Digital meets Culture

a dedicated event in Berlin took place for showcasing the tool.

Europeana Space Toolbox, a flexible solution for museums educators

by Beatrix Lehmann (Museumsmedien)

At the end of May 2016 the Europeana Space Toolbox was presented by Beatrix Lehmann from Museumsmedien, in an event for educators in memorials and museums. The participants came from different institutions in Berlin:

German Historical Museum, Topography of Terror, Berlin Cathedral Church, Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe, Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind and German Resistance Memorial Center.

[Show as slideshow]

The Toolbox was explained in detail, and scenarios of uses cases were discussed. The audience was very impressed by the usability and the open source structure of the Toolbox.

Learn more about the Toolbox here: http://www.europeana-space.eu/toolbox/

an interesting article about photographic heritage and digital technologies

Reliving the past and revisiting the present through photographic heritage

An interesting article recently appeared on the blog of the Europeana Space Photography Pilot, led by prof. Fred Truyen of KU Leuven. The article is derived from a very lively and high-profile speech delivered by prof. Truyen during the Photoconsortium seminar “Virtual Museums and Photographic Heritage” (Pisa, 4th May 2016).

The article talks about the power and the role of photography in representing or witnessing the reality, and the implication on which it is possible to leverage when using photography in virtual museums. As explained in the article,

“Virtual museums as we know them today are interactive websites that allow visitors to navigate, walk through and view objects from different angles, often in 3D – a feature frequently used for archaeological sites. In the best cases, they also offer a social dimension, where personal experiences can be shared.”

prof. Fred Truyen during his speech at Photoconsortium Seminar

Digitized early photographic images have the ability to bring historical realities close beyond expectation. Somehow, they manage to render the past more tangible, more credible and imaginable than it could ever be, perceived from a dusty photo album or a glass plate. Most of all, photography enhanced by digital technologies is able to support heightened user engagement and identification, which are key elements of the museal experience. Digitized images not only offer a totally different view on photographic heritage, but also fundamentally change the experience of the past they represent.

Talking about mirrors, frames, trompe l’oeil, impressionism and pixeling, the article is a journey of uncommon reflections around photography and digitized photography, suggesting a wealth of creative possibilities for the use of this medium in virtual museums, also providing current examples of state-of-the-art ways of creating, remixing and playing with virtual museums.

“Going back to our virtual museums, the opportunity that they offer lies in the possibility to mix the typical 3D spaces and navigation, with the archetypical photographic elements of scale, framing and distance, and with the richness of the light as it is captured: the reflectance, the illusion and the scattering of the light on the texture.”

Full article by Fred Truyen and Clarissa Colangelo (KU Leuven) is available HERE.

On 15-17 September 2016 KU Leuven will host a conference on Intersectionality in Digital Humanities.

Conference “Intersectionality in DH”

The last few years have witnessed a movement towards a more open and inclusive Digital Humanities field. The Alliance for Digital Humanities Organizations has appointed a Multilingualism/Multiculturalism committee to address these issues and accepted a special interest group, Global Outlook :: Digital Humanities, to try to break down barriers between countries in the Global North and the Global South. Intersectional studies are also developing within DH to try to bring a plurality of voices into the conversation.

KU Leuven’s Digital Humanities Task Force invites individual paper proposals, panel sessions, poster sessions, and tool demonstrations related to intersectionality in Digital Humanities.

Meeting venue: KU Leuven

Dates: September 15^th to 17^th (immediately after the Digital Humanities Summer School, September 12^th to 14th).

