Lecture on preservation science

The Preservation Directorate of the Library of Congress announces
the 30th lecture in its series on "Topics in Preservation Science
(TOPS)"

"Hyperspectral Imaging of the 1507 Waldseemueller World Map"
Pickford Theater
Madison Building 3rd floor, Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
Friday, March 14, 2008
1:30-3pm

Professor Roger Easton (Imaging Scientist, Chester F. Carlson Center
for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology) and Dr.
Fenella France (Visiting Scientist, Preservation Research and
Testing Division, Library of Congress) will speak on "Hyperspectral
Imaging of the 1507 Waldseemueller World Map" (the first map with
the name "America" on the Western Hemisphere).

The development of hyperspectral imaging has been of intense
interest in its application to issues of preservation for items of
cultural heritage. Professor Roger Easton and others have been
involved with the imaging of a range of significant artifacts
including the Archimedes Palimpsest, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the
Khaboris Codex--the oldest known copy of the New Testament, and the
Sarvamoola granthas manuscripts incised on palm leaves using a metal
stylus and the characters filled with ink.  Hyperspectral imaging
involves imaging in a large number of distinct narrow wavelength
band regions of the spectrum--from ultra-violet through visible to
infrared, as opposed to multi-spectral imaging that is a few broad
wavelength bands.

This presentation will explore the history and development of
conservation-safe hyperspectral imaging. Dr. France will address
specific issues of relevance to the Waldseemuller 1507 World Map and
the potential application of this non-destructive, non-invasive
analytical technique to preservation issues for storage and display
of significant cultural heritage items.

The "Topics in Preservation Science" lectures are free and open to
the public. For more information about this series, which is
continually expanded and updated, see

    <URL:http://www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/schedule.html>.

Dianne van der Reyden
Director, Preservation Directorate
Library of Congress
Washington, DC


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:45
                  Distributed: Tuesday, March 4, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-45-002
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