The Preservation Lab now has its own channel on the UC Libraries MediaSpace, a YouTube-like media platform powered by Kaltura! You can find the Lab’s channel, here.
We currently have 8 videos on the MediaSpace, most of which relate to RTI. But I recently created this fun little time-lapse video of sewing conservation endbands on a Classics collection item. (If you enjoy twangy bluegrass music, then make sure to turn your volume up!)
Stay tuned for future videos from the Lab!
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Codex Symposium
On August 4th, the Ohio Preservation Council hosted a full day symposium in celebration of the book, The Codex: History, Art, and Practice. The lab shut down for the day so that staff could attend this great event.
Keynote speaker, Julia Miller
Panelists James Reid-Cunningham, Macy Chadwick, and Bonnie Mak discuss the idea of a post-codex at the Jessing Center in Columbus.
Panelists James Reid-Cunningham, Macy Chadwick, and Bonnie Mak discuss the idea of a post-codex, with moderator Ed Vermue.
Julia Miller shows off historical examples of various codices.
Kyle Holland from the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation discusses his project that’s been years in the making.
Symposium attendees admire Kyle’s finished product.
Carrie Phillips, archives and special collections librarian from Bluffton University, shares one of the most significant codices to be produced in pre-revolutionary America.
Attendees peruse vendor goods during one of the breaks.
Attendees peruse vendor goods during one of the breaks.
Conservators Jayme Jamison and Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer discuss two Ohio Public Library conservation treatments performed on scrapbooks significant to the collection/the community.
Many thanks to all the wonderful guest speakers, exhibitors, and fellow Ohio Preservation Council members for a wonderful day dedicated to celebrating the history of the book!
Ashleigh Schieszer (PLCH) – Book & Paper Conservator
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Basement Finds
We follow that old rule of conservation labs always being in the basement (though we do have a window!). Well, technically we’re not actually in the basement. While our lab space was originally storage space when the library was built, there is actually another storage space below us, i.e. the real basement. Or, more accurately, the deep, dark void full of stuff…random chairs, pieces of shelving units, leftover carpet tiles, etc. Recently we heard a lot of activity going on down there and when Holly made a little trip down to check out our PackTite she found the space completely different. Dare I say, verging on organized. And front and center was this little gem with a thick layer of dust on it…
A little letterpress printing press!
Needless to say, Holly scooped that puppy up and whisked it away to the lab (and then promptly called our facilities manager to make sure that was ok)! We have every intention of fixing this beauty up and doing some very fun and exciting things with it in the future. So stay tuned!
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
The Codex: A Symposium August 4th 2017 in Columbus, OH
The Ohio Preservation Council and the State Library of Ohio are pleased to offer a full day symposium in celebration of the book. This symposium will highlight the history and art of the book with panel discussions, concurrent talks, and hands-on learning.
Keynote speaker, Julia Miller, will discuss various topics including the urgency of historical book description and why conservation and preservation is everyone’s responsibility.
Book Artist, Macy Chadwick, Assistant Professor in Medieval Studies, Bonnie Mak, and Book Conservator Jim Reid Cunningham will speak about the future of the Codex in a post codex panel.
A curated set of breakout sessions will further the registrant’s knowledge and appreciation of the codex in a number of creative and historic applications. These sessions include a presentation by Kyle Holland from the Morgan Paper Conservatory, a dramatic history presented about the 1748 Ephrata Martyrs Mirror by Carrie Phillips, a discussion about the conservation and preservation of scrapbooks by conservators Jayme Jamison and Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer, and a session with Julia Miller who will present her collection of bookbindings.
Additionally, attendees will have an opportunity to purchase one of a kind materials from local craftspeople, bookbinders and artisans at the exhibitor hall(way).
Located at:
The Jessing Center
7625 N High St, Columbus, OH 43235
Please visit the Ohio Preservation Council’s News and Events for registration and symposium information. See also: http://opc.ohionet.org/opcjoomla/news-and-events/.
