from The Guardian -
Preserving old games is a service to humanity
go to article

Not very clear about the part that having preserved old copies of arcade games is beneficial to the human race. Otherwise, a timely reminder that it is popular culture content that will drive the main bulk of any digital preservation effort.
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from EurekaAlert -
From rags to riches, or how undergarments improved medieval literacy
go to press release

Conservation-quality boards are called ragboards, for a reason - in that quality paper and boards are made, literally, from cotton rags. Now a scholar has speculated that the spread of printing, made possible by the availability of cheap paper (as opposed to the expensive and labour-intensive animal skin parchment) which is made from, of all things, undergarments. Do they ever wash them before recycling?
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from The Guardian -
Russian capital's architectural gems bulldozed
go to article

from The Guardian -
At home with Moore
go to article
go to audio slideshow

from Dallas Morning News -
Restoration will set things Wright
go to article

from The Guardian -
Heritage row on selection of Darwin's home
go to article

from The Guardian -
The building that God forgot
go to article

A slew of articles related to the field of architectural conservation.
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from The Guardian -
David gets a wash in public
go to article

Yet another high-profile cleaning project - recalling the earlier attempt to Michaelangelo's David (see earlier posts, here and here). However, this time, a laser cleaning technique will be used.

Weblog tweaking

For the curious:
As I had to redo a substantial chunk of the links on the side-bar, I thought that I might as well refresh the look of the weblog - although I just did that about 6 months ago. The image used in the title bar is a snapshot of the Singapore River waterfront, with colours adjusted and stretched.

Weblog Migration

For all readers: I'll be migrating the current blog over to blogspot as I have hit the webpage limit of my internet account. Disruption will probably occur over the next few days. So do bookmark the new link - apertum.blogspot.com - and continue browsing. For those who grab posts via a feed reader, do check the new link to get the correct feed URL. Cheers!

from The New York Times -
Report Faults Oversight by Smithsonian Regents
go to article

An update on the re-organisation of the Smithsonian Institution, after the departure of the chief executive (see earlier post here).

from The Guardian -
National Gallery takes to the streets
go to article
go to pictures

Definitely an attention-grabbing way in museum publicity - and (almost) literally taking the art to the public ... in public spaces:

It's not often that you come across a Caravaggio or Van Gogh while walking around London's Soho, but for the next 12 weeks, the National Gallery is taking its masterpieces to the streets. In a bid to give the public a taste of the collection, the gallery has hung life-sized reproductions around the capital. Each painting is framed and accompanied by an information plaque, and passersby can phone a number for an audio guide of the works.

What a wonderful idea - brightening the urban-scape and promoting the museum in one fell swoop!
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from Institute of Conservation (UK) -
Conservation Awards 2007
go to short-lists

Once again, the annual awards given out for outstanding conservation and digital preservation projects in the UK. Results will be announced on 27th September at the British Museum.
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from Conservation DistList -
British Library Centre for Conservation Microsite
go to web-site

An additional web resource for heritage conservation. You can also watch videosof conservators at work ! (Thanks to Conservation DistList for the prior alert).
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