proposal part b - The Bernstein Project

CIP-ICT PSP Call 4 10
Pilot B
[Imperialle]
SECTION B2. IMPACT
B2.1a. Target outcomes and expected impact
The viability, sustainability and scalability of the target outcomes after the end of the project are implicitly
guaranteed by the institutions of the project partners.
The content-providing institutions are major cultural institutions funded primarily by various national states and
thus, they are explicitly obligated to make their treasures and inventories available for research as well as for the
pleasure and education of the general public. Digitisation of their holdings is necessary in order to make it
widely accessible and to preserve it physically. A digital copy in high resolution often shows more details to the
viewer than would the original object if viewed in a museum or library display. Hence in nearly all cases, digital
copies, in high resolution, are a complement to the often fragile and light-sensitive originals, which must be kept
and preserved in climatologically secure places. It should be stressed that paper objects such as drawings, prints,
letters, scores, etc. are highly fragile. The sensitivity of these objects is well known; the only way to share these
frail collections with society will be through digital images. These can be made available online via Europeana.
Public interest in and demand for access to these highly vulnerable tokens of our cultural heritage are signs
pointing to the importance of delivering high-level digital and meta-data information to our communities.
Imperialle is dedicated to sharing otherwise at-risk and fragile objects, which are rarely seen, with the wider
community at large, as part of lifelong learning and pleasure wherever people are.
In some cases, Imperialle has initiated the interest of the content providers in digitising their holdings and
making them available on the internet, and in other cases, it will continue digitisation projects already in the
process of being undertaken. This is a sure sign that these digitisation efforts are timely and have long been
needed.
All of the partner institutions have a serious interest in maintaining the availability of their digital contents and
to continue digitising additional items on their own after the initial project is completed. This shows that not
only current intentions will be actualized by the project, but it is expected that the project outcome will actually
entail an increased viability, sustainability and scalability.
The far-reaching potential of Imperialle will be publicized through a series of exhibitions demonstrating the
importance of paper and watermark research. Similar presentations were already held during the Bernstein
project, and they turned out to be a very successful dissemination means, attracting thousands of people.
Included in the plans for these further exhibitions is a catalogue in four languages: English, German, Italian, and
Spanish. The National Gallery of Denmark has even considered establishing a focal exhibit for museum visitors
to present Imperialle, some of the masterpieces it contains, and information about the paper used by artists of
the 16 th to 17 th centuries.
The continued availability of the contents for Europeana through the Bernstein portal is also guaranteed.
Although the first phase of the Bernstein project was concluded in February 2009, the Austrian Academy of
Sciences is obligated by contract to keep the service running. Bernstein has continued to be updated and
extended since the end of the project. The most important update has been the realisation of a connection with
Europeana.