Automatic Annotation Suggestions for Audiovisual Archives: Evaluation Aspects

Abstract

In the context of large and ever growing archives, generating annotation suggestions automatically from textual resources related to the documents to be archived is an interesting option in theory. It could save a lot of work in the time consuming and expensive task of manual annotation and it could help cataloguers attain a higher inter-annotator agreement. However, some questions arise in practice: what is the quality of the automatically produced annotations? How do they compare with manual annotations and with the requirements for annotation that were defined in the archive? If different from the manual annotations, are the automatic annotations wrong? In the CHOICE project, partially hosted at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, the Dutch public archive for audiovisual broadcasts, we automatically generate annotation suggestions for cataloguers. In this paper, we define three types of evaluation of these annotation suggestions: (1) a classic and strict evaluation measure expressing the overlap between automatically generated keywords and the manual annotations, (2) a loosened evaluation measure for which semantically very similar annotations are also considered as relevant matches, and (3) an in-use evaluation of the usefulness of manual versus automatic annotations in the context of serendipitous browsing. During serendipitous browsing, the annotations (manual or automatic) are used to retrieve and visualize semantically related documents.     

Performing science amongst the filing cabinets. Women,anthropology and museums in Belgium (1930–1970)

I trace the scientific trajectory and identity of Olga Boone (1903–1992), the first female scientist working in the Belgian Congo Museum's ethnography section. Uncovering Boone's relatively unknown and remarkably diverse research in ‘ethnic’ geography, musicology and bibliography, and her fieldwork in Congo, serves as a point of entry into a less well-known period in and ‘unofficial’ history of Belgian twentieth-century anthropology. It also provides a window into museums as gendered spaces, particularly aspects of (in)visibility and materiality in collections and archives.

Abbreviations: AA: African abstracts; BCM: Belgian Congo Museum; ESA: Ethnographic survey of Africa; IAI: International African Institute; IRCB: Institut Royal Colonial Belge; IRSAC: Institut de Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale; MFA-AA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs – African archives; OB: Olga Boone; RMCA(A): Royal Museum for Central Africa (archives)     

Exemplaire parlement…

The archives of the parlement of Paris are not only exceptionally important historically but also exceptionally complex. This article begins by surveying the formation and history of these archives. It treats their cataloguing and the many collections of copies and extracts that have been made, before discussing the ways in which archivists have treated and researchers have utilized the series, as well as the perspectives the series can open to historical research. The archives of the Parlement illustrate the full range of problems posed by conservation, communication to the public, and utilization, They reveal with special clarity the complementarity and interaction (verging on confusion) that necessarily occurs among the approaches taken by historians on the one hand, and archivists on the other. The archives of the Parlement also demonstrate that researchers' knowledge of the history of the archives goes beyond simple archival practice and contributes to the recognition of documentation as a «source» of history.     

Fashionability: Abraham Moon and the Creation of British Cloth for the Global Market

Abstract

An early nineteenth-century pink silk crepe gown adorned with thousands of faux pearls was one of the highlights of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Autumn 2010 exhibit Fashioning Fashion. During conservation treatment, the faux pearls were examined in detail in order to inform conservation decision-making and a curious manufacturing method was found, namely a practice developed in the seventeenth century by a French rosary maker: delicate and hollow glass beads were filled with a slurry of material derived from fish scales and gelatin or sturgeon glue. This information supported treatment decisions for the piece and is shared here to disseminate information on the history and manufacture of faux pearls and to inform collections care approaches for costume decorated with these extraordinary and fragile beads. This approach demonstrates how detailed examination of an object can act as the catalyst for exploring the history of manufacturing technology as well as deepening understanding of dress history.     

Beilstein in English

Abstract

If we consider the context in which certain works of art were produced, as well as the world view of the artists themselves, we should be able to make some connections between the history of science and the history of art. We can do this partly because we have access to reproductions of pictures in all media made before photography and can make comparisons between them. Yet these same techniques for the multiplication of images flood our own daily horizons with pictures taken from their original context and often trivialised. Photography has so conditioned our way of looking at pictures that a considerable corrective effort is needed to bridge the psychological distance between our own mentality and that of the past.     