Confirmed plennary speakers include:

Deb Verhoeven (Deakin University)
Roopika Risam (Salem State University)
Daniel O’Donnell (University of Lethbridge)
Alex Gil (Columbia University)
Padmini Ray Murray (Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology)
Melissa Terras (University College London)

Topics might include but are not restricted to:

Development and evaluation of feminist, gender, queer, and disability studies in Digital Humanities
Digital manifestations of critical race studies
Digital Humanities and activism
Collaborations between digital humanities specialists and scholars in other fields
Born-digital critical and creative initiatives in cultural history
Histories and futures of the digital
Editorial initiatives, digitization and curation of primary texts, representation of manuscripts and the writing process
Inquiry into texts, networks, and historical processes via visualization and strategies, e.g. distant reading, big data, etc.
Authorship and collaboration: the work of women and other historically marginalized writers, traditional models of scholarship, and new conditions of digital research and new media
Identities and diversity in new media: born-digital arts in word, sound, and image, in genres including documentaries, blogs, graphic novels, memoirs, hypertexts and eLiterature
Conditions of production: diversity in academia, publishing, library, information science, or programming, past and present
Cultural and political implications of particular tools or digital modes of presentation
Pedagogical objectives, practices, environments
Dissemination, accessibility, and sustainability challenges faced by digital projects
Detecting and managing bias in text corpora for linguistic research
Strategies of dealing with bias in historical research based on large datasets
Gender in music canonisation

INFO: http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/digitalhumanities/women-in-digital-humanities

Call for moving image and performance work - deadline 13 June

Visions in the Nunnery 2016

Visions in the Nunnery is back for its tenth incarnation at the Nunnery Gallery in London.

A renowned showcase of recent performance and moving image works by emerging and established artists, Visions aims to offer an international overview of the challenging and thoughtful uses of these ever shifting mediums.

We are now inviting artists from all over the world to submit moving image and performance works for Visions 2016, which will run from October to December 2016 at the Nunnery Gallery.

WHO Moving image and performance artists

WHAT We are looking for cutting edge work that has been made in the last two years. There is no theme. Selection will be based on innovative uses of your chosen medium. No more than three entries per artist.

WHEN Application deadline: 13 June 2016. Exhibition: October to December 2016

REQUIREMENTS

Moving Image

We are mainly looking for single screen works of up to 10 minutes in duration. However, we do have some limited space for small installation/monitor based work, or longer single-screen pieces. If you are submitting an installation, please provide an additional document describing the work, including equipment, dimensions etc. Please, be aware that we cannot provide equipment specifically for individual installations.

Performance

We are looking for live, networked and hybrid performance works (not documentation!) of up to 10 minutes in duration. Please describe the work’s mechanics, including equipment, participants, dimensions, props, space requirements, number of performers, etc.

With full support for all PDF/A parts and conformance levels

veraPDF 0.16 released and available for download

The latest version of veraPDF features full support of all PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 requirements (all levels). Together with earlier support of PDF/A-1 validation, it represents the first full support for all PDF/A parts and conformance levels.

Features:

Conformance checker
- validation of digital signature requirements
- extraction of color space info from JPEG2000 images
- validation of permissions dictionary
- PDF/A-2B fix: correct implementation of CIDSystemInfo entry requirements
- command line support for plugin execution to extend feature extraction
veraPDF characterisation plugins
- first set of example pure java plugins available
- optional sample plugin pack available through installer

Test corpus:

112 new atomic test files for parts 2 and 3

Infrastructure:

support for all parts and conformance levels at http://demo.verapdf.org

Download veraPDF 0.16:

http://www.preforma-project.eu/verapdf-download.html

http://downloads.verapdf.org/rel/verapdf-installer.zip

Release notes:

https://github.com/veraPDF/veraPDF-library/releases/latest

veraPDF is building the definitive, open source PDF/A validator. The project benefits from a high level of development resource and PDF/A expertise. Please support our efforts by downloading and testing the software. If you encounter problems, or wish to suggest improvements, please add them to the project’s GitHub issue tracker. You can expect a speedy response. YPlease support our efforts by downloading and testing the software.

Keep up to date with the latest developments of veraPDF by subscribing to the veraPDF consortium’s newsletter.

About veraPDF

Led by the Open Preservation Foundation and the PDF Association, the veraPDF consortium is developing the definitive open source, file-format validator for all parts and conformance levels of ISO 19005 (PDF/A). The software is designed to meet the needs of memory institutions responsible for preserving digital content for the long term.

The veraPDF consortium is funded by the PREFORMA project. PREFORMA (PREservation FORMAts for culture information/e-archives) is a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) project co-funded by the European Commission under its FP7-ICT Programme.

