Montreux Jazz Festival
- Digitization of audiovisual archives
Since 1970, the Montreux jazz festival has been recorded with the best possible quality. This audio heritage, of inestimable value, must not be lost, which is where Vectracom comes in. The Memorist company was selected to digitize numerous media with the best possible quality.
This project, which began in 2009, saw Vectracom treat each digitization separately in order to optimize quality. The company created new systems to digitize and transfer original multi-track audio, making it their most challenging yet most interesting digitization to date.
Now that the entire archive has been digitized, it can be purchased on CD or DVD and enjoyed in Montreux Jazz Cafés around the world, including London, Geneva or Abu Dhabi.
Departmental archives of the Lot
- Restoration of pictorial documents
- Heritage digitization
The Departmental Archives of Lot wanted to restore their cadastral maps, which were in a poor condition. The aim of this operation was twofold:
- To preserve the original physical documents
- To enable optimal digitization
The initial restoration phase greatly facilitated the digitization phase and guaranteed the quality of the digital images. All maps were digitized without exception.
The restoration (La Reliure du Limousin) and digitization (Arkhênum) were carried out in a single location.
IGN
- Digitization of 400,000 images on glass plates.
The French National Institute of Geography and Forestry Information (IGN) has again placed its trust in TRIBVN Imaging. The heritage digitization specialist is continuing the great adventure it began with the IGN, an adventure that generated more than 2.5 million view in its first phase from 2008-2016.
TRIBVN Imaging‘s expertise in photographic image digitization guarantees that the IGN’s many glass plates can be quickly adapted and digitized, which perfectly meets their requirements.
The project will allow visitors to travel through time via the IGN online portal, where they will be able to observe the evolution of the landscape by comparing the maps and photos of the past to those of the present.
Institute of France
- Heritage digitization
- Web enhancement
The Institute de France, created in 1795, is the custodian of a vast heritage composed of residences, collections and archives, including the Mazarine Library, the Dosne-Thiers Foundation, the Château de Chantilly, and the Jacquemart André Museum.
To provide public access to its rich written and documentary heritage, the Institute collaborated with Arkhênum to create a unique digital portal.
The Institut de France was impressed by Arkhênum’s expertise in digitization and digital enhancement, leading to a successful partnership in designing this high-performance digital tool.
Jumièges Abbey
- Creation of an augmented reality app that depicts the Abbaye de Jumièges in different eras.
Augmented reality app, developed by Art Graphique & Patrimoine, available for rent at the abbey and downloadable for free on the App store and Google Play (mobiles and tablets). Users are immersed in a 3D reconstruction of four points of interest from five different eras (Carolingian, Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and 18th century) as they follow as trail of discovery within the abbey.
L’Equipe
- Audit and technical study digitisation
- Design and implementation
- Digital and physical storage
With the world entering the digital era, the L’Equipe newspaper recognised the need to adapt and offer its archived photos in a digital format, ensuring convenient access to both employees and consumers.
Prior to implementation, an audit determined that software had to be developed to manage the digitization process. A team of 14 individuals was mobilized on site, with custom-built digitization lines to ensure the digitization of contact sheets, negatives and color slides.
To meet the production and digitization requirements, a consistent pace of 30,000 images per day was crucial. The decision to digitize was strategic, enabling the newspaper to not only create new editorial content, but also establish a meaningful connection between history and current events.
Essilor
- Audit and advice on heritage strategy
- Management of heritage collections
- Preventive conservation of heritage
Essilor’s roots go back to 1849, when the “Association Fraternelle des Ouvriers Lunetiers” was created in the Marais district of Paris. It soon became the Société des Lunetiers, or S.L., later known as Essel.
In preparation for the merger with Luxottica, Essilor wished to leverage its rich industrial history, spanning over 170 years, by embarking on a significant heritage preservation project. The objective was to utilise its heritage to benefit both the brand and the group. To achieve this, Arkhênum was appointed in 2020 to analyse, safeguard, and enhance Essilor’s esteemed heritage collection.
The extensive collection comprises numerous technical documents that reflect the group’s pioneering advances in optics, particularly in the realm of lenses. Commencing in 2021, Arkhênum’s team meticulously processed the entire paper collection, which spans roughly 100 linear meters, as well as a rich collection of more than 7,000 objects. Among these were 300 scientific instruments and tools pertaining to vision and precision, along with an extensive collection of eyewear, boasting several thousand lenses and spectacles.
