About CAMEO

The Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO) is an electronic database that compiles, defines, and disseminates technical information on the distinct collection of terms, materials, and techniques used in the fields of art conservation and historic preservation.

Project Team

The CAMEO project team has researched, entered and reviewed information over 10,000 materials. The team is composed of:

Principal Investigator:

• Michele Derrick, Schorr Family Associate Research Scientist, MFA

Management/supervision:

• Arthur Beale, Chair, Conservation and Collections Management, MFA (1997-2006)
• Matthew Siegal, Chair, Conservation and Collections Management, MFA (2007-present)
• Richard Newman, Head, Scientific Research Department, MFA

Imaging and Photography:

• Keith Lawrence, Scientific Photographer, MFA (2000-2011)

Web design and implementation:

• John Ruggiero, Collection Systems Programmer, MFA

CHARISMA/CAMEO cooperation organizer:

• Jean Louis Boutaine, Scientist emeritus, C2RMF, Paris, France

Fiber Reference Image Library (FRIL), senior editor:

• Kathryn Jakes, Professor emeritus, Ohio State University

Dye Analysis, senior editor:

• Xian Zhang, Consultant scientist, MFA

Additional editors:

Austria	UK
* Manfred Schreiner, ABK, Wien	* Morena Ferreira, Cardiff University, Cardiff
Canada	* Jo Kirby, NGL, London
* Marie-Claude Corbeil, CCI, Ottawa	* Joseph Padfield, NGL, London
* Marilyn Laver, Lavinco CSS, Toronto	* James Peake, Cardiff University, Cardiff
France	* Ashok Roy, NGL, London
* Michel Dubus, C2RMF, Paris	* Marika Spring, NGL, London
* Anne-Solenn Le Ho, C2RMF, Paris	* Joyce Townsend, Tate Gallery, London
Germany	USA
* Sven Bittner, BLFD, Muenchen	* Charlotte Ameringer, MFA, Boston
* Sylvia Mitschke, CEZA, Mannheim	* Monica Berry, Monica Berry Art Conservation, NY
Greece	* Luisa Casella, Luisa Casella Conservation, NY
* Sophia Sotiropoulou, OADC, Ormylia, Chalkidiki	* Virginia G. Ethier, MFA, Boston, MA
Hungary	* Fenella France, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
* Laszlo Rosta, BNC, Budapest	* Jennifer French, NCDCR, Washington, DC
Italy	* Suzanne Hargrove, Toledo Museum, Toledo, OH
* Susanna Bracci, CNR-ICVBC, Firenze	* Abigail Hykin, MFA, Boston, MA
* Giancarlo Lanterna, OPD, Firenze	* Amanda Jones, Library of Congress, Washington DC
Netherlands	* Matthew Kullman, Library of Congress, Washington DC
* Ineke Joosten, RCE, Amsterdam	* Katherine Langdon, MFA, Boston, MA
* Alberto de Tagle, RCE, Amsterdam	* Richard Laursen, Boston University, Boston, MA
Poland	* Nora Lockshin, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington DC
* Piotr Targowski, UMK, Torun	* Alison Luxner, MFA, Boston, MA
* Elzbieta Basiul, UMK, Torun	* Odile Madden, MCI (Smithsonian), Washington DC
* Teresa Kurkiewicz, UMK, Torun	* Gwen Manthey, MFA, Boston, MA
* Jaroslaw Rogoz, UMK, Torun	* Kirsten Moffitt, Colonial Williamsburg, CWF, MA
Portugal	* Cuong Nguyen, ACL
* José Delgado Rodrigues, LNEC, Lisboa	* Susan Peckham, LOC, Washington DC
* Joao Manuel Mimoso, LNEC, Lisboa	* Tina Qin, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Spain	* Jennifer McGlinchy Sexton, Paul Messier Photography, Boston, MA
* Maria Dolores Gayo, MNP, Madrid	* Margaret Scollan MFA, Boston, MA
* Maite Jover, MNP, Madrid	* Kristin Stacy, MFA, Boston, MA
* Carmen Muro, MNCARS, Madrid	* Kisook Suh, Metropolitan Museum, NY
	* Tanya Uyeda, MFA, Boston, MA
	* Pam Young, Colonial Williamsburg, CWF, VA

History of CAMEO

In 1997, a database formerly called the Conservation and Art Materials Dictionary (CAMD), was developed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) by the Conservation and Collections Management Department under the direction of Arthur Beale. An initial grant from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) along with additional resources and support from the MFA enabled the first version of the database to be placed on the Internet in November 2000.

In the development phase, to ensure complete coverage from the diverse specialties within museums and conservation, six initial contributors/reviewers (Gordon Hanlon, Pamela Hatchfield, Teresa Hensick, Meredith Montague, Ivan Myjer, and Roy Perkinson) supplied entries of materials and reviewed draft versions of the database. Michele Derrick, the principal investigator, compiled, consolidated, condensed, and entered available information into the database program. The MFA Webmaster, Phil Getchell, and consultant John Klick developed an online application that allowed interactive, searchable access to the data. After beta testing by the conservation and curatorial staff at the Museum, the database was uploaded to the Internet for use and review by the worldwide conservation community. It was immediately hailed as an important resource for the field.

