Would you be able to put this announcement on your list? If you have any questions, please let me know.

Regards,
Marilyn Lundberg


USC'S TRAINING Program for scholars, conservators, library and museum professionals, archivists and researchers in the use of Reflectance Transformation imaging (RTI) for documenting ancient texts and artifacts, including the loan of imaging equipment

CALL FOR PROPOSALS (ROUND FOUR)

The University of Southern California's West Semitic Research Project (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp) has finished training the third round of applicants for training in Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and is looking for another round of applicants. The projects that have been accepted include RTI documentation of:

_       Egyptian graffiti incised on stone blocks
_       Wax and lead tablets and clay seals ranging from the first century BCE to the eighth century CE
_       Egyptian quartzite statues
_       Korean artifacts
_       Palmyrene Aramaic Inscriptions
_       Early Alphabetic inscriptions from the Sinai Peninsula
_       Artifacts from Tell Timai in Egypt
_       Hebrew incised ostraca
_       Coins from the Persian to Crusader Periods
_       Mandaean Amulets

The Training Program is funded by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program for U. S. Citizens. The IMLS has also funded the purchase of imaging equipment to support the Training Program.

The objective of this project is to develop an infrastructure for training scholars in the use of RTI technology and subsequently to lend the necessary imaging equipment to participants in the training program so they can do an initial RTI documentation project either in field environments (archaeological sites, etc.) or in libraries, museums and/or other similar venues, worldwide (for examples of RTI images see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUVDbWEvpqM). This initial undertaking should be understood to be a pilot project that can develop into an ongoing, broader documentary effort and preferably may also serve as the catalyst for establishing a scholarly network consortium for image documentation of a given corpus (or corpora) of ancient texts and/or artifacts.  All equipment to be lent out is both rugged and compact and is thus ideal for doing sophisticated imaging in remote locations. Twenty awards over three years (approximately seven per year) for traineeships will be provided based on the merit and intrinsic importance of a proposed pilot imaging project as well as the appropriateness of the subject matter for RTI imaging.

The next deadline for applying to the training program is October 15, 2013, followed by another deadline of January 15, 2014.

For more information, see http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/Training_Program.pdf, http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/projects/imls.shtml, or contact Marilyn Lundberg (mlundber@usc.edu) or Bruce Zuckerman (bzuckerm@usc.edu).
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Marilyn J. Lundberg, Ph.D.
Associate Director, West Semitic Research
Associate Editor, MAARAV
12 Empty Saddle Road
Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274
Tel: 310-541-4573; Fax: 310-541-2361
Web Sites: http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp
http://www.inscriptifact.com
http://www.maarav.com