Recovering Historical Text by Multispectral Imaging
Join the Libraries for a talk and demonstration by Tania Kleynhans and Roger L. Easton of the Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology!
"Reading Between the Lines: Recovering Historical Text by Multispectral Imaging."
The collections of many libraries, archives, and museums include manuscripts that are unreadable due to accidental damage, deliberate erasure and overwriting to form a palimpsest, and/or the inevitable effects of time. Combinations of images collected under different wavelengths of light often can recover "lost" information. Such methods have been used to recover text from such objects as the Archimedes, Syriac-Galen, and St. Catherine’s palimpsests and the c.1491 world map by Henricus Martellus Germanus.
However, such imaging systems are expensive and require skill and experience to use effectively. A low-cost, low barrier-to-entry multispectral imaging system and associated software have been developed with support from the NEH for use by institutions to discover their own collections. This project aims to assist library, museum and digitization staff in surveying their collections of heretofore unsuspected objects and to enhance text in deteriorated objects or damaged archives.
Bryn Mawr College welcomes the full participation of all individuals in all aspects of campus life. Should you wish to request a disability-related accommodation for this event, please contact the event sponsor/coordinator. Requests should be made as early as possible.