Soon it was deemed important for CAMEO to have an upgraded structure as well as for its coverage and content to be expanded into a more comprehensive and well-rounded encyclopedic resource for the art conservation and historic preservation fields. In October 2002, a two-year National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum Library Services (IMLS) allowed the transport of CAMEO to a SQL based system to better handle the volume of users and information. Major additions to the database included added auxiliary pages for images and documentation of the authority trail. A companion database containing a directory of conservation-related organizations was also added. The IMLS grant ended with all projected tasks completed, including the addition of approximately 6,000 images. In July 2005, a two-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided support to upgrade the appearance and user functionality of CAMEO. Mediatrope, a professional web development firm, was selected to redesign the website and implement upgrades. New features include auxiliary COMPARISON pages and a third database for information on the Forbes Pigment Collection.

In 2013, with a grant from the Kress Foundation, CAMEO was transferred from the proprietary software and placed on a MediaWiki platform by Josh Sostek, MFA Web developer, and Tim Benson, consultant. This major transformation heralds a new era for CAMEO because it opens the database to the option of data entry by many volunteer editors. This update provides the flexibility to keep editorial restrictions while also allowing easier, wide-spread contributions for revising and expanding the scope and content of our multi-functional information source.

This transformation of CAMEO to a wiki also included the creation of two new major information resources. These are both related to the use and analysis of natural and synthetic dyes in works of art. The first resource is the documentation of the Uemura collection of dyed fabrics that was acquired by the MFA in 2008. A database containing the original Japanese text with its English translation was created by Masumi Kataoka, Sherman Fairchild Fellow in Textile Conservation. Images of all of the dyed samples were collected by Keith Lawrence, Scientific photographer. The second new resource, DYE ANALYSIS, is seminal to the scientific art analysis world because it provides critical analytical parameters for the analysis of synthetic and natural dyes using state-of-the-art liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric equipment. This database will contain the results from a joint project funded by NSF between Richard Newman, Simmons College, and Boston University. Integral to this data is the analysis of all the reference samples in the Uemura collection. The site is organized into categories of Natural and Synthetic Dyes with sub-categories of dyes found on cultural artifacts. Dr. Xian Zhang is the senior editor for DYE ANALYSIS.

In 2017, CAMEO welcomed the addition of FRIL (Fiber Reference IMAGE Library). This is a database of images of textile fibers acquired through the use of multiple microscopic techniques (brightfield, darkfield, polarized light, and differential interference contrast) to provide complementary information contributing to identification and characterization. The site is organized into categories of Plant, Animal, and Manufactured fibers with sub-categories to include images of fibers from 18th through 21st century garments. Dr. Kathryn Jakes, is the senior editor for FRIL.

In 2018 a new initiative was launched by Rachel Arenstein, Samantha Springer, and Colleen Snyder to coordinate volunteer editors specifically working on increasing the number of bilateral links between CAMEO and the American Institute for Conservation WIKI (http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Main_Page). These two resources provide complementary information since CAMEO is a technical encyclopedia of materials while the AIC WIKI provides information on the use of the materials for the conservation of works of art. For examples of the information in each, please start at the CAMEO entries for Starch or Fiberboard. For additional information, contact rarenstein@conservation-us.org.

CAMEO Partnership

In 2006, the MFA formed a collaborative agreement with EU-Artech (Access, Research and Technology for the conservation of European Cultural Heritage) to increase the international scope of CAMEO. In 2010, this partnership was redeveloped and extended with the CHARISMA (Cultural Heritage Advanced Research Infrastructures) European research project consortium that focuses on providing transnational access, doing cooperative research, and networking applications in the field of cultural heritage conservation.

With this partnership, members have contributed European language synonyms, images, and information to CAMEO as well as provided systematic review of the material records. To date, over 9000 non-English synonyms have been added to the database as an aid for searching records. Now users can enter either English or non-English terms into the MATERIAL search box. Both the primary name and the synonym list are searched simultaneously to locate a material record. This collaboration has helped expand the reach of the website into a broadly-used international resource. Examination of the website statistics shows that CAMEO has logged over 300,000 page views by users in over 200 countries over the past 12 months.

CHARISMA partners include:

• Akademie der bildenden Künste (ABK), Wien, Austria
• Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (BLFD), München, Germany
• Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC), Budapest, Hungary
• Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF), Paris, France
• CNR - Istituto per la Conservazione e la Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali (ICVBC), Firenze, Italy
• Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie (CEZA), Mannheim, Germany
• Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE, formerly ICN), Asterdam, Netherlands
• Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), Lisboa, Portugal
• Museo Nacional del Prado (MNP), Madrid, Spain
• Museo Nacional Centro Arte Reina Sofia (MNCARS), Madrid, Spain
• National Gallery (NGL), London, United Kingdom
• Opficio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), Firenze, Italy
• Ormylia Foundation - Art Diagnosis Centre(Of-ADC), Ormylia - Chalkidiki, Greece
• Tate Gallery (TG), London, United Kingdom
• Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika (UMK), Torun, Poland