Audiovisual research collections and their preservation

The basic problem of primary audio and video research materials is clearly shown by the survey: A great and important part of the entire heritage is still outside archival custody in the narrower sense, scattered over many institutions in fairy small collections, and even in private hands. reservation following generally accepted standards can only be carried out effectively if collections represent critical mass. Specialised audiovisual archives will solve their problems, as they will sooner or later succeed in getting appropriate funding to achieve their aims. A very encouraging example is the case of the Netherlands. The larger audiovisual research archives will also manage, more or less autonomously, the transfer of contents in time. For a considerable part of the research collections, however, the concept of cooperative models and competence centres is the only viable model to successfullly safeguard their holdings. Their organisation and funding is a considerable challenge for the scientific community. TAPE has significantly raised awareness of the fact that, unless action is swiftly taken, the loss of audiovisual materials is inevitable. TAPE’s international and regional workshops were generally overbooked. While TAPE was already underway, several other projects for the promotion of archives have received grants from organisations other than the European Commission, inter alia support for the St. Petersburg Phonogram Archive, and the Folklore Archive in Tirana, obviously as a result of a better understanding of the need for audiovisual preservation. When the TAPE project started its partners assumed that cooperative projects would fail because of the notorious distrust of researchers, specifically in the post-communist countries. One of the most encouraging surprises was to learn that, at least in the most recent survey, it became apparent that this social obstacle is fading out. TAPE may have contributed to this important development

Digital Preservation Services : State of the Art Analysis

Research report funded by the DC-NET project.An overview of the state of the art in service provision for digital preservation and curation. Its focus is on the areas where bridging the gaps is needed between e-Infrastructures and efficient and forward-looking digital preservation services. Based on a desktop study and a rapid analysis of some 190 currently available tools and services for digital preservation, the deliverable provides a high-level view on the range of instruments currently on offer to support various functions within a preservation system.European Commission, FP7peer-reviewe

Network of Digital Libraries in Poland as a Model for National and International Cooperation

Warszaw

The EU-funded EuropeanaTravel project

EuropeanaTravel is a targeted project for cultural content in the target area digital libraries of the eContentplus 2008 Work Programme funded by the European Commission.1 Its overall objective is to digitise content on the theme of travel and tourism for use in Europeana2 as requested by the EDL Foundation.3 The themed content will come from the wonderful collections of major university libraries and national libraries. The project is supported by CENL4 and LIBER,5 two founder members of the EDL Foundation, and by the Foundation itself. A secondary objective of the project is further to strengthen collaboration between CENL and LIBER by extending their experience of joint working, thus increasing human interoperability in support of Europeana. Other objectives include creating a LIBER closed access aggregation service to aggregate material from LIBER members for Europeana, continuing to mobilise support for Europeana amongst university libraries in a systematic way, and supporting the spread of best practice in digitisation by libraries. The consortium’s 19 members include 17 library members providing content from 16 countries drawn roughly equally from the membership of CENL and LIBER and from all European regions. The project will run for two years and work closely and flexibly with the Europeana team. The EuropeanaTravel project was launched in Tallinn on 11 May 2009 and this article has been compiled to celebrate that event

Assessment of multispectral and hyperspectral imaging systems for digitisation of a Russian icon

In a study of multispectral and hyperspectral reflectance imaging, a Round Robin Test assessed the performance of different systems for the spectral digitisation of artworks. A Russian icon, mass-produced in Moscow in 1899, was digitised by ten institutions around Europe. The image quality was assessed by observers, and the reflectance spectra at selected points were reconstructed to characterise the icon’s colourants and to obtain a quantitative estimate of accuracy. The differing spatial resolutions of the systems affected their ability to resolve fine details in the printed pattern. There was a surprisingly wide variation in the quality of imagery, caused by unwanted reflections from both glossy painted and metallic gold areas of the icon’s surface. Specular reflection also degraded the accuracy of the reconstructed reflectance spectrum in some places, indicating the importance of control over the illumination geometry. Some devices that gave excellent results for matte colour charts proved to have poor performance for this demanding test object. There is a need for adoption of standards for digitising cultural heritage objects to achieve greater consistency of system performance and image quality.This article arose out of a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) conducted by Tatiana Vitorino when visiting University College London during a 2-week period in late October 2015. The research was carried out under the auspices of the European COST Action TD1201 Colour and Space in Cultural Heritage (COSCH). The project website is at http://www.cosch.info. Under the COST rules, TV received funding for travel and accommodation expenses, and all coauthors were able to claim travel expenses to attend the subsequent COSCH project meeting. No other funding was received from COSCH for labour or equipment and all work was done on a voluntary pro bono basis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Survey of research libraries on aggregation of digital content

This document reports the results of a survey of Europe’s research libraries concerning their opportunities for and attitudes to digital content aggregation, specifically by aggregation services capable of feeding Europeana. The survey was carried out as Task 3.4 of the EuropeanaTravel project. The survey was prepared with input from Europeana, LIBER and the EuropeanaTravel management team. The intentions were to provide a snapshot of aggregation attitudes and activity across Europe, to inform the strategies of both LIBER and Europeana, and to help to inform the long-term development path for the LIBER aggregator which is being developed as part of EuropeanaTravel

Polish digital libraries and repositories. Origins, operations and usage.

Thesis/purpose of the article – The author, an active participant of many projects aimed at building a network of digital libraries and research repositories in Poland, recalls certain facts and opinions not only from a historical perspective, but also as an attempt to provide a picture of what has been achieved in this area to date. Methodology – The article discusses numerous problems and dilemmas faced not only by librarians, but also by IT specialists, researchers, museum workers and documentalists. Results/conclusions – Not all relevant developmental stages or statistics have been mentioned, but we have tried to outline those considered important, while others are quoted as references to the literature for further information

Network of Digital Libraries in Poland as a Model for National and International Cooperation

Warszaw

Condition of Croatian Music Heritage. Croatian Art Music Sound Recordings

Just over 130 years ago Thomas Edison invented the first practical machine for recording a sound. That event has changed the whole historical and sociological picture of sound-expressing arts – first of all music. The media for sound recording and reproduction have been developing rapidly – the older ones are going to ruin physically, and/or vanish in the flow of novelties on the market. Serious information institutions all over the planet make great efforts to preserve the recorded echoes of the history and keep them in a safe and wide accessible form. Croatia came up early with the beginnings of sound industry. The changes in the cultural politics in the decades of state administration led it to a retardation in care for both material and intellectual value of recorded sound heritage – especially that of art music of Croatian composers and interpreters. The recordings have been recently kept on a few locations: Croatian Film Archive, sound archives of Croatian Radio in Zagreb and seven local stations; rich but closed for the general public are the archives of publishing companies. Some sound recordings, mostly gramophone records and CD-s are kept in the music departments of The National and University Library, public libraries and Academy of Music Library in Zagreb. Until now, nobody has taken care of Croatian sound heritage systematically. Initiative is reduced to persistent private efforts of a group of enthusiasts, without official support of information experts and funds. The purpose of this article is to initiate activities in collecting information, listing, determining priorities in digitisation for preservation, organising funds, resolving the copyright-problems and establishing a digital repository opened for scientific and educational purpose