Through the generous support of The Getty Foundation, The UC Davis Library is working to develop an infrastructure that leverages Content Based image Recognition (CBIR) to facilitate shared cataloging of early printed images from the early modern period. Our vision is to develop an environment in which a cataloger or archivist who is describing an image can use CBIR to search across collections and institutions for copies of the same or similar images, retrieve the cataloging records for matched images, and easily ingest retrieved cataloging data into the local datastore. In short, we intend to provide an infrastructure that allows image catalogers to quickly and easily ask, “Has anyone else described an image like this?” and, if so, “How was it described?” Such a system would improve the quality and interoperability of descriptive metadata and speed up image cataloging efforts, thereby improving access to collections worldwide.
Check it out on the Collaborations page!