DigGLAM Final Paper: Infrastructuring Digitization of Ephemeral Cultural Heritage at Gallen-Kallela Museum Finland

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Infrastructuring Digitization of Ephemeral Cultural Heritage at the Gallen-Kallela Museum Finland

Authors: Samir Bhowmik, James Reilly, Lily Diaz and Agusti Pellicer, Aalto University

Ephemeral heritage collections are valuable to preserve by digitization, but not always deemed valuable enough for investments in digital infrastructure. Archival digitization infrastructure that traditionally has been located in the back office of museums, archives and cultural institutions has not necessarily been aimed at digitizing small-sized printed ephemera. Digitization devices, components and operations have been tied up with proprietary hardware, software and a plethora of formats. Thus, digitization infrastructure is often seen as an expensive undertaking with investments in multiple software licenses, a perpetual upgrading of digital infrastructure and training of personnel. Especially, digitization of ephemera requires not only similar infrastructure in place as for traditional archival heritage but also corresponding human resources and budgets to maintain and propagate ephemeral collections over a long period of time. This study presents an alternative approach to infrastructuring digitization in cultural heritage museums directed towards ephemeral heritage. The infrastructure we present here was customized and built from open-source hardware and software and sustained by community participation to digitize ephemeral heritage. It consists of an open-source robotic scanning system that can inexpensively fabricated and assembled without resorting to large-scale industrial machines, an open-source digital archive and collections management system to house the digitized ephemera and a versatile community participative system to gather and digitize heritage. Our infrastructure was tested and evaluated at the Gallen-Kallela Museum, a nationally significant art museum in Espoo, Finland dedicated to Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Keywords: Digitization, archiving, ephemera, digital cultural heritage Continue reading DigGLAM Final Paper: Infrastructuring Digitization of Ephemeral Cultural Heritage at Gallen-Kallela Museum Finland →

National Board of Antiquities #Teemapäivät 2014 Conference: digGLAM @ Gallen-Kallela Museum Finland

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The digGLAM project was presented at the National Board of Antiquities #Teemapäivät 2014 Conference held in Cirko, Suvilahti, 11-12 September. Following is the transcript (Finnish):

hei, Minä olen arkkitehti Samir Bhowmik, tohtorikoulutettava Aalto Yliopiston Medialabrassa.  Tutkin miten tuotetaan museoille yhteisöllisiä kokemuksia digitaalisen median avulla. Tämä on ensimmäinen esitelmäni suomen kielellä. ja Onneksi tämä kestä vain viisi minuuttia! Aikaisemmin, suunnittelin  pop-up museo installaation Hakaniementorille joka käsitteli kuudentoista perheen esineitä ja energian-kulutusta. Tällä hetkellä työstän New Yorkin designmuseon kanssa yhteisöllista projektia. Continue reading National Board of Antiquities #Teemapäivät 2014 Conference: digGLAM @ Gallen-Kallela Museum Finland →

Thank You!

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It’s time to wrap up our project – thank you everyone who took part in digGLAM by joining us at the Theme Days at Gallen-Kallela Museum, helping us organize the events or just following the process!

During the past six months we put together the online archive Haloo Akseli and held three community theme days in collaboration with Gallen-Kallela Museum. In the three theme days we got 329 visitors, 33 participators in workshops, and 18 visitor items were digitized.

The archive Haloo Akseli will continue in Gallen-Kallela Museum’s use. It will be used both as a databank to house pieces of information linked to Akseli Gallen-Kallela and his contacts, and as a tool for building social encounters between the museum and its audience.

In May, digGLAM was presented at Renewable Futures Conference in Riga, Latvia. The final presentation of the project will be given at Aalto University Demo Day on Tuesday 27 May at Miestentie 3, Espoo – welcome!

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Happy birthday, Akseli! Hyvää syntymäpäivää, Akseli!

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Welcome to celebrate Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s 149th birthday at Gallen-Kallela Museum on Saturday April 26th!

Join the Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/658097147590008/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=1

Tervetuloa juhlimaan Akseli Gallen-Kallelan 149-vuotissyntymäpäivää koko perheen voimin! Juhlan kunniaksi Tarvaspään ateljeessa maalataan ja piirretään muotokuvia Akselista ja tämän taiteilijatovereista – vieraaksi saapuu myös digitointirobotti, jonka avustuksella muotokuvat lisätään mukaan Haloo Akseli! –verkkoarkistoon.

