Digital Transitions is proud to announce that our head of R+D and Co-Owner, Doug Peterson, will be presenting with Julie McVey, manager of the National Geographic Digital Preservation Archive Project on “OCR and AI Case Study: The National Geographic Society Peru Albums” at this year’s Digitizing to International Imaging Performance Standards (digiTIPS)! 

 

Check out the full conference program here. 

 

digiTips is a series of 4 seminars with an overarching focus on international standards and guidelines for cultural heritage imaging. The conference consists of three hours of content and ample time for Q+A, open discussions, and networking with colleagues around the world. The invited talks have been carefully-curated to provide valuable information on topics highly-relevant to cultural heritage professionals.

 

The series begins with an introduction to international standards and guidelines, and their effect on digitization in cultural heritage over the years. The three following sessions focus on three pillars of the archiving – digitization, access, and preservation – with specific emphasis on “images,” “text,” and “data,” and how standards in digitization impact each. Digital Transitions is presenting virtually on March 30. 

 

Abstract: 

The National Geographic Society Library + Archives, along with technology partner Digital Transitions, present on their exploratory project using informatics tools to increase accessibility of early twentieth century photo albums, which document Hiram Bingham’s excavations of Machu Picchu and subsequent expeditions. This project used OCR to automate transcription of caption information and AI tools to identify and extract date, place names, and keywords. In addition to the technical challenges and opportunities, this presentation also discusses the ethical and political questions raised by using AI to enhance culturally sensitive archival collections.

 

 

Register here to join us for the conference.