In what now seems like the way distant past, just before the library building closed, Ryan Baumann and I virtually presented on DUL’s work with multispectral imaging at the More than Meets the Eye conference, hosted by the University of Iowa. The three-day conference was a wonderful opportunity to hear examples from around the world on the application of enhanced digital imaging technologies in research on cultural heritage.
This month the library kicked off a weekly “Lunch & Learn” series, in which library staff give short (~20 min) presentations about their recent work or research interests. It provides an additional opportunity to connect with our colleagues and learn something new each week. Since I already had my slides from the Iowa conference, I volunteered to present in the first session, and today I would like to share those slides with Bitstreams readers:
I’ve included my script in the notes for each slide, so you can get the full context. There are also links to other talks the MSI team has done over the years and other work in enhanced imaging from my colleagues.
Duke University Libraries has successfully used multispectral imaging to make ancient manuscripts more readable, but the same technology can also be employed on modern collection materials. Over the summer, our multispectral imaging working group teamed up with Rubenstein Library staff to investigate whether advanced imaging techniques could be used to make certain faded photocopies more legible. Duke’s archival collections are filled with copies of documents made using a wide range of printing techniques. Some print processes which were popular before the proliferation of “laser” printing (electrostatic prints) can become badly and irreversibly faded. The Thermo-Fax was a specific type of copying process, introduced by 3M in 1950, but has become a common proprietary eponym for this whole category of collection materials.
Robert Hill Papers, Electrolytic print under normal illumination
When confronted with a badly faded photocopy, library staff have traditionally resorted to one preservation tactic: create a more stable reproduction of the document on high quality paper. While the original print will continue to fade over time, the “preservation photocopy” should remain just as legible. In some cases, the decision may be made to retain just the preservation copy and deaccession the original. If the document is completely illegible, however, a preservation photocopy won’t be effective and the original may not be retained at all; it’s difficult to determine the value of a letter that can’t be read. If alternative imaging techniques could be used to produce a better reproduction, it might dramatically change how we assess and work with faded documents.
Meghan Lyon, Manuscript Processing Archivist at Rubenstein Library Technical Services, helped to identify several examples of early photocopies from various collections. Our first trial was with a print, probably dating from the 1970s, from the Robert A. Hill Collection of the Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers Project Records (see image above). This collection contains many reproductions of newspaper articles from microfilm. After multispectral imaging and software processing , we achieved these results:
Robert HIll Papers, PCA with False Color
The above image is more legible than under regular illumination, but really not the unequivocal win for which we had hoped. Research about machines that would print copies from microfilm suggested that this type of print, an electrolytic print process sometimes called “Photoconductography”, may not be the best candidate. The image is generated from metallic silver, rather than a dye. Therefore, this item likely became damaged from a water event, rather than fading. We went back to our friends in Technical Services for more examples.
Radio Haiti Collection during processing
The next candidate for imaging came from the Radio Haiti Archives. This collection contains more modern prints (from the 1990s), which are completely faded. Our test document (pictured below) almost looks like a blank sheet of paper. The only visible markings are from a ballpoint pen. Based upon descriptions of paper types and qualities of this object, we identified this as a form of direct thermal printing.
Radio Haiti, Direct thermal print under normal illumination
The paper used in this type of direct thermal printing is impregnated with a colorless dye precursor and coupler system. Thermoplastic material separates the two ingredients. When exposed to heat, the separator melts and the precursor and coupler react to form the colored print. Dyes are notoriously unstable over time, so it is not uncommon for thermal prints to completely disappear. Our document exhibits other interesting properties. For example, the faded text is visible when the page is held up to a light source. We often take transmitted light photos as part of conservation treatment documentation, so I imaged the object on top of a lightbox in a camera copy stand. This technique was pretty successful in delivering a readable image.