Fun with PhotoDoc – RTI Viewer Video (Edition 6)
In my last “Fun with PhotoDoc” post I discussed the my recent RTI training with Cultural Heritage Imaging at Yale University. If you missed that post you can check it out here. In that post I discussed our first RTI capture session on a book entitled, Aller Bücher und Schrifften des thewren, seligen Mans Gottes Doct. Mart. Lutheri …, which is part UC’s Archives & Rare Books Library’s collection and is the eighth volume in an eight volume set. The binding is most likely age-hardened alum-tawed leather (though possibly vellum) on wooden boards with embossed paneled decoration that is barely visible under normal illumination. In that first RTI blog post I shared some snapshots of the various RTI modes you can explore within the RTI Viewer software, but I knew that I ultimately wanted to create a video capture of the RTI Viewer in action. I was finally able to do that using a free software called TinyTake.
This video can also be viewed through UCL Media Space: https://stream.libraries.uc.edu/media/AllerBucherUndSchrifften_i17632730_VideoCaptureRTI/1_s13c9opc
In this video we explore the following modes built within the RTI Viewer as the light position is moved around the object:
- Default Mode (HSH)
- Specular Enhancement Mode with color removed (HSH) – notice the “1571” inscription that becomes more apparent. This volume was printed in 1568, and we believe that 1571 was when the publication was bound.
- Normals Visualization Mode (HSH) – allows the human eye to better determine is convex and concave on the surface of the cover.
- Diffuse Gain Mode (PTM) – This mode is ideal for visualizing surface abrasions and losses. Take notice of the “ID” inscription that becomes more visible, and when we switch back to the default mode you can see that this “ID” inscription is virtually invisible to the naked eye.
I have to say, Catarina and I really enjoyed the capture process for this binding, but when we found that “ID” and then looked at the physical binding and could barely see anything…we were kind of giddy! I’m hoping to create more RTI Viewer video captures like this as we carry out more RTI capture sessions for collection materials. When I do, I will make sure to share them here.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Fun with PhotoDoc – RTI (Edition 5)
At the beginning of April I was lucky enough to attend a RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) workshop offered by Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) at Yale University. CHI is a non-profit organization that shares and teaches RTI and Photogrammetry technology with cultural heritage institutions around the world. The class I attended was a 4-day NEH grant sponsored course taught by three RTI experts from CHI, and it was amazing!
This is a composite image of all the highlight points from one RTI section. The software uses these highlight points to map the surface shape and color of your object.
So, what is RTI? CHI describes it on their website as “a computational photographic method that captures a subject’s surface shape and color and enables the interactive re-lighting of the subject from any direction”. For highlight RTI, which is the least expensive and most accessible method for most institutions and what I was taught in the class, you basically take a series of 36 to 48 images of an object where everything is constant (settings and position of objects, camera and spheres) except for the light position. With a reflective black sphere (or 2) set up next to your object, you move you light source around the object at varying angles. Then, you take that set of images and plug them into the free RTI software provided by CHI and the algorithm detects the sphere(s) and the highlight points (from your light) captured on the sphere(s) and voila!…you have an fun and interactive way to look at your object’s surface texture.
Before I attended this fantastic training opportunity, our conservator and I knew right away what the subject of our first capture would be when I returned…a 16th century German Reformation text by Martin Luther with a highly decorated cover that is practically invisible under normal illumination.
Here’s a time lapse video of our first (and second) capture in the Lab…
That day (Tuesday) were were able to capture the upper and lower covers of the Reformation text (from ARB), the original silk cover from a 17th century Chinese manuscript (from Hebrew Union College) and an illuminated page from a German vellum prayer book (from PLCH). And here our some snapshots of our results from two of those captures (click on the thumbnails for a larger view of the image)…
This possibly 13th century German Prayer Book has a full stiff vellum binding and an illuminated first page. The varying modes highlight condition issues like worn/abraded parchment and flaking gold illumination, as well as the overall surface texture of the illumination.
I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a little sneak peek into RTI. I will be demoing and discussing in further depth this afternoon from 1:30 to 3pm at the Lab’s annual Preservation Week Open House. I also hope to do more RTI captures/processes in the future and share them here.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Fun with PhotoDoc – Edition 2
I’m back for another edition of “Fun with PhotoDoc”. If you missed the first edition you can check it out here. Originally I had planned for that to be a one-off post, but then I thought it might be fun to make this into more of a series, sharing interesting facets of photographic documentation (aka PhotoDoc) as they come up. Really, it just gives me an excuse to share all the things about PhotoDoc that I think are just plain cool and to make gifs out of treatment documentation photos, which is so much fun!
