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Introduction Glossary USEFUL LINKS COLLECTION HANDLING AND STORAGE CATALOGUING OBJECTS CONDITION ASSESSMENT photogrammetry as a method of digital recording Contents

Find out more about Digital Skills for Heritage. Find out more about Spectrum standards. VOLUNTEERS WORKING ON THE PROJECT.•

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Archaeological Archives: A guide to best practice in creation, compilation, transfer and curation British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Collections Trust The Institute of Conservation (ICON) Modes Museum Accreditation MSDS Marine Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) Polycam Portland Museum Reporting wreck material Sketchfab Society for Museum Archaeology (SMA) South-West Museum Development Spectrum The National Lottery Heritage Fund

• • • • • • Find out more about best practice for handling collections. A Volunteer digitally recording an object.Note the nitrile gloves that were used to move the object onto the turntable.

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• • • • Find out more about accreditation with Arts Council England. A METAL BADGE FROM THE EARL OF ABERGAVENNY STORED IN A BOX WITH PLENTY OF PADDING. THE OBJECTS OBJECT ENTRY NUMBER IS CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE LABEL.

Please note that this Object Entry stage may not be necessary if the item or collection that is being worked on is already part of the accessioned museum collection. If that is the case, skip to the CATALOGUING HISTORIC ITEMS section.If in doubt, ask the museum curator or the volunteer manager about the system being used. • white• yellow• blue• • • • • • • • Find out more about Spectrum standards.

EXAMPLE OBJECT ENTRY FORM

Please note, this stage may not be necessary if the collection that is being worked on has already been catalogued. If that is the case, please skip to the CONDITION ASSESSEMENT section. • • • • • • • • • • • Find out more about Modes.

In the Earl of Abergavenny project, the data file to be used for cataloguing the collection is ‘E of A records’. The login page on modesRead the Modes user guides (note you have to be logged in to access these!) 1. Select ‘yes’ to open the ‘E of A’ project file in Modes 2. Select ‘Whole file ‘ to open the project file. 3. The project files will open in a grid format that looks like this.

The Earl of Abergavenny project created a template that pre-populated each item record with the following information as it was the same for each item: • Name of wreck from which the item came • Location • Context date • Depositor This pre-populated template for the Earl of Abergavenny collection has information about where the objects were found, by whom, when and their approximate age. The template also includes further details about the object including how it entered the museum and who the donor is.

2. Create new record 1. Switch to editing mode If you get stuck Modes has lots of useful user guides (note you have to be logged in to access these!).

3. From the pop up menu select ‘New record from template’. 4. Select ‘E of A record template’ and press ok. 5. Your new record appears (see the green box) in grid mode. 6. To start adding information switch to ‘Editor’ mode which is circled here.

Number of items (see the pink box) will normally be 1 unless cataloguing a group of objects. In this example 28 objects were being catalogued. 1. Enter one or two words in the pink box for a simple name—in this case teapot. 2. Select ‘show termlist’ from the pop up box. 3. A pop up box will appear showing options in the look up list. There is no teapot in this list but it can be added by selecting ’Create term’. Tip: First search the term list to see if there is another approved term that is a suitable name.

4. Select save new term to add it as a new term in the termlist. Select the pink field to bring up the insert date pop up.

, Portland Museum ALWAYS uses millimetres unless the object is over a metre. Some information in the field collection summary will be pre-populated from the template so will already be completed for you!

Find out more about condition checks in helpful guides from the Collections Trust. Helpful guides from South West Museum Development on collections care and management.

Read the complete Modes guide to adding images and other multimedia. 2. A new section of Modes that looks like this will appear. 1. Select the multimedia tab here. 3. Open file explorer and you can drag files across into the Modes multimedia area. 4. The images appear in this pop up within Modes. 5. Other file types can be added this way too, for example, you could upload a condition assessment report as a PDF.

1. Go to Edit, then select ‘Clone current record’. 2. A pop up box will appear. Adjust the unique number to the next in the sequence and then press ok. The new record will appear at the bottom of the inventory ready to be amended. Tip: If you are unsure what the next number is look at the number in the green box for the previous number.

A marine concretion is simply a mass of corrosion which can include sediment and shells as well as different objects that were near it on the seabed and have come part of the concretion.Find out more about conservation and get help finding a conservator from ICON.

Further guidance from the Collections Trust. • • • VOLUNTEERS UNDERTAKING CONDITION ASSESSMENTS OF OBJECTS FROM THE EARL OF ABERGAVENNY.

