Archaeological Photography – Digital Symbolism

When looking back that this lecture, I am still not sure what “symbolism” has to do with digital cameras, but it was nice to move from film to digital format as that is what I use (and I think most ordinary people use) now (there are probably some real professionals who still like to use film).  That said, I did enjoy learning about film and working with it (film sort of has a romantic feel).  This lecture basically just introduced us to digital cameras and what they can do and I will relate that in this post.

We were told that (as we can see) digital cameras keep improving their megapixel capabilities but the peak will be somewhere around 35 megapixels with most cameras peaking somewhere around 25.  I went this morning to look at digital cameras on the market to see where they are and most of the high-end cameras are around 14-16 megapixels.  However, if you have 3-4 thousand dollars to throw down for a camera, you can get some in the high 20’s.  The highest I saw was Nikon D800 that is about $3000 and offers a surprising 36.3 megapixels!

I think the reason we were told that the peak would be somewhere around 35 was that there is only so much information you can put into a certain space.  Another reason might be that resolution, which is measured by pixels per inch (ppi), is what everyone wants.  However, the higher you go the greater the space needed to store the image.

Because of the space problem, photos are often compressed.  TIFF is a format of files that are not compressed.  JPEG, by contrast, is a compression format that balances, more or less efficiently, subtle graduations of tones of a larger size.

Often, on digital cameras you will find settings that you might not know what they mean.  “P” is a setting that you can program (such as for changing the film speed).  “Tv” is a setting for time.  “Av” is a setting for aperture.  “M” is a manual setting.  “A-Dep” is a setting for automatic depth of field.  “C1” and “C2” are custom settings.  If you want to customize a setting for colder temperatures one trick you might try is to point the camera at a white piece of paper and tell the camera to use this.  You would use that custom setting for a scene with multiple light source types.

Egyptian Objects – Influence

Who influences whom?  Does the center of a civilization influence the periphery or does the periphery influence the center?  This post will review the core of the discussion.

We were told that the first thing we need to do is reverse the expected.  If we expect that Egypt influenced Nubia and the Levant (etc.) then we need to first try to see if Kerma influences exist in Egypt (for example).  The reason for this is that it has often been found that it is the periphery that develops the ideas that the center then adapts.   (Although it seems that the Ammonites (in modern-day Jordan) really did adopt Egyptian art-forms to express kingship (as also did the Hebrews, at least in the form of seals), the same might not be true of other areas.)

This is probably a good rule of thumb for any endeavor.  Always explore the opposite of what you expect (assume).  Try to disprove what you believe to be true.

So how does one do this?  By knowing the archaeological data before, during, and after the period you are studying in both the periphery and the center, you can then compare data.  If you discover that there is evidence for the existence of the thing under study in either the periphery or the center, when it does not exist in the other, you might have the answer (or at the very least a start toward the answer) to the question you are trying to solve.  At some point influence ends, and this is also important to determine.

What can complicate the process is when there exists a network of centers (such as is found in Egypt at various periods).

In Egypt, there are traditionally two major kingdoms (Upper and Lower) that each have centers of civilization.  One of the questions that archaeologists are trying to discover is which of these kingdoms influenced the other.  Because there is a different social profile in both regions, it has been a complex and interesting study that is still underway.

Managing Museums – I.T.

“The great thing about technology, is that it is ALWAYS letting you down!” – I.T. guy

We were told that there are basically four areas of management when it comes to museums (although I am sure this might be true in other areas): management (the “boring” parts that make everything else efficient), collections, marketing, and product (the part for visitors).  I.T. (“Information Technology”) is involved in all four parts.  This post will be about I.T. in each of these four areas of management in museums.

There are three areas where I.T. can help management.  The first area is not a surprise: finance.  I.T. makes it possible to be more accurate with less people to monitor cash flow, make predictions, work with balance sheets, ledgers, and profit and loss accounts.  The second area is in systems that support governance.  These help manage teams, health and safety issues, legal compliance issues, and intranet, which helps people know what they should be doing and how to do it.  The third area that I.T. helps management is in systems that analyze the audience.  I.T. can help management see patterns of visitation, patterns that visitors spend their money, and directed audience research.

