Radio Episode -- Remember, Remember -- available until Sept. 26, 2008

This 45 min. BBC program is available for a limited period of time. Overview:

Psychologist Susan Blackmore investigates how we are outsourcing the memory of our lives to digital devices and asks whether that is changing the nature of human memory. She hears from a 'lifelogger' who is recording every detail of his daily life - and from an academic who has taped 220,000 hours of audio and video of his infant son. She asks whether we will all end up doing the same and how this will affect the way we remember our own lives.

Question to consider: How will we save these digital memories? Can we save these (given their size)?

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation

Need your help with two questions (Atiz & Scribe)

I need your help with two questions.

First, I received an email today from someone who was looking for feedback on the Atiz BookDrive DIY. I also received an unrelated comment today about the Atiz machine. So, I'm turning to you all for help. If you are using the Atiz BookDrive DIY and willing to share your impressions of the machine, please contact me. I'll summarize and anonymize the comments for the blog. Thanks!

Second, occasionally I look for a sales/marketing web site for the Scribe machine for digitizing books, but never find one. There must be one, right? So, if you know of a legitimate sales/marketing site for the machine, please let me know. Thanks!

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Technorati tag: Digitization

"C" is for Conversion

Today I am giving a presentation at Syracuse University entitled "C" is for Conversion. Abstract and slides are below.

Abstract:

The term "digitization" covers many activities including project management, copyright clearance, conversion, and digital preservation. Converting paper-based and analogue materials to digital formats ensures broader access to those items. The activity requires adherence to standards, guidelines and best practices. Mass digitization programs (e.g., Google) have focused many people on the activity of conversion and the ability to do it effectively and efficiently. However, numerous institutions have still not begun digitization programs and some, who have begun, are using conversion processes that are not best-in-class. This presentation will focus on the history of conversion, its current state, and the impact of DIY (do-it-yourself).

"C" is for Conversion

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: digitization diy)

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Technorati tag: Digitization

Event: Museum Computer Network annual conference

In case you haven't seen this.

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Save the Date!

Join the Museum Computer Network for the 36th annual conference in Washington, D.C., November 12th - 15th.

LET'S DO I.T. RIGHT!

REGISTRATION OPENS IN SEPTEMBER - PRELIMINARY PROGRAM AVAILABLE ONLINE NOW!

Join MCN in the nation's capital for four days of targeted programming emphasizing the "how-tos" and "why-tos" of Information Technology for Museums.

We'll meet in downtown Washington, DC at the beautiful Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel for a full range of programs addressing a wide array of topics, including the following:

• Issues of National Concern for Museums
• Social Networking, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0
• Superior Content, Superior Delivery
• Digital Readiness
• Museum Information Standards
• Leadership, Sustainability, Accountability
• Staying Current
• Case Study Showcases on Innovation, Collections and Open Source efforts

Visit www.mcn.edu/conferences to view the preliminary program and for registration, hotel & travel information.

About the Museum Computer Network

Mission: The Museum Computer Network (MCN) supports the greater museum community by providing continuing opportunities to explore, implement, and disseminate new technologies and best practices in the field.

Founded in 1967, MCN is a nonprofit organization with members representing a wide range of information professionals from hundreds of museums and cultural heritage institutions in the United States and around the world. MCN helps museum information professionals and people interested in technology in the cultural heritage community seek out and share ideas and information through a wide range of activities, including an annual conference, special interest groups, website, and other outstanding resources such as the new MCN Project Registry at MuseTechCentral (http://musetechcentral.org/)

Event: VSMM 2008 - Call for Participation

In case you haven't seen this. This arrived in my email....

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International Conference VSMM 2008 - Call for Participation

Digital Heritage: Our Hi-tech-STORY for the Future

Technologies to Document, Preserve, Communicate,
and Prevent the Destruction of our Fragile Cultural Heritage
October 20. - 25th, 2008
Limassol, Cyprus

http://www.vsmm2008.org

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 14th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia - VSMM2008:

"Digital Heritage 2.0: Our Hi-tech-story for the Future". Technologies to Document, Preserve, Communicate, and Prevent the Destruction of our Fragile Cultural Heritage

The conference, held under the Patronage of H.E. the President of the Republic of Cyprus and UNESCO, will take place in the 5-star beachfront Amathus Hotel in Limassol, Cyprus from October 20-25th, 2008.

Leading heritage, digital technology, and policy leaders from around the world in libraries and archives, museums, virtual reality and multimedia, and heritage documentation and presentation, will be converging to share ideas, present their latest findings, and develop new initiatives.

Conference registration, and air and hotel discounts are all now available on the conference website http://www.vsmm2008.org

Centered on the key themes of Digital Libraries, Digital Museums, Digital Recording, and Virtual Systems, some 180 papers have been selected by a 100-member program committee from over 300 submissions from across the world. The papers will be available in proceedings, which will be complimentary with conference registration. The 10 best papers presented at the conference will be published in a Special Edition of the International Journal of Architectural Computing, while the 11 special panels and workshops will be published in a unique book edition to be published in early 2009.

In addition to the many papers, across its multiple days the Conference will feature 7 plenary talks by leading experts, and a rich variety of workshops, and special sessions.

Conference Highlights:

Digital Heritage Information: Libraries and Archives
Keynotes

• i2010 Digital Libraries' Initiative - Europe's Cultural Heritage at theClick of a Mouse, Javier Hernandez-Ros, Head of Unit, Information Society & Media DG, The European Commission
• The World Digital Library Initiative, Dr. John Van Oudenaren, Director, World Digital Library, The Library of Congress

Panels & Workshops

• Open Content - Maximizing Usability of Digital Heritage (Alexandria Archive)
• Archives Infrastructure for Digitized Cultural Content in Europe (Rob Davies, Romana Krizova)
• Multilingual & Multimedia Access to Cultural Heritage Digital Objects (the EU MultiMatch Project)
• The EU Michael / Minerva Projects (Rosella Caffo, Italian Ministry of Culture)
• Preparing the Cultural Heritage Research Agenda of Tomorrow ( Sorin Hermon, EU Cultural Heritage Informatics Research Oriented Network)

Digital Museums, Interpretation and Presentation
Keynote
Libraries, Monuments, Archives, Museums: European heritage facing the digital challenge, Prof. Massimo Negri, Director, European Museum Forum and Board of the European Digital Library

Showcases & Panels

• NODEM: Nordic Excellence in Digital Museums (Halina Gottlieb, The Interactive Institute)
• COINS: Automated tools to trace stolen collections (Franco Niccolucci, EU COINS Project)
• EPOCH KnowHow Books: Knowledge Transfer (Halina Gottlieb & Daniel Pletinckx, EPOCH Project)

Digital Heritage Documentation
Keynote
The Acropolis of Athens: From Ancient Greece to the Digital Age, Vassilios Tsingas, Elliniki Photogrammetriki Ltd

Workshops and Panels

• Terrestrial Laser Scanning Essentials (Andreas Georgopoulos, National Tech. Univ. of Athens)
• Digital Tools for Recording Heritage Places (Mario Santana, KU Leuven)

Virtual Systems and Multimedia
Keynote
Designing the Digital Imaginary: a Convergence of Art and Supercomputer Science, Prof. Donna J. Cox, Advanced Visualization Laboratory, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne

Panels and Workshops

• Virtual Reality: Communities and 3D Worlds (Maurizio Forte and Lily Diaz)
• FocusK3D: Promoting Semantic 3D Media (Manolis Vavalis, Marios Pitikakis)

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Technorati tag: Digital Libraries