Assessment in Enhanced Imaging of Cultural Heritage

Since early 2018, Duke University Libraries has offered multispectral imaging (MSI) services to make library collections more accessible to researchers in the Duke scholarly community and beyond. Like all imaging methods, multispectral imaging has limitations and not every research question will benefit from its application. A cross-departmental team of librarians and technologists was established to review MSI requests and determine whether it is the appropriate capture modality for the materials and research question. This presentation will outline Duke’s imaging request workflow, describe how those requests are assessed, and show examples of request outcomes.

Henry Hebert

Henry Hebert is a Conservator for Special Collections at Duke University Libraries. Previously, he has worked in conservation departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Boston Athenaeum, and Harvard Business School. Henry holds a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a diploma in hand bookbinding from the North Bennet Street School. He is active in several professional organizations and is a Professional Associate member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).