This Blog addresses personal communications for my Research Paper that cannot be referenced any other way.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH JOCELYN CUMIN, Leader MA Conservation, UAL Camberwell

From: Jocelyn Cuming <j.cuming@camberwell.arts.ac.uk>
Date: Friday, 26 August 2016 at 06:50
To:  Terence Quinn <t.quinn1@arts.ac.uk>
Subject: Please can we meet to discuss my research project

Hello Terry,

I have read with interest your research proposal.
It is indeed a major conservation/preservation issue and will loom much larger than the conservation of physical documents. It is not currently addressed as you say within University Education at UAL.

The problem of the ‘born digital’ has been addressed for a long time, for example see the work of the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute of Glasgow University. You may enjoy reading an early publication by Seamus Ross who headed this institute and who now works for Toronto University. The publication is called “Changing Trains at Wigan’ Now, rather belatedly institutions such as the British Library are doing quite a lot in this area. Australia too has done a lot in this area such as the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia. America and Canada too have been working a long time in this field.

Your research proposal is a good one and I think you could develop some quite simple guidelines for artists to follow. There are simple guidelines that artists can follow in relationship to the care of physical art. In the same way artists could do a lot to ensure their digital artworks last into the future – such things as establishing simple meta data, intelligently naming files and continuous backup and employing such strategies as refreshing and emulation. This would be very useful. ( Last year a group of conservation students wrote a little publication on the care of the physical.)

I looked through your bibliography. I am pleased to see you have included Tate as they employ a number of time based media conservators. It may also be worth looking at the work King’s college London is doing in their digital humanities course.

Good luck with the research. I would be certainly happy to have a conversation about it on my return in mid September,

Best wishes,
Jocelyn

From: Terence Quinn <t.quinn1@arts.ac.uk>
Date: Friday, 5 August 2016 at 11:31
To: Jocelyn Cuming <j.cuming@camberwell.arts.ac.uk>
Subject: Please can we meet to discuss my research project

Hello Jocelyn

I am writing my research paper for my MA Visual Arts – Fine Art Digital at UAL Camberwell and would appreciate a small amount of your time to discuss the Conservation of Born Digital Art, in particular its apparent (to me) absence in University Education in UAL or as far as I can see anywhere in the UK. Here is a link to my research question and a short synopsis.

https://terencemquinn91.org/2016/07/27/research-paper-proposed-research/

I am happy to come to you anytime after 21 August. My first draft is to be submitted by 5 September and final submitted on 5 October.

I would be very grateful for any input on this important topic.

Kind Regards
Terry