A still worm from excavations at Carrick Castle,Argyll

Abstract

During 1993 excavations at Carrick Castle, Argyll, a rare item of distilling equipment was unearthed. Possibly dating to the 17th century, the copper alloy condenser or ‘worm’ is unique in design. Pollen analysis of an associated soil sample supports a use in the production of grain spirits. The technology of manufacture and historical context of the worm are examined in depth.     

Constructing community at civic-ceremonial centers: pottery-making practices at Crystal River and Roberts Island

ABSTRACT

Crystal River (8CI1) and Roberts Island (8CI36, 8CI40, 8CI41) are neighboring mound complexes on Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast, with mainly sequential occupations during the Middle and Late Woodland periods, respectively. Previous work at Crystal River produced assemblages marked by a diversity of pastes and surface treatments, suggestive of distinct communities of practice. However, these excavations were unsystematic and poorly controlled, thus confounding understanding of temporal and spatial variation in practice. Recent excavations in domestic areas, combined with the analysis of older collections from mounds, support a finer-grained understanding of variation in ceramic production. Our analysis suggests that communities of practice persisted through time, although there is variation that corresponds well with changes in settlement.     

Curating convergence: interpreting museum objects in integrated collecting institutions

This article is concerned with the phenomenon of convergence (institutional integration) of museums, libraries, archives and other cultural facilities. It investigates how such amalgamations impact the capacity of curatorial and collections staff to carry out interpretive practices, including object research, documentation and exhibition development. Through thematic content analysis of staff interviews conducted at five case studies of local government-run converged collecting institutions in Australia and New Zealand, the paper suggests that administrative restructuring – often predicated on the dual imperatives of financial efficiency and improved cultural provision – produces institutional frameworks that undermine the capacity of collections staff to interrogate the meanings of objects. In turn, impediments to interpretive practice limit the extent to which collections are rendered intellectually accessible to visitors.     

A cohort of trees,photographs, scientists,an artist and a curator: the collaborative study of environmental change

ABSTRACT

I explore how a historic image archive can be re-worked through collaborative artistic-scientific practice, and how photography can be ‘re-performed’ as a strategy to observe an environmental change. The focus is on a project by the photographer Chrystel Lebas, who between 2011 and 2017 worked in collaboration with botanists from the Natural History Museum, London. The collaborators used historic and contemporary photographs for seasonal observations in the field. Their specific interest was in the potential for using historic visual ecological records to investigate environmental change as observed now.

The paper explores the hybridization of technical, aesthetic and embodied knowledge, the application of montage and the tacit creation of a visual framework for observation. It draws attention to the potential inflexibility in interpretation inherent in the accepted systematic practice of placing ecological records within a herbarium in a natural history collection. Secondly, it illustrates the neglected potential of photographic collections within scientific research.     

Thematic Portals: Tools for Research and Making the Archival Heritage Known

Abstract

The authors explain how the newly created thematic portals can be used to facilitate digital research in Italian state archives.     

The Visual Inheritance: Collections of Historical Photographs from Papua New Guinea

Knowledge about historical photographic collections of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is limited both in source communities and amongst scholars. This article aims to shed light on significant collections of PNG photographs, describing some of the collections, and pointing to their importance at both ends of the ‘exchange’. I discuss some limitations in present uses of these visual records and point to the need for repatriation initiatives. The poor knowledge of extant photographic collections among today’s Papua New Guineans is described, and I raise some thoughts about what this signals to archives and researchers. As examples, special mention is given to the collections of photographers Albert English, William Saville, Rudolf Pöch and Captain F.R. Barton. Finally, I comment on current challenges and future opportunities for the keepers of these historical collections. A list of the collections mentioned in the article can be found at the end.     

A Very Remote Storage Box Indeed: The Importance of Doing Archaeology with Old Museum Collections

Although our practice has come to be defined by a focus on excavation as the trademark of archaeological research, research on archaeological collections lies at the scientific heart of the discipline. We demonstrate through two very different case studies how a return to primary sources (in this case, boxes of artifacts) can upend our understanding of the objects themselves and create new narratives of social and technological change. At the same time, access to museum collections is becoming increasingly difficult as institutions struggle with the growing pressure to enhance public outreach and modernize data management, while simultaneously contending with persistent budget cuts. As archaeologists who work closely with museum curators and museum collections, we offer suggestions for how researchers can work with museums to ensure that future generations of researchers and the general public can learn from the ancient materials preserved within their collections.     

