Creating Archives: Preserving Heritage

 

 

Course Objectives

 

The Center for Art and Archaeology has developed a workshop and training course on the documentation and archiving of cultural heritage. If the actual, physical preservation of archaeological sites, buildings and artifacts forms the core of Archaeological Heritage Management (AHM), their visual and accurate recording through photography and measured drawings is equally an act of preservation. Methodical documentation and archiving is a process that enables a full understanding of monuments, sites and art objects, and produces visual records of these for posterity. The course in documentation and archiving offered by the Center for Art and Archaeology is designed to address hands on and practical needs of individuals /institutions in the field of heritage archives and documentation. Access and exposure to archival and lab facilities as well as on–site training by the Center’s skilled technical staff and academics of international repute and standing will be provided by this course.

 

 

Research and Documentation Methodology

 

 

a.       On identifying the field and site/ object; its chronology, style and provenance.

b.      Collation of secondary published material.

 

 

a.       Preparations for the field

b.      Permissions to be taken

c.       Basics of photography and equipment; Techniques of architectural photography/museum photography/slide photography

d.      Basics of Art and Architectural drawings; On – site measurements, Preparation of   ground plan, elevation, profile, and other elevation details; Preparation of measured sketches of art objects/artifacts.

 

·        Archiving Methodology: Organization and Maintenance

 

a.       Principles and guidelines for organizing archival records

b.       Thematic indices on sites, monuments/art objects, art historical /archaeological periods

c.       Criteria and principles of Classification, Cataloguing, and Accessioning archival records;  copyrights issues.

d.     User-friendly systems & enhancing accessibility.

 

·        Digitizing Archives

 

a.       Selecting Parameters for digital databases,

b.      Creation of Digital databases- Data entry, Scanning of images, editing, optimizing and resizing images,

c.       Access and retrieval processes

d.      Copyrights.

 

 

 

a.       Photo-negatives;

b.      Maps and Architectural drawings;

c.       Archival records;

d.      Digital records.

 

 

Measurements and site plans of monuments.