Exhibitions mounted in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections’ Hirshland Gallery are often several years in the making. Exhibition topics are scheduled years in advance, and each exhibition’s curator spends 12-18 months researching, selecting items for exhibition, and writing the exhibition text. Because exhibition planning is such a lengthy process, typically more than one exhibition is in some stage of preparation at a time.

Curators look for a variety of material (book, photo, newspaper) for visual interest, as well as a variety of perspectives. Exhibitions usually contain 100-200 items.

After items have been selected, multiple library departments spend several months preparing them for exhibition. RMC’s Exhibition Coordinator tracks call slips for books and locations of material in archival boxes; notes on display openings for the in-person exhibition, as well as images needed for the online exhibition; and the physical location of items as they move between departments. Conservation staff review all material to determine any treatment needs, stabilize items, and build exhibition mounts. DCAPS staff digitize material for the exhibition’s corresponding website. Library Communications staff work on exhibition design, promotion, and event planning. CUL-IT staff build the online exhibition.

Conservation

During the exhibition process, collection materials are removed from their regular storage enclosures and environment, receive additional handling and light exposure, and stay in a fixed exhibition position for long periods. Conservation's role is to ensure that collection materials are in good physical condition and are securely mounted, so they can be safely exhibited and their long-term preservation is maintained.

The Conservation Lab works closely with the RMC exhibition coordinator, the exhibition curator(s), and DCAPS. Conservation consults as the curator selects items, answering questions and reviewing each item for condition concerns that could present challenges for exhibition, digital imaging, or mounting. Collection materials are treated as necessary to stabilize condition concerns. Some of the 19th century newspapers included in this exhibition, for example, were previously folded, causing small losses and tears along the fold lines. Introducing light moisture in a controlled setting allowed the paper to relax enough to be gently flattened, and mending with archival tissues and adhesives stabilized the weak areas.

Conservation also assesses the environmental needs of the collection materials, like safe light levels, and develops strategies to protect the collection materials while on exhibit. Conservation makes recommendations to our expert colleagues in DCAPS about how far a book can be opened, and other handling suggestions, for safe image capture.

Conservation constructs mounts, like book cradles, which are used to safely support and present the items to the viewer during exhibition. Archival board is used to construct mounts, and in some cases, we use inert plastic when additional support or more discrete mounts are needed. Our goal in mount construction is to draw attention to the items on view, not to the mounts or mechanisms holding them in place. This requires careful engineering, skilled construction, and a deep knowledge of the make-up and needs of the exhibited items.

DCAPS

In our Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS) imaging studios, we work with computer monitors and capture equipment that has been calibrated with specialized targets and software to produce accurate color and tonal renditions.

Most of the digital images for this online exhibition were captured using a Zeutschel Scanstudio overhead capture bookscanner, which is outfitted with a high resolution, 100mp, medium format, Phase One camera back. This scanner can capture originals up to 17 x 24 inches in diameter at 490 dpi, and smaller items at 600 dpi.

Because of the fragility of many of the volumes in the exhibition, we often could not open them fully or place them under glass during capture. The books were propped up on our scanner’s book cradle at the proscribed opening angle, using foam wedges and string lead weights. Opposing pages had to be shielded with black paper so that excess light wasn’t bounced onto the page being imaged. If the page to be imaged doesn’t lie flat, we use a clear plexiglass “finger” to hold the page while capturing it. After capture, we check a histogram of the lightness values on the page to be sure images are not over exposed. Images are examined for straightness and also examined at 100% zoom factor to check for focus accuracy.

We also captured images of 3-D objects, like book spines and covers, with a tethered Nikon D850 DSLR camera on a tripod. We use 5000 degree Kelvin, LED lights in our photography studio. Books were set up on a shooting table “sweep”-covered with backdrop paper for these shots. For each setup, we image color targets to ensure that exposure and white balance are accurate. With a tethered view, we can adjust the camera controls with computer software and view the scene through the camera lens on computer screens. This way we can easily see our results and check focus and exposure. For these book cover and spine captures it was important to try to emphasize any embossed, raised text or designs and also to show reflective gold highlights without excess reflection. Raw camera files were processed post capture to 24bit, Adobe1998, rgb tiff files. Images are white balanced, cropped, and minimally sharpened. Slight exposure adjustments are also sometimes made.

Once we have our final tiff files, we add embedded metadata to the files to include additional information (creator and source of the files, copyright info, device used, etc.). We then batch process the files to output original sized, high quality, sRGB jpeg files for access online.

Installation

It usually takes 2-3 weeks to deinstall the previous exhibition and install the new one. Library Facilities staff help with turning over the gallery, which can include rearranging exhibition cases; bringing in specialized stands, bumpouts, or extra cases; and installing special features.

Then, the material for the new exhibition is installed. We arrange the material in the exhibition cases, hang framed items, and install multimedia displays and design elements.

Design

Carla DeMello, Cornell University Library Communications’ visual communications specialist, is the graphic designer for our exhibitions. She designed giveaways such as the posters, bookmarks, and postcards, as well as the large-format graphics seen throughout the exhibition. All were derived from and inspired by archival elements from the collection. She contributed to the design of this website, as well.

Website

Our online exhibitions remain live long after the in-person exhibition has been deinstalled, and provide an ongoing resource for researchers. Sarah Chintomby, a developer in the Library's IT department, and Emily Toner, an applications programmer, worked with curators and digital content specialists to create this online exhibit. The Library's developers work to ensure that Cornell University Library's online exhibits are accessible, provide the appropriate functionality, and align with University guidelines.