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UEL's unique digital archiving project offers priceless artefacts the MIDAS touch

Monday 23 May 2011

Midas

The University of East London’s MIDAS (Museum Integrated Digital Archiving System) project was officially launched this week with an international symposium and summer school, attracting some of the most influential names in the world of digital archiving.

The ground-breaking project, the only one of its kind in Europe, creates an integrated mobile facility for the scanning and subsequent exhibiting of fragile museum artefacts not only for archiving purposes but also to allow museums throughout the world to exchange digital displays of their priceless exhibits.

The University has worked closely with Kyoto University in Japan on the project, using scanning technology developed and donated by the university, already successfully employed in Japan, South Korea and China.

The Hokusai scanner, donated by the Japanese university, is fast, of extremely high resolution, and uses special light-source combinations which minimise the scan time and light exposure – essential for delicate artefacts which can be damaged by bright light. It can also scan very large artefacts, such as long wall paintings, in unprecedented detail. The project works in conjunction with a presentation system which allows flexible and extremely high resolution programming of large numbers of video and photographic displays alongside the powerful Sony PetaSite digital content server.

UEL has already worked with the Science Museum Library and Archive and now has projects planned with the Wallace Collection (digitising rare 16th century waxworks) and Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The launch and summer school included lectures by experts from both UEL and Kyoto University (Professor Ari Ide-Ektessabi and Professor Gikan Takaoka) along with those working in the museum and private sector. Attendees included specialists from Egyptian Cultural Heritage and the National Maritime museum.

MIDAS Director, Professor Haim Bresheeth, said: “This is an exciting time for the project as we look to work increasingly with museums across the UK and further afield in digitising their prized collections to a degree of detail never previously achieved, while also making publicly available these incredible artefacts for future generations.”

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Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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