proposal part b - The Bernstein Project
proposal part b - The Bernstein Project
proposal part b - The Bernstein Project
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CIP-ICT PSP Call 4 20<br />
Pilot B<br />
[Imperialle]<br />
B2.3. Wider deployment and use<br />
<strong>The</strong> importance of Imperialle is based on its plan to digitise unique masterpieces that have been executed on<br />
fragile paper. Since the Renaissance and still today, paper has been the most important information carrier in<br />
Europe. Paper, by nature of its production materials and techniques, not only stores information about the date<br />
and location of its making, but also, in a broader sense, about the technological, economical, social, and cultural<br />
environment of its origin. Tracing the movement and use of a sheet of paper through space and time provides a<br />
thread of captured events that can form the basis for historical research and, at a still wider scale, the<br />
exploration of cultural heritage. For the general public, tracing the movement of paper from country to country,<br />
from artist to artist, adds significantly to the understanding of artistic creativity as a pan-European activity<br />
rather than a local or <strong>part</strong>icularly national pursuit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> importance of paper studies is well established among medievalists and codicologists, but it is less known<br />
and accepted in other fields of the humanities. <strong>The</strong> Imperialle project will increase awareness about the value<br />
of paper studies, as well as the beauty and significance of watermarks. Further, it will stimulate the<br />
standardization of adequate digitising of artwork on paper in the future. <strong>The</strong> experience and results gained in<br />
the pilot project will be passed on to other European cultural institutions through personal contacts, articles in<br />
scientific journals and presentations at conferences. <strong>The</strong> institutions within the Imperialle project – and beyond<br />
– hold tremendous numbers of objects on paper that are <strong>part</strong> of the European cultural heritage, and all are<br />
obvious candidates for future digitisations, also for preservation reasons.<br />
Imperialle is closely related to the eContentPlus project <strong>Bernstein</strong> (http://www.bernstein.oeaw.ac.at). <strong>Bernstein</strong><br />
has created an integrated digital environment for European paper history and expertise by linking several<br />
individual watermark databases into one. <strong>The</strong> project is a comprehensive and unrivalled information source on<br />
paper. <strong>The</strong> various databases are augmented by specialized image processing tools for measuring,<br />
authenticating and dating papers, as well as by a large amount of contextual data that includes bibliographical,<br />
historical and geographical (GIS) information. Imperialle will contribute to <strong>Bernstein</strong> and enlarge its watermark<br />
data pool significantly by providing images and paper samples from the 15 th to 19 th centuries.<br />
<strong>Bernstein</strong> has coordinated the watermark terminology of six languages and also developed the basis for<br />
standardizing a hierarchical watermark classification. Imperialle, together with the <strong>Bernstein</strong> portal, will set<br />
standards regarding how information inherent in paper from the Renaissance through the 19 th century is to be<br />
digitised, described and used.<br />
Digitising paper objects is vital because paper is a fragile material and every direct physical contact with this<br />
vulnerable material presents risks and potential damage. By digitising these objects, Imperialle offers an crucial<br />
contribution to the conservation and preservation of art works on paper, while simultaneously publicising them,<br />
which is something that will surely be replicated throughout Europe.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project <strong>Bernstein</strong> has been very successful in its dissemination activities. <strong>The</strong> most effective activity has<br />
been a still-continuing series of exhibitions about paper history and watermarks, with catalogues in Italian,<br />
German and English (http://www.bernstein.oeaw.ac.at/twiki/bin/view/Main/<strong>Project</strong>Exhibitions). To promote<br />
Imperialle, this series will be continued and extended throughout the project member states and beyond.