Helmikuun alussa avautui Gallen-Kallelan Museon ja Aalto-yliopiston Medialaboratorion yhteistyönä syntynyt digitaalinen puhelinmuistio, verkkoarkisto Haloo Akseli. Akselin syntymäpäivillä jatketaan arkistoaineiston kartuttamista historiallisen materiaalin lisäksi nykypäivän muotokuvilla Akselista ja tämän tuttavapiiristä. Päivän aikana päästään myös tuunaamaan valokuvia sekä tutustumaan Tarvaspään salaisuuksiin opastetulla kierroksella.

Akselin syntymäpäivän kunniaksi ilmainen sisäänpääsy!

Hyvää syntymäpäivää, Akseli! – tapahtumapäivä perheille
Gallen-Kallelan Museossa lauantaina 26.4.2014 klo 11–16

klo 11 – 15 Menneitä muotokuvia robottien aikakaudella – piirrä oma versiosi Akselin ystävästä ja anna robotin taltioida se
klo 12 – 16 Taiteilijan jalanjäljissä – Uudenmaan kuvataidejärjestöt ry:n jäsenet tekevät taidetta ympäri Tarvaspäätä
klo 12 – 15.30 Suureksi, uudeksi – valokuvasuurennosten tuunaamista
klo 13 Tarvaspään salaisuudet – opastettu kierros perheille
klo 15 Tarvaspään salaisuudet – opastettu kierros perheille

Gallen-Kallelan Museo
Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, Espoo
Sijainti kartalla: www.gallen-kallela.fi/kartta.html
Puh. (09) 849 2340

Art, Archives & Commons panel discussion on Sunday

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Members of our interesting panel discussion on Sunday at Haloo Akseli – Tarvaspää Calling! Theme Day are now confirmed! We will be hearing the thoughts of:

Sanna Marttila,
Digital Designer and Researcher, Board member of Open Knowledge Finland ry, Contact person of avoinGLAM.

Andrew Paterson,
a Scottish artist-organiser, cultural producer, educator and researcher based in Helsinki. Outreach & Education Coordinator of Pixelache.

Tove Ørsted,
Coordinator of Digitizing services at Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland.

The discussion will be moderated by Samir Bhowmik, researcher at Aalto University Medialab.

Haloo Akseli – Tarvaspää Calling! Theme Day
Sunday March 9th at 11-17
Gallen-Kallela Museum,Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, Espoo.

Welcome!

Theme Day March 9th: Digitizing Robot & Talk on Open Archives

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Akseli Gallen-Kallela & Knut Boije
Akseli Gallen-Kallela & Knut Boije

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s digital phonebook Haloo Akseli! opened to the public in February. In Gallen-Kallela Museum’s & Medialab’s Theme Day Haloo Akseli – This Is Tarvaspää! we continue to collect material for the archive with the help of digGLAM digitizing robot. At the same time we’ll discuss the ideas behind the project: in panel discussion Art, Archives & Commons we talk about digital archives and the objectives, aims and future of making archives open.

Photos, postcards or stories connected to Akseli Gallen-Kallela, his contemporaries, or Tarvaspää region – visitors are invited to bring material to the Haloo Akseli! web archive. During the Theme Day we’ll also hear local memories of the Tarvaspää region and get a guided tour to the exhibition How Many Gallen-Kallela Paintings of the Same Name? In children’s workshop My Places everyone gets to make their own map based on memories.

Free entrance to anyone who brings a photo, story or other memory to the Haloo Akseli archive!

Entrance fees without memories 8 € / 7 € / 6 € / 4 € / under 18 free admission

Welcome!

