Preserving Musical Heritage
Academy of Santa Cecilia uses IP video technology to preserve the past
- By Courtney Pedersen
- May 01, 2012
As the crown jewel of the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Rome,
the Academy of Santa Cecilia is one of the oldest and most important
musical institutions in the world. Its position and fame
have steadily grown since it was founded in 1585. Today, it is internationally
renowned, both as a venue for symphony orchestra
concerts and as the custodian of a heritage of inestimable value, which makes it a
landmark for academics and music lovers alike.
Unique and irreplaceable pieces make up this heritage collection consisting of
120,000 volumes. These include 7,000 manuscripts, 3,000 librettos and 850 editions
from before the 19th century; concert programs and brochures; 25,000 tapes, disks
and videos; more than 20,000 photographs; and 290 instruments, including the
priceless Stradivarius violin known as “Il Toscano.”
“Our situation is unique, considering the quality and quantity of the assets
we are required to preserve,” said Angelo De Santis, logistics superintendent at
the Academy of Santa Cecilia. “The video surveillance system meets our needs
because it fulfills all of our requirements. The features we appreciate most include
integration with other systems in the building and scalability that is essential for
rapid response to new demands that develop.”
Shortly after 2000, when it became necessary to arrange the transfer of these
treasures to the Parco della Musica Auditorium—the multifunctional complex designed
by Renzo Piano—one of the first problems to be solved was to guarantee
their security while at the same time making them accessible to the public in the
new Book and Media Library, which opened to the public in 2003.
Among other things, the decision was made to install a video surveillance system,
which, based on the specifics of the project, was required to protect the entire
premises of the academy, both at the Auditorium della Musica and at the original
site in Via Vittoria. Moreover, the system needed to be scalable in order to adjust
to new requirements over time. During the critical period of transfer to the auditorium,
it had to guarantee the protection of exhibits as they were placed one by
one on the shelves of the library, and of equipment in the new offices next to the library. The video surveillance system
had to rely on the server farm setup at
the auditorium.
The IP Solution
“When the academy awarded e-Jam
the project, staff members performed
a feasibility study which showed that
it would be appropriate, also in terms
of the cost/benefit ratio, to implement
a system that took advantage of the
existing IT infrastructure of the auditorium,”
said Gianmarco Acbano,
the system integrator who designed
and implemented the video surveillance
system. “In fact, although the
projects dated back to the 1980s, the
designers of the structure had already
anticipated the possibility of installing
IP video cameras by laying Category
6 structured cabling at video
camera height.
“We also proposed using PoE protocol,
which had not yet been ratified as
a standard in 2002 but was already applicable,
to supply the video cameras to
use the same cable as those used for the
data transfer, thereby achieving further
savings in the implementation costs of
the system.”
In practice, the feasibility study revealed
that new-generation technologies
could be used without requiring
large investments to implement an efficient
and effective system that, above
all, looked to the future.
This approach succeeded in convincing
the client.
“It allowed us to both use the existing
arrangement of Ethernet cabling
present in the new premises and to access
an innovative technology without
additional costs,” De Santis said.
“An IP-based solution also guaranteed
important advantages: the ability
to gradually scale up the system as the
new spaces and offices were occupied,
and the ability to establish centralized
management of video surveillance,
even at the remote location connected
to the principal site via VPN.”
Once this approach was accepted, e-
Jam began to identify the technologies
to be used. The company was in favor
of Axis network video cameras and
the XProtect® Professional software
platform from Milestone, chosen for its
ability to manage different video camera
models from a single server that can
also be accessed remotely.
The most appreciated features of the
Milestone software include the flexibility
it gives the academy in managing the
system directly from the recording server.
Motion detection can be customized
from camera to camera and activated at
different times according to area-specific
requirements.
All images stream into a single control
center located in the auditorium.
In compliance with the applicable privacy
regulations, they can be accessed
only at the request of the judicial authority
or can be overwritten with a
pre-set frequency.
This article originally appeared in the May 2012 issue of Security Today.