Daguerreobase participates in the Europeana Digital Service Infrastructure project
Daguerreobase in the role of an heritage data partner of Europeana has recently worked on three case studies for DSI-I to ensure the continuity of our project, by means of a range of new proposals.
The digitization of collections: a burden or an asset?
by Agnes Wijers
How can museums and archives handle their digital collections and fulfil their mission to make these collections fully available to the public while ensuring that their collections will conserve their value and meaning?
The approach and strategy of the "Museum Für Kunst und Gewerbe" in Hamburg gives us some excellent examples of best practises in this area.
'We Were Here'. How Europeana can creatively showcase tourism related images from Daguerreobase.org
by Sandra M. Petrillo, SMPhoto Conservation Studio
Pioneering photographers have left us a rich visual legacy of cityscapes and landscapes. Several hundred outdoor daguerreotypes made between 1839 and 1865 are now online on Daguerreobase, as well as in Europeana Collections. These images allow us to explore the relationships between the first photographic images to be created of European cities, as well as various sites of special interest, and contemporary representations of these places in the form of paintings, drawings, prints and illustrations. Many of these daguerreotypes have interesting associations with the literature of the period, including journals and accounts of journeys by famous travellers, scientists and artists.
We have indicated various different ways of creatively showcasing daguerreotypes related to tourism in the digital environments of Europeana and Google, in order to reach a wider public of users. Groups of images of urban views, scenic landscapes, archaeological sites or folk portraits can be presented in a "storytelling" modality, which stimulates the interest of users in a way that is creative, engaging and fun.
Forgotten Faces, a proposal for a database of named 19th century photographic portraits founded on Daguerreobase and in conjunction with Europeana
by Nicholas Burnett, Museum Conservation Services Ltd
The demand for a database of 19th century European named photographic portraits was assessed and it was concluded that such a resource did not exist and that this demand was not being met. The probable number of living individuals who might be interested in photographic portraits of their ancestors has been calculated for three different dates in the 19th century, following the invention of photography. An example has been provided of a 19th century portrait that was identified by means of the data, as well as a previously unknown human interest story.
The suitability of Daguerreobase as a platform for a database to be called "Forgotten Faces" has been assessed and some changes have been suggested. The fit of the Forgotten Faces database with Europeana and Daguerreobase has been evaluated and the appropriate synergies have been identified.
As a Digital Service Infrastructure, Europeana will continue to connect the online collections of Europe's cultural heritage institutions. Europeana DSI is funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Trans-European Telecommunications Networks Work Programme 2014.