While we now have mature, proven guidelines (FADGI) which provide solid recommendations on how to create proper master files, beyond targets and the ability to measure them, the cultural heritage community lacks easily consumable, flexible specifications for conducting actual projects. Moreover, there is a general lack of examples of FADGI-compliant Statements of Work, leading to much re-invention of the wheel and even to library and archival personnel deciding to not use FADGI at all. This puts inexperienced users at a decided disadvantage and creates a formidable barrier to entry for new practitioners who want to use the FADGI guidelines on their projects. As discussed in this paper, a DIO (or Digitization Information Object) is a data model encompassing all technical parameters of a still image digitization project. At its core, the DIO schema is intrinsically tied to FADGI, and enforces FADGI compliance through its use. It provides a common, machine-readable instruction set for digitization-facing software programs. This allows consuming applications to be quickly and precisely configured per-project to specify output image parameters, configure post-processing workflows, verify both working files and huge batches of completed content at scale, and even to provide plain-English text for a project's Statement of Work -- all from the same DIO JSON file.
The goal of digitization is typically to create digital assets which represent the physical object as a means of digital preservation or access. On occasion, projects require bringing those digital images back into the physical world in the form of a facsimile. While reproducing objects for display and/or use is a common and well-established practice, there are unique cases that require innovative applications of existing tools and methods. Working closely with NEDCC’s book conservation lab, we imaged eight ledger books and then printed two copies of each to be rebound into near-identical, usable copies. Using this project as a case study, we will share some of the successes and hurdles we encountered while working through this large volume of material, with particular attention to deviations in image capture and processing workflows when producing bound facsimiles.
Over the last decade, medium format imaging solutions have made instantaneous capture of large 2D objects possible, dramatically increasing the throughput and image quality of digitization in cultural heritage applications. Despite this, the process of digitizing oversized objects, such as original artwork and scroll manuscripts is substantially more complicated; little research has been conducted on the efficacy of using such medium format solutions for this purpose. In this study, a workflow for digitizing a collection of oversized artwork according to the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) guidelines was developed. Successful development of this process demonstrates the potential this process and others like it have to expand the applications of cultural heritage digitization solutions.
The Library of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) at New York University aims to provide access to scholarship on the ancient world for the widest audience possible, both domestically and internationally, via our digital library collections. Our latest project, the Digital South Caucasus Collection (DSCC), is an international collaboration between ISAW and archaeological institutions in the south Caucasus that seeks to preserve and provide open access scholarship on the ancient south Caucasus. This poster describes some of the initial challenges and approaches to building a digital library project during a global pandemic. The project is very much a work in progress, but has already provided various insights into collaborating with international institutions on digital library collections.
Application of optical metrology techniques in the collection of surface data and its 3D representation can improve the digital documentation of the conservation and restoration process of artworks. The tracking of induced change after the restoration process on cultural heritage (CH) surfaces involves a computational analysis of surface geometry. In the analysis, the conservation scientists were interested to see what impact the fillings of some holes have on its nearby surrounding during the reconstruction. In theory, the loss compensation method for stone should allow conservators to make a filling that only exists in the place of the void, but it is highly unlikely to make a filling that will only adhere to the substrate at the void site and not protrude elsewhere. According to the conservator scientists, we proposed an approach of local geometry changes to identify and visualize changes and presented the outcome through a local neighborhood distance histogram. This analysis will give us overall surface change considering each surface point and its respective neighborhood points and what impact it faced due to the reconstruction process. The work is also focused on developing the representation of each type of loss compensation method to make it more objective according to a restorer’s point of view and simplify their work visibility.