Happy Summer From MediaArea.net!

MediaConch Newsletter #5 – June 2016

New Release Notes

What’s new in MediaConch 16.05

Local GUI, Online, CLI, Server

MediaConch XML format v0.2
Improved Matroska tests
Improved HTML display
FFV1 parsing speed improvement

Local GUI

Option for applying a policy to all open files
Lists of values for several elements in the policy editor
Minor UI improvements/fixes

Online GUI

Option for applying a policy to all open files
User settings: default policy, default display, default verbosity
Minor UI improvements/fixes

Latest Downloads

Download MediaConch’s latest release from PREFORMA Open Source Portal or a daily build from MediaConch website.

MediaConch now supports plugins including VeraPDF and DPFManager!

Upcoming Events

Join us for our pre-IETF Berlin Symposium: No Time to Wait! A free workshop for audiovisual archivists, developers, and open standards working groups from July 18th – 20th hosted by the Deutsche Kinemathek, Zuse Institute Berlin, and MediaArea.net.

The MediaConch project and this symposium has received funding from PREFORMA, co-funded by the European Commission under it’s FP7-ICT Programme.

Feedback

MediaArea is eager to build a community of collaborators and testers to integrate the software in their workflows and participate in usability testing. Please contact us if you’d like to be involved!

Amsterdam, 2-4 November 2016

DiXiT workshop “Code and Collation: training textual scholars

The event is part of the DiXiT network and is hosted by the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands. It brings together a group of international experts from the fields of textual scholarship and computer science.

The workshop engages with the theory and practice of semi-automated collation and provides an intense training in the open source collation program CollateX.

Participants will learn how to prepare source materials, how to perform semi-automated collation using CollateX, and how to inspect and modify the results; they will acquire or improve computational skills relevant to textual criticism and in particular to the production of scholarly editions.

The workshop venue is located at Kaap Noord, a business centre on the Northern bank of the IJ in Amsterdam, close to the Central Station. It is easily accessible by public transport (ferry, bus) or bike.

Registration is now open and free of charge.

Early registration is recommended since there are limited places available.

Detailed information can be found at the website: https://sites.google.com/site/dixitcodingcollation/

Venue information: http://kaapnoord.nl

For all questions, do not hesitate to get in touch at dixitcollation@gmail.com.

Madrid, 27June - 1July 2016

DH@Madrid Summer School 2016

Summer School “Digital technologies applied to the study of poetry”

Dates: 27 June to 1st July 2016

Venue: Sala Sáenz Torrecilla, Facultad de Económicas, UNED, Madrid – or your own computer (the course is available online)

The summer school offers an application of digital humanities to the study of poetry through practical learning of the latest technologies in this field.

More information: http://linhd.uned.es/en/p/dh-summer-2016/

OBJECTIVES

Provide researchers with knowledge and understanding of the different digital humanities technologies and their application, specifically for textual analysis: TEI-XML, LOD, PLN, R.
Reveal to participants the different technological and theoretical perspectives to address a single subject or philological concept as poetry, and provide them with simple tools they can use without extensive programming.
Generate materials and tools which can be applied to the analysis of poetry and that researchers can reuse by themselves for their projects.

PARTICIPANTS‘ PROFILE

Researchers in philology and digital humanities, as well as people from other areas interested in the study of poetry. It is not essential to have previous experience in this area, although it is recommended to have some understanding of digital humanities and associated working methodologies.

METHODOLOGY

The course will be mainly practical and delivered in a workshop form, although some more theoretical sessions are included.

The course is sponsored by HDH (Asociación Hispánica de Humanidades Digitales, www.humanidadesdigitales.org), AAHD (Asociación Argentina de Humanidades Digitales) www.aahd.org, and DIXIT (Digital Scholarly Editing Initial Training Network) www.dixit.uni-koeln.de. Members of all these groups will receive a 10% discount over the registration fees.

