Treffer: Reverse Engineering the Image Library: a case study on the feasibility of using deep learning to identify significance in a 35mm slide collection.

The Columbia University Department of Art History and Archaeology holds approximately 400,000 35mm slides, but like other institutions without a master catalog, the collection is tremendously time-consuming to sort, leaving resources to languish in storage. To help resolve this, the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University used deep learning and optical character recognition software to detect original photographic images in the 35mm slide collection. Both technologies served to classify images as copywork or an original photo. This project aimed to apply transferable techniques that will enable other collections to partially automate the process of cataloging and identifying significant images to create an open source, scalable framework for archival discovery across humanities fields. This paper seeks to describe the methods and challenges and make clear the processes investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]