This time around I wanted to share some interesting before treatment photos of two War Bond posters from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County’s collection. For both of these I photographed the posters using normal illumination and then used raking illumination to highlight tears, cockling and bends/breaks in the paper.
With this War Bond poster the raking illumination really shows off that large tear that extends from the center to the bottom of the poster. Under normal illumination this substantial tear gets lost in the pattern of the female subject’s dress. Also, while the normal illumination allows for better visibility of the water damage in the bottom left hand corner, raking light better highlights the resulting cockling and distortion of the paper in that area.
For this poster, raking light really highlights all the undulations and cockling that have been caused by the poster being partially adhered to a piece of board. You can also more clearly see the fairly large tear located under the word “Hun” under raking illumination versus under normal illumination.
Jessica Ebert (UCL) – Conservation Technician
Pleasures of (Recomposing) the Text
Lucy Schultz, a volunteer with the collaborative preservation lab since June of 2009, has just published a reflection on working with her hands in the service of repairing books. Lucy is a UC scholar of composition history and an emerita faculty member. We are so grateful for her work (and her mention of the lab)!
Find the article at your library today! UC staff, faculty, students, and affiliates can view the article by following the link from http://aj2vr6xy7z.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&N=100&L=AJ2VR6XY7Z&S=AC_T_B&C=composition+studies.
Cover of composition Studies.
Title page of composition Studies.
Congrats on 10 Years of Service!
Yesterday, two of the Preservation Lab’s workers were recognized for 10 years of hard work and service at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Veronica Sorcher, Senior Conservation Technician, and Alex Temple, Preservation Lab volunteer. Having previously been a University of Cincinnati student, Alex Temple worked in the Preservation Lab for many years as a student worker while also working part time at the Public Library. We’re lucky to have Alex continue on in the lab as a volunteer even after graduating!
Thanks for all your years of hard work and dedication to preserving our library’s cultural heritage!
Alex Temple, assisting with a special collections storage move at the Public Library.
Veronica Sorcher, Senior Conservation Technician looks at digital prints through a Carson Microbrite Plus microscope.
Check out the microscope at http://www.carson.com/products/microbrite-plus-mm-300/.
Connections. Collaboration. Community. Oh My!
Each year, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) holds an annual conference bringing together colleagues from over 120 countries to experience international librarianship. Past conferences have been held in Istanbul, Singapore, Berlin, and Bangkok. In August of 2016, IFLA hosted their annual conference in Columbus, Ohio titled, Connections. Collaboration. Community.
On August 19th, as part of the University of Cincinnati Libraries tour, the Preservation Lab was honored to welcome our international librarian colleagues for a visit to our lab where we discussed our role in collaborative preservation within Ohio – and locally as a conservation lab serving two institutions.
During our 40-minute tour, we highlighted treatments for special collections and discussed the importance of treatment documentation. Ashleigh invited guests to see in-process treatments and demonstrated filling paper losses using leaf casting techniques on a suction platen. Jessica walked visitors through the lab’s treatment documentation process in the conservation lab’s digital photography studio. Teaming up on preservation were Holly and Hyacinth who showcased preventative storage enclosures and exhibition mounts. They worked in conjunction with Veronica who carefully hot-stamped bookmarks to make keep-sake souvenirs for guests to take home from the lab.
Conservation Technician, Jessica Ebert discusses conservation photographic documentation during an IFLA Langsam Library Tour.
IFLA tour guest communicates with Alex Temple, lab volunteer, with translation assistance from library staff member Yu Mao
We’re absolutely honored to have participated on this year’s American IFLA post-conference activities and were delighted to present about the work our collaborative lab conducts to preserve both academic and public library materials.
Next year, IFLA’s annual meeting will be held in Wroclaw, Poland. Click here to learn more about this international professional library association.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the Cincinnati IFLA tours, check out the UC Libraries blog and Ohio Library Council’s website.