Thousands of photographs of objects will be made in each of the five museums participating in the project “www.muzeach” (in museums). They will be made available to the public in the form of digital collections using a website with a multisearch browser. However, to make this possible, the storage space for digital files must be increased, and the technical and ICT infrastructure of participating institutions must be expanded and modified.
Hence, the museums acquire, e.g.: disk arrays, workstations, servers, network switches, as well as photographic equipment for the digitisation workshop, templates for colour management, and software for graphic processing of the photos. These purchases will raise and unifiy the standards of digitisation and sharing of collections in all museums participating in the project.
Some institutions will also carry out construction works to adapt spaces to new technical requirements.
As a project leader, the Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów will store aggregate data and supervise the entire ICT system of the project. For the purpose of this task, data security has been improved by providing a redundant server and array system. A technical floor and extinguishing system suitable for electronic equipment will also be installed.
The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews established the first digitisation workshop specifically for the “www.muzeach” project. The workshop was fully equipped in December 2019. The server room was also expanded with additional disk space to secure adequate storage for digital image files.
The collections chosen for digitisation in the partner museums are various and require different equipment and working methods throughout the complex process of digitising and sharing the photos. Because of that, the workshop at POLIN was designed and furnished to process both current exhibits and those projected for inclusion in the development strategy of the museums. Starting from the size and location of the studio, and ending with safety and storage space for the exhibits waiting for imaging, a professional workplace for the photographer. The studio equipment is rich, fully systemic, and ready for expansion and well-considered technological development at any time. A 35 mm camera (full frame) is used, connected with a cable to a "digital darkroom". The lighting system consists of generator-powered flash lamps with branded accessories. The studio equipment, including a highly-functional shadowless table, is the key part of the workshop. A separate reproduction stand has been planned, and the whole is complemented by small and large structures for the performance of more demanding or unusual tasks. The workshop is designed to meet the museum's needs for studio photography beyond the project, e.g. related to exhibitions.
Project cco-financed from European Funds and from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National of the Republic of Poland. The project is implemented under the Operational Programme Digital Poland for the years 2014-2020, Priority Axis 2 “E-government and open government,” Action 2.3 “Digital availability and usefulness of public sector information,” Sub-action 2.3.2 “Digital availability of culture resources.”
