This week’s session in the Digital Classicist ICS summer seminar series is from
Mona Hess from the UCL Museums and Collections and the E-Curator project.

Friday July 2nd at 16:30
STB9 (Stewart House), Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

Mona Hess (University College London)
3D Colour Imaging For Cultural Heritage Artefacts

Digital technologies, like 3D colour laser scanning and 3D imaging, are not only challenging the traditional methods in the heritage field but they are also opening up new paths for scientific analysis of museum artefacts. I will discuss possibilities of integration of 3D image analysis in the daily museum workflow. (full abstract here)

The seminar will be followed by wine and refreshments.

For the full programme see:
http://www.digitalclassicist.org/wip/wip2010.html

Our very own Simon Mahony, co-organises the Digital Classicist, as well as the summer seminar series they also have a email discussion list and wiki.  All are welcome to seminars so please do attend if you can.

Date: Tuesday 8th June

Time: 17:30 to 19:30

Location: the Leventis Gallery, Ground Floor, UCL Institute of Archaeology (map)

The UCL Centre for Digital Humanities is pleased to announce its second Digital Excursion. Following the highly successful Excursion to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, this next event will take place at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Digital Excursions provide an opportunity for UCL staff, students and their guests to visit a UCL department that has specialist equipment and expertise of relevance to the field of digital humanities. Excursions typically involve a short talk given by a specialist from the host department accompanied by a chance to look over interesting bits of kit and research materials, and for those attending to discuss the opportunities that the gadgetry and skills presented may provide for collaborative project development in the area of digital humanities.

The following four projects will be showcased:

• The study of botanical remains using microscopes and digital cameras and discussion of the problems of scanning small scale objects. Guests will have the opportunity to examine through microscopes plant material from one of the world’s finest botanical collections.
• Digital photographic equipment used in archaeology, with discussion of the transition from analogue to digital techniques in teaching and research. Guests will examine a recently ‘re-discovered’ collection of photographic plates in need of digitisation.
• The Institute of Archaeology Collections, including artefacts from prehistoric Europe, the ancient Near East, Egypt, the Americas and beyond. Guests will have the rare opportunity to handle objects and discuss the potential for collaborative development of artefact digitisation projects and expansion of the online catalogue.
• Digital preservation of the ancient world heritage site of Merv in collaboration with CyArk. Guests will learn about this ancient city which lies beneath the Karakum desert, and its documentation using long range 3D laser scanning.

Project showcasing will be followed by a wine reception in the Leventis Gallery where guests will have the opportunity to network with each other, speak further with the various presenters, and meet other members of the Institute of Archaeology.

Book a place on this Digital Excursion: Institute of Archaeology

Last night saw the first of the UCLDH digital excursions, at the  Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology .

UCLDH’s digital excursions are an opportunity to visit UCL departments that have specialist equipment and expertise of use to the field of digital humanities giving people a chance to look over interesting bits of kit and discuss the possibilities the gadgetry and skills presented provide to the field of digital humanities. So, last night we looked at the Petrie Museums use of 3D scanning in the museum environment..

The Petrie looks amazing, and it is stuffed full with artefacts dating back 5,000 years. Every available space is filled with a multitude of objects, so much that you cant take it all in, in one go. It’s overwhelming just how many artefacts there are in such a small space! over 80,000 objects in fact.

This hidden museum holds one of the world’s greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology, ranging over 7000 years from prehistory through Pharaonic to Islamic times.  The Petrie is committed toward public accessibility for its collection, particularly via online access; the entire collection of 80,000 objects is now online with images, which has led to several projects to digitise Egyptian collections in small UK museums  The museum also has a Digital Egypt teaching resource. Now they are working in partnership on 3D Encounters, with the Ireland-based multimedia company IET (Íomhánna Éigipteach Teoranta) to develop high-end 3D scanning, modelling and presentational resources. Its a really interesting project and the webiste is quite fun.

The project has only just started, but the kit is pretty cool.  The aim is to digitally record themed selections of objects and make them more accessible by telling their ‘stories’. The project will also digitally recreate some of the more rare & fragile artefacts, replicated for public handling and as a means of monitoring decay. There is something really compelling about being able to manipulate digital objects and being able to learn more about them in such a tactile (albeit virtual) way, so I cant wait to see the end product.

A good night out. Couldn’t make the Petrie?  Don’t worry, the next Digital Excursion is scheduled for April and will be hosted by The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at the Wellcome Collection.  More details soon.