Creating Multispectral Imaging Communities of Practice to Expand Access and Discoverability

FAIN: PE-303737-25

Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY 14623-5603)
Juilee Decker (Project Director: May 2024 to present)
David Messinger (Co Project Director: January 2025 to present)

The creation of online and in-person training programs, as well as an equipment-lending program, to promote the use of Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts (MISHA) and develop communities of practice.

The Museum Studies program in the College of Liberal Arts and Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science propose to develop and sustain education and training opportunities for library, archive, and museum professionals, humanities scholars, and others through the creation of “communities of practice” around multispectral imaging to foster opportunities for discoverability, expanded access, and preventative collections care. This project builds upon our previous Tier 2 R&D grant that yielded the creation of an accessible, user-friendly multispectral imaging system and software. The program will utilize three modalities (online; onsite at RIT; and offsite through a loan program) and will give participants opportunities to apply the technology to their own collections. By centering on participants from four professional constituencies in the US, the project aims to develop multispectral imaging literacy among those who may not have access to such resources.