Radio Haiti, Transmitted light imaging
It is helpful to know that a low-tech method for reading or imaging this faded documents can be employed. It is easy to imagine library staff using a simple lightbox to identify, assess, or arrange a large collection of prints like this one.
Multispectral imaging of the letter yielded much better results. Interestingly, additional visual noise was introduced from fingerprints and hand marks on the page.
Radio Haiti, PCA with false color
Looking through the image stack, it appears the text is most legible under ultraviolet light (370nm) with a neutral filter in front of the camera.
Radio Haiti, 370nm
This result is actually quite promising when we think about scaling up an imaging project for an entire collection. Creating a full 18 image stack and processing those images takes a great deal of time; however, if we know that one frequency of light and filter combination is effective, we could easily set the imaging equipment to operate more like a normal copy stand. In this way, we could bring the requisite imaging time and storage costs closer to those of our regular imaging projects.
Many modern print types have inherent vices that cause them to fade rapidly and large collections of them are common in library archives. Advanced imaging techniques, like multispectral imaging, potentially offer opportunities to identify, arrange, and preserve volatile or unreadable prints. Creating a full image stack may not be possible for every item in a large collection, but this investigation illustrates that full MSI may not be required to achieve the needed results.
At the beginning of March, the multispectral imaging working group presented details about the imaging system and the group’s progress so far to other library staff at a First Wednesday event. Representatives from Conservation Services, Data and Visualization Services, the Digital Production Center, the Duke Collaboratory for Classics Computing (DC3) and the Rubenstein Library each shared their involvement and interest in the imaging technology. Our presentation attempted to answer some basic questions about how the equipment works and how it can be used to benefit the scholarly community. You can view a video of that presentation here.
Some of the images we have already shared illustrate a basic benefit or goal of spectral imaging for books and manuscripts: making obscured text visible. But what else can this technology tell us about the objects in our collections? As a library conservator, I am very interested in the ways that this technology can provide more information about the composition and condition of objects, as well as inform conservation treatment decisions and document their efficacy.
Conservators and conservation scientists have been using spectral imaging to help distinguish between and to characterize materials for some time. For example, pigments, adhesives, or coatings may appear very differently under ultraviolet or infrared radiation. Many labs have the equipment to image under a few wavelengths of light, but our new imaging system allows us to capture at a much broader range of wavelengths and compare them in an image stack.
(Photo credit Art Conservation Department, SUNY Buffalo State)
Spectral imaging can help to identify the materials used to make or repair an object by the way they react under different light sources. Correct identification of components is important in making the best conservation treatment decisions and might also be used to establish the relative age of a particular object or to verify its authenticity. While spectral imaging offers the promise of providing a non-destructive tool for identification, it does have limitations and other analytical techniques may be required.
(Photo credit Image Permanence Institute)
Multispectral imaging offers new opportunities to evaluate and document the condition of objects within our collections. Previous repairs may be so well executed or intentionally obscured that the location or extent of the repair is not obvious under visible light. Areas of paper or parchment that have been replaced or have added reinforcements (such as linings) may appear different from the original when viewed under UV radiation. Spectral imaging can provide better visual documentation of the degradation of inks ( see image below) or damage from mold or water that is not apparent under visible light.
(Jantz MS#124, Rubenstein Library)
This imaging equipment provides opportunities for better measuring the effectiveness of the treatments that conservators perform in-house. For example, a common treatment that we perform in our lab is the removal of pressure sensitive tape repairs from paper documents using solvents. Spectral imaging before, during, and after treatment could document the effectiveness of the solvents or other employed techniques in removing the tape carrier and adhesive from the paper.
(Photo credit Art Conservation Department, SUNY Buffalo State)
Staff from the Conservation Services department have a long history of participating in the library’s digitization program in order to ensure the safety of fragile collection materials. Our department will continue to serve in this capacity for special collections objects undergoing multispectral imaging to answer specific research questions; however, we are also excited to employ this same technology to better care for the cultural heritage within our collections.