Alliance Israélite Universelle
- Web enhancement
As an internationally renowned Jewish institution dedicated to education, the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) is uniquely positioned to focus on academic and professional achievement, as well as the transmission of a rich identity rooted in Jewish tradition, culture, and history, and in the geography of both the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
The AIU entrusted Arkhênum to implement and deploy its digital library, and thereby provide seamless access to digital exhibitions, books, brochures, newspapers, photographs, archives, videos from the library’s collections, as well as the Alliance’s archives.
The AIU digital library was set up in 2015 and is regularly updated with new collections.
HISTORICAL SERVICE OF THE DEFENSE
Scanning from Jan 2011 to Dec 2021, 24 x 24 Large Format Images
1000 images per day
The Historical Service is the archival center of the French Army and houses one of the most valuable libraries on European military history. The center boasts an extensive collection of archives, comprising over 450 linear kilometers of registers, books, maps, photos, and films.
The French Air Force and Navy took some 500,000 aerial views during the Indochina conflict. The rolls of film on which these views are stored could deteriorate or even be lost completely if not properly preserved.
A system needed to be specially developed to handle the film rolls as there was no existing solution to digitize this particular type of medium. A dedicated room had to be constructed to house the digitization system, along with a well-ventilated space to accommodate both the system and the original film rolls. To ensure the safety of the operator, a comprehensive process had to be implemented to provide a secure working environment.
BNF-PARTNERSHIPS
- Audit and technical study digitization
- Heritage digitization offers
- Digitization on customer site
In 2016, the French National Library launched Retronews, an online platform that showcases more than 2,000 print publications published between 1631 and 1952. The library aims to enrich its collection by offering a new platform for publishers to monetize their own archives, focusing on the latter half of the 20th century.
Arkhênum successfully digitised collections on the daily newspapers’ site, as well as other titles on its own platform.
The substantial volume of 7.4 million pages to be digitised meant that an industrial production process had to be put in place, tailored to accommodate the diverse nature of the collections. The three-year project was overseen by an Arkhênum team consisting of one project director, two project managers and 12 operators who managed the production and quality-control of the digital image.
Sfate & Combier
THE GERMAN NATIONAL LIBRARY
As part of its preservation missions, the German National Library had previously carried out digitization operations on targeted collections.
In 2021, the institution decided to digitize its collections in a more systematic and extensive manner. We were awarded this contract through a public tender.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF FRANCE (BNF)
The BNF wanted to digitize their Chinese scrolls and drawings from the Pellot collection. This digitization required the construction of a custom-built workshop. The scroll digitization bench was validated by the library’s manuscript department.
BRITTANY MUSEUM
Ensuring the sustainability of the media at the Musée de Bretagne
As part of its heritage preservation project, the Musée de Bretagne is launching a project to preserve its photographic collections, which contain over 500,000 references. These archives are composed of negatives and prints on glass plates or flexible media (cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate), slides and paper prints. The project began with dusting and reconditioning the collections before sending them to digitization. We also took care of the delicate storage of cellulose nitrate supports’, which are flammable and present risks of degradation.
3D DIGITIZATION
THE WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE
The Louvre Museum asked us to particpate in the large-scale restoration of the statue. The surveys obtained by 3D lasergrammetric and photogrammetric scanning of the statue, the boat and its base served several purposes. First of all, it was necessary to obtain a detailed condition of the statue, just after the restoration. The 3D model has been integrated into the Louvre’s Focus series, a web collection presenting the museum’s emblematic works. Finally, the model also offers the possibility of reconstructing missing elements of the statue, either from scattered and modelled fragments or by virtual reconstruction.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Our 3D survey and Building Information Model (BIM) to the rescue of Notre-Dame de Paris
We have carried out several digitization campaigns of the cathedral, within the framework of the restoration projects led by the Chief Architects of the Historic Monuments, in order to provide the technical documentation necessary for the analysis and diagnosis work. Survey campaigns were carried out on the west facade, the towers, the roof and the spire. We have also carried out a complete 3D scan of the framework known as “the forest”, destroyed during the fire of April 15, 2019. We conducted an emergency 3D scanning operation right after this fire to establish the extent of the damage. Our complete BIM modelling of Notre-Dame is used in the restoration work.
Musée de la Toile de Jouy
Drone and in-situ scanning for the Toile de Jouy museum
The Musée de la Toile de Jouy called on our services to digitize several collections: the fabric collection, digitized in our premises on an A00 scanner (1200×1800 mm), and in-situ digitization to capture the digital duplicate of object collections and very large format canvases (from 2 to 7 m).
The digitization of the object collection was made possible thanks to the establishment of a dedicated photography studio within the museum. Capturing very large fabrics required the development of a bespoke in-situ solution: drone scanning.
