Augmented Browsing of Books in Historic Libraries
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the Arts London
Department Name: CCW Grad School
Abstract
This project addresses a significant problem in historic houses: the fact that books, which are among their most important collections, are not accessible to visitors. This is a wide-spread problem in historic university and cathedral libraries and many National Trust properties. A good example from the National Trust is Wimpole Hall with a fully catalogued book collection which however is inaccessible to visitors of the property. This project aims to make such library collections available to the public through Augmented Reality technology, which will allow browsing the books on-site, through a mobile device, without removing the books from the shelves. This will mean that while eliminating any risks of damage, the visitors' experience in the historic property extends to library collections. The project brings together experts on augmented reality and experts on the history of the book to produce a pilot system for a small number of books in Wimpole Hall. It involves testing the technology for identifying individual volumes by hovering a mobile phone camera in front of a shelf. It also involves the development of relevant content for this group of books which will be overlaid in front of the live camera feed. We will develop this system and then test it on-site at Wimpole Hall with participants from the public visiting the house.
Key partners: Ligatus, University of the Arts London; Museotechniki; National Trust.
Key stakeholders: Institute of English Studies, University of London; University of Uppsala Library; Bodleian Library, Oxford University; John Rylands Library, University of Manchester; Salisbury Cathedral; Christchurch College, Oxford.
Key partners: Ligatus, University of the Arts London; Museotechniki; National Trust.
Key stakeholders: Institute of English Studies, University of London; University of Uppsala Library; Bodleian Library, Oxford University; John Rylands Library, University of Manchester; Salisbury Cathedral; Christchurch College, Oxford.
Planned Impact
One of the aims of the project is to engage with stakeholders in order to raise awareness of the project output. We have identified stakeholders for every aspect of the project and the level of engagement that would be of interest to them. In general we have divided the stakeholders into:
- Public / visitors of historic houses, whose experience will be enhanced and their knowledge extended by having access to rich material of the books in historic libraries,
- Professionals / content providers, such as cataloguers and conservators who will be able to share their records and knowledge with the public thus increasing the impact of their work,
- Heritage managers, such as National Trust property and collection managers who will become aware of a new technology that can enhance visitor experience of their collections.
The project focus will be the deployment of the system in a National Trust property during the Easter holidays to maximise public impact. A number of meetings with stakeholders will also take place to demonstrate the functionality of the system. We will invest resources in these stakeholder meetings in order to form new partnerships which will allow us to follow up this pilot with a project of an extensive scope.
- Public / visitors of historic houses, whose experience will be enhanced and their knowledge extended by having access to rich material of the books in historic libraries,
- Professionals / content providers, such as cataloguers and conservators who will be able to share their records and knowledge with the public thus increasing the impact of their work,
- Heritage managers, such as National Trust property and collection managers who will become aware of a new technology that can enhance visitor experience of their collections.
The project focus will be the deployment of the system in a National Trust property during the Easter holidays to maximise public impact. A number of meetings with stakeholders will also take place to demonstrate the functionality of the system. We will invest resources in these stakeholder meetings in order to form new partnerships which will allow us to follow up this pilot with a project of an extensive scope.
People |
ORCID iD |
Nicholas Pickwoad (Principal Investigator) |
Description | We have discovered that it is possible to engage members of the general public in the exploration of books held in historical library collections by means of computer applications mounted on handheld devices in the libraries, resulting in increased time spent in the libraries and higher levels of visitor engagement and satisfaction. |
Exploitation Route | The stakeholders libraries are intending to partcipate in the subsequent development of the apps for use in their libraries. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
Title | Book descriptions |
Description | The data consisted of bibliographical data, a paragraph describing the significance of each book, and its provenance as well as its binding. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Encouraging further interest on the part of the public of the contents of a historic library, extending the time spent in the library as they explored its contents on screen. |
Description | Technical collaboration, including design and development of two applications |
Organisation | Museotechniki Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The original concept was ours and we managed the project. We also contributed 50% of the metadata used in two apps and the selection of books used in the trials. |
Collaborator Contribution | Museotechniki brought technical expertise to the design of the computer applications, and brought these to completion. National Trust gave access to the library at Wimpole Hall and staff time to manage our work in the library, together with the cataloguing data and contributions to the metadata. |
Impact | Outcomes are the two computer applications together with the metadata collected for the demonstration of the applications in the house in July 2018. This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration involving curatorial and IT disciplines. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Technical collaboration, including design and development of two applications |
Organisation | National Trust |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The original concept was ours and we managed the project. We also contributed 50% of the metadata used in two apps and the selection of books used in the trials. |
Collaborator Contribution | Museotechniki brought technical expertise to the design of the computer applications, and brought these to completion. National Trust gave access to the library at Wimpole Hall and staff time to manage our work in the library, together with the cataloguing data and contributions to the metadata. |
Impact | Outcomes are the two computer applications together with the metadata collected for the demonstration of the applications in the house in July 2018. This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration involving curatorial and IT disciplines. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Title | Augmented Library App |
Description | 'Augmented Library' provides access to location-based augmented video content relevant to a selection of books. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Public engagement increased by 15 times. |
Title | Book Finder App |
Description | Book Finder is using the 'Wimpole model' AI obect recognition model to identify books from their book spine and without the need of taking them off the shelves in order to retrieve information about them. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | It enables members of the public to see what they would not have seen before with the full supporting metadata. |
URL | https://github.com/museotechniki/augmented_book_browsing |
Description | Library visits |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The PI demonstrated the apps to each group at 7 libraries in Europe and the UK. The participants were then able to try out the apps themselves and this was followed by a discussion about how they might use them in their own libraries and what modifications or additions might make them more useful in their particular situations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Public demonstration |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 48 participants were offered the chance to use the two computer applications in the libraries to find books and their relevant metadata. The participants were engaged in conversation about how easy they found it to use the apps and to operate them and then they were asked to fill in a short questionnaire to record their experiences. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |