Access to collections is expanded through digitization, but are we saving the "best" volumes, which volumes are the best, and how do we make that decision? Capturing "real" collection data to objectively make and support those decisions is part of Library of Congress (LC) research. Current data suggests that most cultural heritage institutions have digitized less than 10% of their collections, so preservation of the print record is critical for long-term access to this knowledge. This is especially true for 19th and 20th century paper-based materials, where mass production methods resulted in less stable paper. Moving from subjective to objective based data for retention and withdrawal decisions is critical for the robustness of the print corpus and the future of digital collections.
The European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21st century has led to an increased demand for fast, efficient and faithful 3D digitization technologies for cultural heritage artefacts. Yet, unlike the digital acquisition of cultural goods in 2D which is widely used and automated today, 3D digitization often still requires significant manual intervention, time and money. To overcome this, the authors have developed CultLab3D, the world’s first fully automatic 3D mass digitization technology for collections of three-dimensional objects. 3D scanning robots such as the CultArm3D-P are specifically designed to automate the entire 3D digitization process thus allowing to capture and archive objects on a large-scale and produce highly accurate photo-realistic representations