The correlation of surface and subsurface artifacts: A test case from Late and Terminal Classic Popola,Yucatan, Mexico

Abstract

Surface collections are commonly used by archaeologists to sample artifact assemblages, but the correlation of surface and subsurface artifacts is not fully understood. Cultural, taphonomic, and research-design factors that can affect the relationship of surface and subsurface deposits are reviewed and the correlation of surface and subsurface deposits is tested statistically with data from the site of Popola, Yucatan, Mexico, a Late and Terminal Classic period (a.d. 600–1100) village in the northern Maya lowlands. This study suggests that surface artifact density is not correlated with subsurface artifact density. Large-scale surface collections can characterize the overall assemblage of a site, but not any small area in particular. In shallow bioturbated soils there is no significant variation between surface and subsurface assemblages at any depth. Surface artifacts may be used to identify the presence of subsurface artifacts, but should not be used to suggest their absence.     

Towards a Living Archive: Making Multi Layered Research Data and Knowledge Generation Transparent

ABSTRACT

Çatalhöyük was first discovered as one of the earliest urban settlements in the late 1950s and excavated by James Mellaart between 1961 and 1965. The 9000-year-old town in central Turkey rapidly became famous internationally due to the large size and dense occupation of the settlement, as well as the spectacular wall paintings and other art that were uncovered inside the houses. Since 1993, under the direction of Ian Hodder, research at Çatalhöyük has pioneered a reflexive approach to archaeological practice, in which information is permanently open to reinterpretation by both scholars and the public. This approach acknowledges the mutual dependence of knowledge and the underlying research, to which end the Çatalhöyük Project decided to make its records available via the Web and to invite public comment since its onset. After 25 years of excavation, the project’s digital assets now amount to close to 5TB, including formal textual and numeric records, freetext documents, audiovisual materials, and a comprehensive collection of spatial data. The reflexive method, or ‘documentation of the documentation process,’ adds a separate layer of information that specifies how data have been gathered, and facilitates critique, understanding, and the evolution of knowledge.

In this paper we lay out our vision of an interactive archive that provides access to the multi layered information contained in this massive amount of data and how web technological advances have been incorporated into the digital data management at Çatalhöyük. Ultimately, the goal is to support an interdisciplinary process of assembling data into arguments on the basis of multiple lines of evidence. The ‘Living Archive’ will enable intuitive engagement across the entire variety of research, making use of the rich reflexive information stored with the data. The results of new analyses can in turn be reintegrated with the already existing data. The application will use open standards so that the knowledge gathered at Çatalhöyük can be linked with other projects that follow similar publication procedures based on the semantic web approach.     

Bridging anthropology and its archives: an analysis from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives

Much has been written about the need to open up archives as part of the decolonial turn and decolonizing methodologies. What does this look like in practice for anthropology? Despite increasing interest in archives and ‘the archival turn’ among anthropologists, our study at the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) found that anthropologists who use archives in their work lack familiarity with organizational principles and histories that would help them navigate and gain access to these records, as well as critique them. Beyond reporting this recent research, we posit that the disconnect between archives and anthropology is not isolated to the NAA or the US, but is pervasive in the discipline. In sharing this work, we hope to inspire other similar institutional moves and to promote archival education and scholarly engagement in anthropology and its training programmes.     

Internships in the liberal arts undergraduate programme: an example from Erindale college,university of Toronto

Abstract

The one‐week internships discussed here aim to encourage the critical evaluation of planning practice and planning as a career choice. Internships provide for a change in the mode of learning, for spontaneity and immediacy, and for access to ‘informants’ about planning practice. So far it has proved difficult to provide students with great insights into planning practice through brief participation in the daily work of the planner. However, a good deal of contact between students and planners has been accomplished, and the students have at least a firmer base for evaluating urban planning as a potential career.     

Excavator Bias at the Site of Pech de l'Azé IV,France

Abstract

Existing archaeological collections hold great potential for archaeologists who seek to answer specific research questions with minimal investment of time and money. Unfortunately, biases introduced in the field and during curation require us to evaluate and reorganize collections before and during analysis. Biases are reflected in collections as a result of research design, recovery methods, interpersonal variability, and the storage of both objects and documentation. By comparing collections from two different excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of Pech de l'Azé IV, France, a number of biases in the older collection were identified and corrected. While all older collections are not affected by the same problems, our experience serves as a useful example to others who work with them.