Last Minute Details and Finishing Everything Up

While approaching the end of my thesis, my check list of things I have to do is getting shorter and shorter. At this point, my second and final print is completed, the paper only needs minor revisions and the poster is complete.

The complete poster is shown above.

Things to do include, adding a few more paragraphs to my paper about how people are interacting with these objects and how this project could proceed in the future. For example, Richard Minsky suggested to print the facsimile as is but sand down, with a belt sander, the back of the object to remove the backing and reveal holes in its lowest points. Having an object with correctly placed holes makes it flexible enough to add a real silk backing just like the original. This is instead of painting it red where the silk should have gone in the crevasses between the raise papiermache areas.

I am really excited for the poster session becasue I would have both the image of the original, images of the scans and both physical copies present to show each part of the process and exhibit the level of detail and accuracy achieved. Having the facsimiles with me also helps illustrate how easy it is to pass around and hold away from an archive experience. This is an experience that you could not have had with the original which qualifies my research question.

After the paper is submitted, the poster is printed and everything is signed off, I will be giving the Cary both physical copies as well copies of the 3D scans.

Almost done!

What I'm Learning From My Thesis Research

The vanguard field of Digitization is one that is broad yet specialized. Most of my research consists of descriptions of procedures and technology such as the article "Digital Three-Dimensional Modelling of Donatello's David by Frequency-Modulated Laser Radar." On the other hand, some authors focus on the implications surrounding the accessibility and variety of the World Wide Web as defined by the paper “The Future of Museums in the Digital Age: New Models for Access to and Use of Digital Collections." Most researchers are worried about what laser, scanner or camera to use while others focus on how to monetize their digital collection. Along with this focus on the feasibility technology, authors such as Francoise Benhamou and Victor Ginsburgh of the paper “Is There a Market for Copies?” look in to whether reproductions can be used to deceive the art world as forgeries and if preservation through this method is detrimental becasue of it. Overall, on the technological side, I have learned what I should look for when scanning an object to make sure it is an accurate reproduction and how to 3D print. On the theory side, I learned how to organize and upload this information on the internet in a way to preserve its authenticity and increase its accessibility.

I have a handful of things I wish to know other than the feasibility of 3D scanning and printing archival objects as replacements which is the basis for my thesis. Some questions I still have include, can I 3D scan a book and upload it to an archive's website without the author's knowledge? If I need permission and the author is deceased, when does the content become public domain? The answers to these questions ensure that I would not run into any legal trouble while pursuing my thesis. I also would like to find out what is the best practice to scanning pages in a book. When a book is bound, a camera is unable to capture a flat surface as it might have it if the object was a singular piece of paper. The only way to solve these questions is through continued research and that is what I aim to do.