GOOD PRACTICE IN DIGITISATION
FORM FOR NOMINATION

This is the form for the nomination of a good practice in digitisation.
Please, send a form for each different project.
Each project can be “nominated” for more than one area.

Send the form/forms to the attention of Maria Teresa Natale by e-mail to minerva2@beniculturali.it orf by fax to +390667232499.

The form will be submitted to the National representative for approval.

English must be used.

NAME AND ACRONYM OF THE PROJECT:
DADDI - Digital Archive through Direct Digital Imaging

URL:
http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/Dta/daddieng.html

AREAS for nominations of 'good practice' for on-going projects on digitisation:

1)  Digitisation Project Planning (The Reasons for the project, Human Resources, Research, Risks

2)  Selecting Source Material for Digitisation (Establish Selection Criteria, Selection Against the Criteria)

3)  Preparation for Digitisation (Hardware; Software; Environment)

4)  Handling of Originals (Moving and Manipulating Original Material)

5) X  The Digitisation Process (Using Scanners; Using Digital Cameras; Software Applications for Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

6)  Preservation of Digital Master Material (File Formats; Media Choices; Migration Strategies)

7)  Meta-Data (The Scope of Meta-Data Used for Object Description; Appropriate Meta-Data Standards)

8)  X  Publication (Image Processing; 3D and Virtual Reality Issues; Online Publication)
9)  X  IPR and Copyright (Establing Copyright; Safeguarding Copyright)

10)  Managing Digitisation projects (Digitisation Process management; Team Development; Staff Training; Working with Third Parties for Technical Assistance; Working with Third Parties in Cooperative projects and Content Sharing; Costs

RESPONSIBLE BODY AND/OR ANY SPECIFIC 
CO-ORDINATING BODY/MECHANISM/INSTITUTION

Name of the institution: 
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino - DTA Galleria degli Uffizi.

English name of the institution:  
Minister of Culture Heritage Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino - DTA Uffizi gallery

Acronym of the institution:……………………………………………………………

Mailing address: Via della Ninna 5 – 50122 Firenze

Country: Italy

Tel.: +39-055-2388651-652

Fax: +39-055-2388699

e-mail: info@uffizi.firenze.it

URL: http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/

Type of institution:   X National		 Governmental		 Regional
             Other   Specify ........................................................................

Sector:  Archive   Library X Museum  Foundation  
             Other   Specify ........................................................................

Legal status: X Public   Private    No profit

Description of the institution (max 200 characters):

It is a public institution located in Florence, competent for: Galleria degli Uffizi; Galleria dell'Accademia; Museo nazionale del Bargello; Museo di San Marco; Cappelle medicee; Galleria palatina e appartamenti monumentali; Galleria di arte moderna e Galleria del costume; Museo degli argenti e delle porcellane; Museo della Casa fiorentina antica; Eredità Bardini; Museo di Casa Martelli; Chiostro dello Scalzo; Cenacolo di Santa Apollonia; Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto a San Salvi; Cenacolo di Foligno; Cenacolo del Perugino; Cenacolo del Ghirlandaio; Giardino di Boboli.

CONTACT PERSON OF THE PROJECT

Name: Antonio Surname: Paolucci
Gender:   X M		 F

Title: Prof.

Institution: 
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per il 
Polo Museale Fiorentino - DTA Uffizi gallery

Mailing address: Via della Ninna 5 – 50122 Firenze

Country: ITALY

Tel.: +39-055-2388651-652

Fax: +39-055-2388699

e-mail: info@uffizi.firenze.it

Contact languages: Italian and English

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

Duration: 2 years completed in August 2003

Ojectives and priorities  (max 200 characters):

Main task is to digitise at very high resolution all the collection of 
'Uffizi Gallery' in order to create a reference archive owned by the 
'Soprintendenza di Firenze'.
All the digital images are got directly from the art-works using some 
colour tables in order to grant the quality and colour certification.
IPR is got by using watermarking technologies in conjunction with the 
University of Florence.
Another objective is to propose a different and wider way of accessing the 
content navigating through the high-resolution image with a simply browser 
on Internet.
The very long-term usability of the images is the most important task of 
the project.
One of the most significant tasks of DADDI project is to produce such a 
high-resolution images archive of all the Gallery, in order to avoid, or 
reduce seriously, future needs of any new photographic campaigns to better 
preserve physical objects.

 

The main features for what you consider the project a 'good practice' example, with respect to the selected areas ((max 200 characters for each area):

AREA 5
The high resolution of the digitisation process and the final images, the 
standard formats and the colour calibration techniques used, the 
watermarking technology, and finally the innovative way of publishing 
content of extremely high-resolution on Internet respecting transmission 
delays and protecting rights holders.
Capture process
Image capture is obtained directly from the art-works through the highest 
quality digital systems available on the market: Phase One's digital 
camera backs. For the highest resolution the Phase One's PowerPhase FX 
digital scanning back is employed. The back, mounted on a Sinar P2 view 
camera equipped  with special "Digital" series high resolution 
Rodenstock lenses, delivers up to 380Mb image files with 12,600 x 10,500 
pixels of hardware resolution  at 48 bit colour depth.
TIFF RGB format for master images without compression, images available on 
Internet are converted in JPG format.
Colour certification
Prior to each capture, the system is colour calibrated on Kodak and Gretag 
Macbeth standard and digital colour charts. The charts are included in 
each image for future reference.
Accurate lighting is provided by custom designed high frequency HMI type 
continuous light units.
These lights have a daylight type colour temperature and are filtered 
against UV emissions which are potentially noxious to light sensitive artwork.

AREA 8 and 9
Accessibility on Internet and IPR
The project is testing an innovative way of publishing content at very 
high-resolution on Internet with a complete strategy for protection of the 
rights owned by 'Soprintendenza di Firenze'.
The basic approach is to present an user interface with two windows: a 
small one for navigation and a big one (e.g. 300x300) for high-resolution 
contents. User can choice the level of zooming and the zone of the image 
to be visualised in the big window. Transmission delays are limited due to 
the fact that only small details are transmitted on Internet for each 
Internet user-request.
Rights holders are protected in two ways: first of all Internet users 
receive only small details of the entire image, secondly a watermarking 
technique hide a mark inside images transmitted on Internet in order to 
track illegal uses.
Watermarking technology provided by a patent of the University of Florence.

Problems encountered and lessons learned: 
The high quality of images and the colour certification are very difficult 
and complex targets, in particular the light source control depends by 
various parameters. The correct colour reproduction on the user monitor is 
the last challenge on Internet environment.

Comments:
The high quality of images due to the digital camera used for acquisition 
and the TIFF standard format for images, can grant a very long term 
usability for this digital archive.
Image files are saved in standard TIFF RGB format.
Accessibility, for the moment, is provided only as demo so it's limited to 
some examples images on Internet using the innovative technology XLimage 
for reducing the transmission delays and for protecting the rights holders 
(in that case the Ministry of Culture).

I agree this information may be published on Minerva Knowledge Base: http://www.minervaeurope.org

X Yes  No

Signature: _____________________

Name: Maurizio Lunghi

e-mail: m.lunghi@culturalheritage.it