Haloo Akseli – This Is Tarvaspää!
at Gallen-Kallela Museum on Sunday March 9th at 11 – 17

11 – 15 Workshop for digitizing memories
11 – 15 My Places nonstop workshop for children. Drawing maps based on memories and
decorating key rings for the keys of important places.
11.30 – 12 Haloo Akseli! – What is it?
12 – 13 ”Värikästä taiteilijaelämää Leppävaaran alueella” lecture (in Finnish)
13 – 13.30 A guided tour to the exhibition
13.30 – 14.30 ”Art, Archives & Commons” panel discussion. In English.
14.30 – 15 Haloo Akseli! – What is it?
15 – 15.30 A guided tour to the exhibition

Gallen-Kallela Museum
Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, Espoo
Gallen-Kallela Museum on the map: www.gallen-kallela.fi/kartta.html
Phone (09) 849 2340
www.gallen-kallela.fi

For more information:
Phone 041 504 7788, Anna Virtanen
anna.virtanen@aalto.fi 

Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Phone Book goes Online

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Ida Aalberg, Albert Edelfelt, Karl Fazer – Akseli Gallen-Kallelan puhelinmuistio 1920-luvulta on täynnä tuttuja nimiä. Kurkkaa sen sivuille ja tule mukaan kokoamaan Gallen-Kallelan digitaalista arkistoa Gallen-Kallelan Museon tapahtumapäivään 9. helmikuuta!

Yhteistyössä Gallen-Kallelan Museon kanssa, Aalto-yliopiston Medialaboratorio rakentaa open access –periaatteella toimivan digitaalisen arkiston pohjaten Gallen-Kallelan alkuperäiseen puhelinmuistioon ja sen sisältämiin kontakteihin. Arkisto tuo yhteen pieniä, arkipäiväisiä informaation palasia liittyen Akseli Gallen-Kallelaan ja tämän tuttavapiiriin. Se sisältää niin valokuvia, tekstejä ja sitaatteja museon arkistosta – kuin myös kuvia, postikortteja, tarinoita ja muistoja, joita yleisö on tervetullut tuomaan mukaan tapahtumapäivänä.

Ainutlaatuisena osana tapahtumaa toimii projektissa avustava skannausrobotti. Robotti on kehitetty Project Gado –hankkeen yhteydessä John Hopkins Universityssa, Baltimoressa, ja sen kehittely jatkuu Aalto-yliopistossa Medialaboratorion ja Tietojenkäsittelytieteen laitoksen yhteistyönä. Gallen-Kallelan museon tapahtumapäivässä robotti auttaa historiallisen arkistomateriaalin digitoinnissa ja sen lisäämisessä digitaaliseen arkistoon, maailmanlaajuisen yleisön saataville.

Tervetuloa mukaan kokoamaan digitaalista arkistoa!
Akseli Gallen-Kallela ja naapuruston taiteilijatoverit –tapahtumapäivä

lauantaina 9.2.2014 klo 11-17 Gallen-Kallelan museossa.

Gallen-Kallelan Museo Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, Espoo Puh. (09) 849 2340 www.gallen-kallela.fi

http://sysrep.aalto.fi/digglam/ http://www.gallen-kallela.fi

Lisätietoa:
Puh. 041 504 7788, Anna Virtanen anna.virtanen@aalto.fi

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Ida Aalberg, Albert Edelfelt, Karl Fazer – Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s phone book from the 1920s is full of familiar names. See who’s in it, and join in the making of Gallen-Kallela’s Virtual Phone Book on the Theme Day February 9th at Gallen-Kallela Museum!

Aalto University’s Media Lab in collaboration with Gallen-Kallela Museum are building an open access digital archive based on Gallen-Kallela’s contacts in his original phone book. The archive will hold information in the form of micro-histories, connected to Gallen-Kallela and his network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. This includes photos, texts and quotes from the museum’s archives – as well as pictures, postcards, memories and stories that the visitors of the Theme Day are invited to bring in.

A unique part of this event will be the application of an Open Source autonomous scanning robot initially developed by Project Gado of John Hopkins University Baltimore, currently under development in the Media Lab Helsinki and the Department of Computer Science of Aalto University. The robot will assist in the digitization of the historical material, adding it to the digital archive and making it available for a worldwide audience.

Welcome to join in and participate in the making of the archive!

Akseli Gallen-Kallela & His Artist Friends Theme Day on February 9th at 11-17
in Gallen-Kallela Museum, Tarvaspää.

Gallen-Kallela Museum
Gallen-Kallelan tie 27, Espoo
Phone (09) 849 2340
www.gallen-kallela.fi

For more information:
Phone 041 504 7788, Anna Virtanen
anna.virtanen@aalto.fi

 

Media Lab Demo Day 17.12. Presentation

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digGLAM Project was presented at Aalto University – Media Lab Helsinki Demo Day in Otaniemi, on 17th December. The presentation included the main points of the project:

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The project consist of three main parts: it brings together Gallen-Kallela Museum’s archives, the community around the museum, and the digGLAM Assistant Robot.