There are also three areas where I.T. can help collections.  The first area is probably the most obvious: tracking.  I.T. is important so that staff can know what they have and where it is.  The object’s title, acquisition, location, movement, and condition are tracked.  The second area is in research.  This allows work to be done once instead of repeatedly.  Research might include an object’s identification, description (using keywords to make it easy to find again), materials, data, and comparisons.  The third area that I.T. can help collections is in images by providing simple logistics and also helping staff to see the strength of the antiquities schemes.  I.T. can help with identification of objects, images help show the condition of the objects, images can be used in research, and images can be used by the public.  All three areas can now be piped into websites (if desired – the I.T. guy who was doing the lecture felt strongly that this sort of information is not to be guarded and stored away but to be shared with humanity, freely).

There were three areas where I.T. can help marketing (I guess he liked “three’s”) that were discussed as well.  The first area was in dealing with audience through tracking demographics, tracking how the visitors knew about the museum (geographical, chronological, and material method used in communicating this data to the future visitor), and also in tracking the non-visitor (who didn’t come).  The second area is in reaction.  It was said that the value for money comes at 80% satisfaction.  However, much more can be learned; such as what did they like, what did they not like, was there a warm welcome, etc.  The third area is behavior.  There are always areas of the museum that are not visited often and it is important to know why.  So visitors are tracked to find out what they did, how long they did it, and what they used (such as the café, gift shop, etc.).  Without this sort of data, all decisions made in marketing (and really for the whole management team) are just stabs in the dark.

That last area where I.T. can help is in the product where he presented four (yes, finally not “three”) ways that I.T. is useful.  First, I.T. can help build kiosks (which are interactive devises in galleries) that should be fun (not boring databases) and should be designed specifically for that specific gallery.  You should think about having a computer animated “guide” that visitors can access.  It should be possible for the visitor to change the language.  Be sure to target your audience carefully.  Second, I.T. can help people imagine the past by providing CGI 3D reconstructions, animations, and even blends of animation with reality.  Movies can show an archaeological site’s development.  Third, I.T. can provide special effects to tug on emotions such as audio/visual presentations, immerse the visitor in an experience, and even holographic presentations.  Lighting, video projections on mist, figures can appear in space, are all things that I.T. can do.  And finally, I.T. can provide hand-held fun through sound wands, PDA’s, and even now provide wireless presentations for mobile phones (such as podcasts, smart phone apps, etc).   After all, you not only want people to come, but you want them to come back.

Some final thoughts that he gave us were that I.T. doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  However, I.T. is an essential part of any museum and should be given more thought.  The museum is a brand and I.T. helps to communicate that brand to the world.  I.T. can help with website because this is the brand and it should not be done ad-hoc as it speaks to the world the quality of your museum.  You should be able to communicate that you offer something unique.

Personal Update

 To all my faithful blog readers (all six of you),

It has been over a year since my last post and I thought that before I start in on it again, you might like to know where I have been and what I have been doing (if not, just skip this post).

Last November, I received my MA in Egyptian Archaeology (and so will be updating my profile shortly).  I have written a book and am currently searching for an agent who can help me be successful in that arena.  I am considering a PhD on the American side of the “pond” (it was simply too hard to be away from my family last year…can’t do it again).  Also, my wife and I are being considered for a post in Kenya at a school there.  I will keep you updated on this (which way we end up going).

UCL was a fantastic educational experience (which I hope to continue to share with you in the upcoming blogs).  I am very pleased with my dissertation (in the UK system they call the MA paper a “dissertation” where in America it is called a “thesis”…in the UK system the PhD paper is called a “thesis” and in America it is called a “dissertation”…just to confuse all of us I think).  I believe that much of the research I did for that will show up in my life’s work.  Currently, I am in the process of finishing up two articles (one scholarly and the other popular) that I will be submitting and will keep you updated on.

That’s enough on me.

As always, I enjoy reading your comments (although there are not many for me to read) and would love to discuss things with you (even if slightly off the topic).

Thanks for following and reading what I post (it makes the time seem less of a “waste” when I know someone read what I wrote).