Digital access to antiquities

Abstract

IBM and its collaborators are making progress toward worldwide access to digital images of art, ancient artifacts, historic manuscripts, and other materials of worldwide significance. Since 1985, they have work with collections of artistic and historic materials, including the Biblioteca Vaticana Apostolica, the Archivo General de Indias, Andrew Wyeth's work, the Kau Library of Hebrew Union College, and the Yale Beinecke Library. IBM et al pay special attention to quality representation so as to reflect not only the artists' values but the readers' privacy and the owners' confidentiality. A most interesting challenge in the digitization antiquities is teaching undergraduates the value and pleasure of working original sources.