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The basic workflow begins from the collections and gathered material of the museum as well as of the community. With the help of digGLAM Robot Assistant, the material will be scanned at the Theme Days and added to the Digital Archive. The Digital Archive in turn gives back to the museum and the community.

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Here presented the original Phone Book of Gallen-Kallela that functions as material and a starting point for the project. By its side a sketch for the interface of the Digital Archive.

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Welcome everyone to the Theme Days on 9th February & 9th March 2014!

digGLAM at Media Lab’s Demo Day

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We would like to welcome you all to our First Demo Day on Tuesday 17.12. in our new Media Lab premises at Miestentie 3, Otaniemi.

The entire days program is scheduled from 13.00 to 17.00: http://mlab.taik.fi/news/2013/12/12/2013-xmas-demo-day-and-mlab-change-of-address/#more-739

The digGLAM project has a Stage presentation at 14.17. We also have a Floor spot, where we will be displaying the Project and digGLAM robot assistant.

Hope to see you there!

Graphics / Web Designer for Museum Archive Project

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We are looking for a Graphics / Web Designer (From within Aalto) to design graphics and implement a Digital Museum Archive (using WordPress). Preliminary sketches and design of the proposed Interface has a been under development between Sys.Rep. & the Museum and these would have to be adapted for the archive.

Funds available are for 40 hours, one-time payment. The work needs to begin in early to mid-December 2013 and the launch date of the Digital Archive is in late January 2014.

Please email CV + Related Work samples (max. 3) / Links to: samir.bhowmik(at)aalto.fi  by 16.12.2013. Decision will be made before the Christmas Break.

Final design for the digGLAM Museum Robot chosen

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Verna Kaipainen’s proposition has been chosen to be the final design for the digGLAM Museum Robot. The task of the competition was to design an outer casing of the Robot arm and associated components and a portable deployment platform for the Robotic Scanner.

In her proposition Kaipainen emphasizes feasibility and simplicity of the design and aims at highlighting the most important parts of the project as a whole.

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Digitizing Small Finnish Museums (GLAMs) into Culture Commons by Local Communities

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Digitizing Small Museums (GLAMs) into Culture Commons by Local Communities (digGLAM) is short-term Aalto Media Factory (AMF) funded project at the Systems of Representation –  Media Lab of Aalto ARTS – Aalto University Helsinki Finland. This Project is an attempt to help digitize the collections of small GLAMs using an Open Source autonomous scanning Robot  initially developed by Project Gado – John Hopkins University Baltimore (see the technology here: Gado2) and now currently under development in the Media Lab Helsinki along with the Department of Computer Science – Aalto University. Currently we are conducting an Open Industrial Competition to design the outer casing and a portable deployment unit.

The primary aim of digGLAM is to help small galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs) in Finland with a small staff and limited funds to digitize their collections with participation from their user communities. There are three elements to this: firstly, developing Thematic Open Days at the Museum that focus around relevant themes based around the Museum’s Collections. Secondly using Open Source softwares and robotic scanners to automate the processes, showcase the efforts of the Museum. Finally letting the Local Community of the Museum (Crowdsourcing) to help digitize and tag the thematic collections. The digitized material from these Theme Days will be directly fed into a Museum Archive connected to the National Archives that will be available under a Creative Commons License. The interface of this new Archive is currently also under development.

Project Team

Samir Bhowmik / Project Coordinator – Doctoral Researcher – Media Lab, Aalto ARTS
Lily Diaz / Head of Research – Media Lab & digGLAM Project, Aalto ARTS
Agustí Pellicer / Research Assistant – Aalto Science CSE
James Reilly / Research Fellow – Aalto Science CSE
Anna Virtanen / Research Assistant – Systems of Representation – Media Lab, Aalto ARTS
Antti Ylä-Jääski / Professor – Aalto Science CSE

Verna Kaipainen / Industrial Design – Department of Design, Aalto ARTS
Palash Mukhopadhyaya / User Interface Design – New Media, Aalto ARTS