Partners

• Getty Conservation Institute, United States
• ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Duration: 4 weeks (12 September - 12 October 2007)

Place: Rome, Italy

Participants
Seventeen participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Slovenia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Lecturers
The course included instructors from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United States representing four universities and national and international conservation organizations. One instructor was a participant in the ARIS course in 2007.

Description
The course on architectural records, inventories, and information systems for the conservation of cultural heritage addressed the needs, methodology, and techniques for acquiring and using this knowledge. The course drew upon the vast wealth of cultural material in Rome and was taught by leading experts in the field.

A range of learning strategies were employed in order to empower participants’ own professional knowledge while adding new information and skills through readings, discussions, and a number of group practical exercises.

Aim
Records, inventories, and information management tools are continuously being developed and must be considered as a fundamental part of the conservation process, as good information leads to good conservation decisions. In this regard, the main objective of this course was to transmit the basis of a rigorous documentation methodology aimed at improving the documentation process, data management and dissemination principles for professional and non-professional environments.

At the end of the course, the participants had a better understanding of the methods and techniques available for recording and had become aware of the importance of improving conservation decisions through improving the quality of information.

Educational objectives

• Emphasize that good conservation requires good documentation;
• approach architectural records and information management from the point of view of planning, practice, access, dissemination and usefulness to conservation;
• review recording techniques and their relation to specific situations;
• address recording practice based on specific case studies, focused in particular on the Church of Santa Cecilia;
• promote discussion among specialists in these fields;
• enable participants to transmit documentation knowledge, attitudes and skills.

Course methodology
These objectives were met by:

• focusing on a case study – the right nave of the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere;
• completing a set of documentation materials of the right nave of Santa Cecilia;
• using a wide variety of recording tools in different situations;
• applying a specific data management strategy for the course data;
• having a multidisciplinary approach;
• creating teams for field work;
• promoting open discussions and sharing experiences.

Course development and activities
The course was structured around three main blocks of knowledge, through four weeks of study, on specific matters: documentation, recording practice and information management.

During the first two weeks, participants received lectures about theory, principles, and guidelines on documentation and data management. Participants started the recording practice and data acquisition at the Basilica of Santa Cecilia where they were trained on various documentation techniques and tools such as hand recording, rectified photography, stereo photogrammetry, total station measurements and 3D laser scanner. Data processing followed the data collection, as well as practice on thermal photography and condition mapping of the Church of Santa Cecilia. An exercise in the archaeological site of Ostia Antica was also organized to introduce GPS techniques as a recording tool for extensive areas.

The third week was devoted to inventories and information systems, with training on Geographic Information Systems using data collected in the surroundings of the Church of Santa Cecilia.

The final week looked at dissemination tools and best strategies to present the information depending on the audience and the tools available. The participants created a final report on their work to share with other professionals in their home countries. These reports were presented and discussed at the end of the course.

Technical visits
The course included technical visits related to specific subjects discussed during the course such as the Vatican archives and Saint Peter’s necropolis. A second visit was organized to the Roman Forum and the church of Santa Maria Antiqua where conservation of wall paintings and condition mapping were exposed and discussed with the project responsible. Finally the participants had the opportunity to visit the virtual museum of the Villa Flavia at the Museo Nazionale Romano.

Main achievements

• Professional capacity-building: seventeen participants increased their knowledge and skills on documentation with a wide variety of methods and tools for recording, documentation, inventories and information management, and promotion of discussion among specialists in these fields. The course participants will take the knowledge and materials back to their home countries’ institutions.
• Networking: the course promoted networking in order to increase interaction between professionals that share similar interests on conservation and documentation issues.
• Final evaluation results: weekly participants’ evaluations demonstrated high levels of satisfaction with course development (coordination, themes, materials, lecturers and technical visits).

updated on: 13 April, 2010