainder of the Jones Photo Historical Collection is not accessible to the general public. The collection is safely stored and is currently undergoing additional preservation, inventory, and cataloguing work. From time to time, more material will be added to the website, so please visit again.

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