RIT Study Benchmarks Quality Of Digital Archiving In American Museums

Roy Berns, the R. S.Hunter Professor in Color Science, Appearance and Technology, andFranziska Frey, assistant professor in the School of Print Media, led atwo-year study that included a comprehensive survey of museumpractices, a detailed scientific evaluation of digital practices atseveral institutions and the development of a national conference todiscuss the state of digital imaging and roadblocks to move forward.Their study provides new insight into the use and quality of digitalimaging by American museums to catalogue and market their collections.

“Digitalimagery is increasingly becoming the main medium for accessing Americanartwork,” Berns says. “These digital surrogates are used by scholarsand students, alike, beginning in childhood. Our goal is to help createimagery of the highest possible quality”.

“Throughout theproject, we worked closely with the photographers in cultural heritageinstitutions,” Frey says. “This approach ensured that we were clear onthe tasks facing the image creators. In a future step it will also makeit easier to help implement new workflows that take full advantage ofwhat digital photography has to offer”.

Previously, museums usedfilm photography to capture images of their artwork for publication incatalogues, books, art history texts, magazines, posters, andpromotional materials. Many institutions are now moving to digitalimaging due to the higher quality of digital photographs and thegreater flexibility computerized archives allow.

“Digital imagingis still in its infancy and there is a lack of experience and knowledgein how to produce the best images,” Berns adds. “Our research willhopefully provide a standardized process and a better understanding ofwhat a quality image should look like.”

Berns and Frey’s studywas principally funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. They areplanning to use their findings to push the quality in digital imageproduction to a higher level through creating and promoting measurabletests and stricter protocols for image capture. A complete list of keyfindings and future research initiatives are attached to this release.You may also access the full report athttp://www.cis.rit.edu/museumSurvey/.