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
With the potential of digitization as an alternative form of donation, institutions must more often weigh the importance of physically owning an object versus only digitally capturing that object. This post-custodial approach may run counter to some library donation prerequisites and traditional collection development policies, instead focusing on the cultural and intellectual benefits that such a compromise may bring. This approach is not without potential obstacles, including issues of copyright, ownership, and reproductions. However, this paper aims to reinforce the benefits of the post-custodial model through the evolution of the Odin Oyen digital collection – a collection comprised of physical materials owned by public and private entities reunited through digitization for the purpose of preserving local and cultural heritage.
Today, it is increasingly frequent and easy to digitize the surface of real 3D objects. However, the obtained meshes are often inaccurate and noisy. In this paper, we present a method to segment a digitized 3D surface from a real object by analyzing its curvature. Experimental results – applied on real digitized 3D meshes – show the efficiency of our proposed analysis, particularly in a reverse engineering process.