2. To complete an object condition report on the museum iPads, select the object condition report from the template options. 3. Work through the template filling in all relevant fields: a completed example is given on the next page. 1. Open the Pages app on the iPad. Tip: For non-Mac users it’s the Mac equivalent of Microsoft Word and looks like this. 4. Images can be added into the report. Before adding images these can be annotated on the iPad. To do this go to ‘Photos’, select the image and press ‘edit’. Select the relevant tool to add text, arrows or other annotations to explain the condition of the object on the photo. Annotate the photo with details of conservation issues to be aware of. 5. Finally, the object condition assessment should be saved as a PDF and dragged and dropped onto the Modes record for the object. For the Earl of Abergavenny project, the forms have been provided online so that they can be easily attached to the Modes computer record. A template of the form is available on the museum iPads.

Tery Dactyl Peg Legge EXAMPLE: COMPLETED OBJECT CONDITION ASSESSMENT form

• • • A Volunteer photographing an object in a lightbox to ensure uniform lighting.

Museum wax is a malleable product that can be moulded to fix an object to a base background so that edges or sides can be photographed. Be careful not to put wax on an object where there are indents or grooves where the wax might get trapped or where surfaces are flaking. The iPad set up on a steady stand with the object on a turntable. A VOLUNTEER DIGITALLY RECORDING AN OBJECT USING PHOTOGRAMMETRY (LEFT) AND THE RESULTING MODEL (RIGHT).

PHOTOGRAMMETRY PROCESS 1. Set up your camera/iPad. 2. Place your object on a clean plain and stable surface, ideally with a uniform background. 3. Take an initial bird’s-eye view photo of the object. 4. Fill the frame with the object (and maintain this throughout the photo capture process). 5. Keep an even distance from the subject. 6. Take your photos in a continuous sequence around the subject. 7. When you complete a 360-degree rotation, move your photo capture device up or down and repeat. 8. Take photos with 50-60% overlap. 9. If in doubt – take more photos, but beware, the more photos you take the longer the model will take to process. Learn more about photogrammetry with eLearning Diagrams showing how to position a camera to get good coverage of an object during the photogrammetry process.

For the Earl of Abergavenny project, several digitising programmes were examined to find the most appropriate system for this particular museum. The Polycam app was chosen as the most appropriate. Other apps are available and may offer more appropriate results for other collections.Find out more and download Polycam. Get help from Polycam. Watch Polycam tutorials on YouTube. • • • •

The Polycam app icon looks like this. 1. Open the app and the entry page will appear. This lets you see all the models that you have finished. 2. The + symbol takes you to the next screen which allows images or scans to be captured to start a new model. STAGE 1: OPENING the APP AND THE MODEL CATALOGUE 3. Use these buttons to move between your captures and albums and to explore models that have been created by other Polycam users.

STAGE 2: image capture Exit image capture mode. Image capture button. Toggle between manual capture or automatically taking photos at a set rate. 1. Use the image caption button to take the required photos. 2. Click the X at the top of the screen to go to the next page to start getting the images ready for processing. Switch from photography to LiDAR using these buttons.

STAGE 3: processing images and creating a 3d model This camera icon allows you to take more images to fill in any blanks if needed. You can scroll through the images taken and delete any errors. The buttons in this section allow you to make choices about the quality of image processing which will determine the time it takes to process the model as well as the quality of the end model. Object masking toggle button. This is helpful when processing small, detailed objects . If you moved the object either by rotating it and/or turning it upside down to record the underside - switch the object masking on. If the object remains stationary for the entire image capture, leave it offThis button uploads your images and starts the processing process when you are ready!

STAGE 4: EDITING AND EXPORTING Export the finished model. The crop button allows you to crop in 3D to remove an excess background. The process button allows you to reprocess the images if you have added more to fill in any gaps. The measure tool allows you to measure parts of your model using a virtual tape measure. The extend button allows you to capture more images and to add them to the model to fill in any holes.

1. Use light boxes and backdrops to establish a uniform background. 2. Use a turntable to rotate small objects and keep the iPad stationary. 3. If the object is larger, then keep the object still and move the camera. 4. Rotate objects roughly 15° per photo to ensure adequate overlap and attempt at least three revolutions per side at different heights around the object. 5. Once one face of the object is complete, rotate or flip the object to capture the obverse side (repeating the three revolutions at 15° intervals). 6. Press the + button to capture images and watch the bar at the bottom to keep track of how many images out of 250 you’ve taken. 7. Press ‘done’ when finished. Photography tips Take close-up photos of decorations, markings or other details. Take close-up photos on thin parts of the object such as coin edges. Take between 20 and 250 photos of the object at a uniform distance.

A successful model processed in Polycam (left) and a unsuccessful model with gaps and blurred features (right),

• • • • View Earl of Abergavenny models on Sketchfab A 3d model of a mustard or pickle jar uploaded to Sketchfab (left). some of the information, or metadata, associated with the model in Sketchfab (right).