More information registration process and program: http://extension.uned.es/actividad/idactividad/11781

Nicosia (Cyprus), 2-4 December 2016

ICPT2016 International Conference of Photography and Theory

The conference, organised by the International Association of Photography and Theory, will be held between 2-4 December 2016, at NiMac, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Keynote Speakers: Martha Langford, John Stezaker, Lucia Nimcova

Research in historical, artistic and vernacular photography has been rapidly expanding in the past few years. Responding to this trend, the International Conference of Photography and Theory (ICPT) was created with the aim to provide an outlet for an interdisciplinary and critical theoretical exploration of photography and photographic practices. The 4th International Conference of Photography and Theory (ICPT2016) aims once again at bringing together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields of study, who share a common interest in photography. This year’s topic, ‘Photography and the Everyday’ investigates the current meanings, distribution, materiality, impact, and affect of vernacular photography (or else everyday photography) in relation to our economy of images. Furthermore, it aims to examine the ways vernacular photography influences, shapes and challenges memory, individual and collective identities, historical and other narratives, the social fabric, issues of authorship and authenticity, privacy and public life.

With the advent of the digital era, an unprecedented volume of photographs are being produced, shared and distributed, perhaps signalling a shift in our engagement with vernacular photography. Smartphones, tablets, social media and photo-sharing applications seem to have altered our economy of images, making everyday photography more immediate, accessible, shareable and visible than ever. The ease of taking vernacular photographs has resulted in fleeting, temporal, and what they are often described as ‘superficial’ images. However, the growing and overpowering number, the viral nature, and often personal – yet universally – understood content of such images cannot be easily dismissed. More so, online photographic collections have established a diverse and flexible channel for exchange of both images and discourse around everyday photography, whilst producers and consumers of photographic images have assumed curatorial roles over these collections.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Call for Papers was open until 30 June 2016 for submissions from various disciplines, such as: photography, art history and theory, visual sociology,anthropology, museology, philosophy, ethnography, cultural studies, visual and media studies, communications, and fine and graphic arts. Submitted proposals for presentations should address, but are not limited to one or more of the following:

Vernacular, Snapshot and Everyday Photography

The nature of everyday photography: producing, collecting, displaying, categorizing and distributing the everyday image
The ephemeral nature of everyday photography
Found vernacular photography: issues of privacy and ownership
The Digital Archive: a new materiality
Personal photo album vs a shared public database
Redefining the family album
The digital rebirth of the surveillance society

Traces of Memory & Identity

Everyday image: memory, place and everyday life
The indexical nature of everyday digital photography
Digital memory: a fluid strand of memory
Sharing photographs online: constructing family and private life
Empowering through vernacular photography
Producing and consuming photographic images

The Effect of Photo-Sharing Applications & Social Networks

From Polaroid to Instagram
The Selfie phenomenon
Digital Photographic collections and communities: formulating, participating and social tagging
Collaborative photographic practices and experiences
Everyday photographic production and photo-sharing as a social process
Photo Diary/Weblog/Photostreams as narratives
Politics, revolutions and propaganda of photo-sharing

Art and Everyday Photography

The everyday/snapshot aesthetic in art photography
Artists’ use of everyday photography – found or (re)created
Issues of appropriation and assimilation
The personal and collective in everyday photography
Curating the vernacular
Simulating and performing the vernacular

For any further information please visit the website http://photographyandtheory.com/

Salford (UK), 10 – 12 October 2016

DCDC2016 conference / Collections, connections, collaborations: from potential to impact

DCDC2016 conference will look at the varied and innovative ways in which archives, museums, libraries, and academia can help realise the potential of collections and translate this into social, cultural, and economic impact.

The main conference themes will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Beyond apps: how technology can be used to enhance the impact of heritage collections and their place within society.
Dynamic partnerships: academic impact and collaboration with heritage organisations
Future and hidden histories: exploring new narratives for our collections
Out of the strong room and into the street: new uses for collections within social, cultural and economic contexts
Show me the money: new frontiers for funding and fundraising
Who do we think we’re for? Working with new audiences and taking heritage “outside of heritage”
Making collections work harder: social impact and cohesion through heritage
Joining the dots: connecting collections and communities

Registrations open from June 2016

Website: http://dcdcconference.com/