Monday 14 November,
1 – 2.30 pm, 6th Floor Research Suite, Centre for Research Collections, Main Library, George Square.
Spectral Imaging and Material History: A Digital Archive of David Livingstone's Exploration of Africa
An exciting opportunity to hear directly from the Livingstone Spectral Imaging
Project who are visiting Edinburgh to share insights into this international
digital humanities collaboration to apply advanced imaging technology to the
study of the manuscript of Victorian explorer David Livingstone.
Previously featured in a National Geographic documentary, the project has now
concluded its second phase of research (2013-16) and members of the team
including scholars and scientists will present on the results. The first phase
(2010-13) confirmed that spectral imaging could be applied to recover faded,
illegible text in some of David Livingstone's most damaged texts. In the new
phase, the team takes the technology in a new direction: to study the material
history of Livingstone's 1870 Field Diary in order to understand its passage
across space, time, and different hands. This talk will discuss the image
processing techniques applied to the diary, how those techniques have helped
recovered the lost material history of the diary, and the implications of this
work for digital archives more broadly.
The international team:
Dr. Adrian S. Wisnicki is an assistant professor of English at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln and a faculty fellow of the university's Center for
Digital Research in the Humanities. His research focuses on the digital
humanities, Victorian studies, and African studies. He directs Livingstone
Online (http://livingstoneonline.org/spectral-imaging) and the Livingstone
Spectral Imaging Project (http://livingstoneonline.org/spectral-imaging) and
has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the
British Academy, and the Modern Humanities Research Association.
Dr. Megan Ward is an assistant professor of English at Oregon State University
and Associate Director of Livingstone Online.
Dr. Roger Easton has been on the faculty of the Chester F. Carlson Center for
Imaging Science of the Rochester Institute of Technology since 1986, where he
teaches courses in imaging mathematics and optics.
Dr. Keith Knox is an imaging scientist with the Early Manuscripts Electronic
Library (EMEL). He has 40 years experience in conducting research in scanning,
printing and astronomical image processing.
To register for this free event please go to:
https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=22207
or email us at digitalscholarship@ed.ac.uk
- Spectral Imaging and Material History: A Digital Archive of David Livingstone’s Exploration of Africa, helen.bradley, 2016/11/02