Photographs come in all shapes and colours, and are an important part of many people’s daily lives. Because how quick are you to capture beautiful moments for the future, today? But it was quite a different story about a hundred years ago. Back then, fragile glass plates were the ideal medium for capturing historical events and milestones in life – making them valuable heritage treasures that make the past more tangible. In order to let everyone learn from this piece of history, meemoo has launched the largest European glass plate project to date.
Artificial intelligence is a hot topic that opens doors to new and exciting possibilities. By harnessing the power of machines and algorithms, many time-consuming tasks can be completed quickly and efficiently. Incorporating AI solutions in your workflow can help you make good progress in numerous areas. But how applicable is AI to archival materials? Meemoo, the Flemish Institute for Archives, along with its cultural and government partners, set out to explore this question.
The GIVE project would not have been possible without the numerous collaborations. From logging hours and packaging, to sitting around the table to make important decisions, more than 175 organisations in the cultural and government sectors have joined forces to support this initiative.
In order to produce high-quality digital copies of about 250 Flemish masterpieces, our project involved photographing, digitising and 3D-scanning paintings, sculptures, maps, handwritten documents, old prints... to name but a few! Each type of work is unique and therefore requires a completely different approach.
Digitising glass plates, transparent photographic carriers from the 18th and 19th centuries, is no easy task. These unique witnesses to history are fragile and come in all shapes and sizes, which affects the digitisation approach. The Coordinated Initiative for Flemish Heritage Digitisation (GIVE) project, led by meemoo, is digitising a massive amount of images. Below is a detailed account of the process from start to finish.