"The 34 papers presented in this book represent our best effort to present a diverse and comprehensive overview of key issues in the management and realization of digitization projects. ... This is, above all, a book written by practitioners for practitioners who together recognize the critical needs and goals in digitization in our industry"--P. x-xi.
This book explores how digital culture is transforming museums in the 21st century. Offering a corpus of new evidence for readers to explore, the authors trace the digital evolution of the museum and that of their audiences, now fully immersed in digital life, from the Internet to home and work. In a world where life in code and digits has redefined human information behavior and dominates daily activity and communication, ubiquitous use of digital tools and technology is radically changing the social contexts and purposes of museum exhibitions and collections, the work of museum professionals and the expectations of visitors, real and virtual. Moving beyond their walls, with local and global communities, museums are evolving into highly dynamic, socially aware and relevant institutions as their connections to the global digital ecosystem are strengthened. As they adopt a visitor-centered model and design visitor experiences, their priorities shift to engage audiences, convey digital collections, and tell stories through exhibitions. This is all part of crafting a dynamic and innovative museum identity of the future, made whole by seamless integration with digital culture, digital thinking, aesthetics, seeing and hearing, where visitors are welcomed participants. The international and interdisciplinary chapter contributors include digital artists, academics, and museum professionals. In themed parts the chapters present varied evidence-based research and case studies on museum theory, philosophy, collections, exhibitions, libraries, digital art and digital future, to bring new insights and perspectives, designed to inspire readers. Enjoy the journey!
This book provides an overview of various challenges and contemporary research activities in cultural heritage information focusing particularly on the cultural heritage content types, their characteristic and digitization challenges; cultural heritage content organization and access issues; users and usability as well as various policy and sustainability issues associated with digital cultural heritage information systems and services. Cultural Heritage Information, the first book in the peer-reviewed i-Research series, contains eleven chapters that have been contributed by seventeen leading academics from six countries. The book begins with an introductory chapter that provides a brief overview of the topic of digital cultural heritage information with the subsequent chapters addressing specific issues and research activities in this topic. The ordering of the chapters moves from scene setting on policies and infrastructures, through considerations of interaction, access and objects, through to concrete system implementations. The book concludes by looking forward to issues around sustainability, in the widest sense, that are necessary to think about in order to maximize the availability and longevity of our digital cultural heritage. The key topics covered are: - Managing digital cultural heritage information - Digital humanities and digital cultural heritage (alt-history and future directions) - Management of cultural heritage information: policies and practices - Cultural heritage information: artefacts and digitization technologies - Metadata in cultural contexts – from manga to digital archives in linked open data environment - Managing cultural heritage: information systems architecture - Cultural heritage information users and usability - A framework for classifying and comparing interactions in cultural heritage information systems - Semantic access and exploration in cultural heritage digital libraries - Supporting exploration and use of digital cultural heritage materials: the PATHS perspective - Cultural heritage information services: sustainability issues. Readership: This will be essential reading for researchers in Information Science specifically in the areas of digital libraries, digital humanities and digital culture. It will also be useful for practitioners and students in these areas who want to know the different research issues and challenges and learn how they have been handled in course of various research projects in these areas.
This new edition of Digital Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums is the most current, complete guide to digital preservation available today. For administrators and practitioners alike, the information in this book is presented readably, focusing on management issues and best practices. Although this book addresses technology, it is not solely focused on technology. After all, technology changes and digital preservation is aimed for the long term. This is not a how-to book giving step-by-step processes for certain materials in a given kind of system. Instead, it addresses a broad group of resources that could be housed in any number of digital preservation systems. Finally, this book is about “things (not technology; not how-to; not theory) I wish I knew before I got started.” Digital preservation is concerned with the life cycle of the digital object in a robust and all-inclusive way. Many Europeans and some North Americans may refer to digital curation to mean the same thing, taking digital preservation to be the very limited steps and processes needed to insure access over the long term. The authors take digital preservation in the broadest sense of the term: looking at all aspects of curating and preserving digital content for long term access. The book is divided into four part: 1.Situating Digital Preservation, 2.Management Aspects, 3.Technology Aspects, and 4.Content-Related Aspects. Digital Preservation will answer questions that you might not have even known you had, leading to more successful digital preservation initiatives.
Vancouver's Museum of Anthropology was founded more than fifty years ago in the basement of the main library at the University of British Columbia. Today the museum, acclaimed world-wide for its innovative programs and its collaborative approach to working with First Nations and other cultural communities, is housed in a spectacular building that overlooks mountains and the sea. The museum's soaring glass walls and beautiful natural setting, on traditional Musqueam territory, are uniquely suited to its extraordinary collections. The new Multiversity Galleries, the first of their type in the world, give visitors access to the work being done behind the scenes.--This stunning volume celebrates the Museum of Anthropology's rich past and promising future. Lavishly illustrated, it highlights 150 treasures from the museum's vast collections, which include historic and contemporary carvings, ceramics, sculptures, textiles, and other arts from Asia, the South Pacific, North and South America, Africa, and Europe, along with magnificent totem poles, sculptures, woven pieces, and intricate items made of gold, silver, and argillite from British Columbia's Northwest Coast. A brief history of the museum, stories about each collection, and extended captions offer fascinating details for the reader.--Carol E. Mayer is is head of the Curatorial Department at the Museum of Anthropology and an asssociate to UBC's Department of Anthropology. Anthony Shelton is director of the Museum of Anthropology.
In the fields of documentation and conservation of cultural heritage assets, there is a constant need for higher quality records and better analytical tools for extracting information about the condition of artefacts. Digital photography and digital image processing provide these capabilities, and recent technological advances in both fields promise new levels of performance for the capture and understanding of colour images. This inter-disciplinary book covers the imaging of decorated surfaces in historical buildings and the digitisation of documents, paintings and objects in museums and galleries, and shows how user requirements can be met by application of powerful digital imaging techniques. Numerous case studies illustrate the methods.
Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. This book describes methodology for long-term preservation of all kinds of digital documents. It justifies this methodology using 20th century theory of knowledge communication, and outlines the requirements and architecture for the software needed. The author emphasizes attention to the perspectives and the needs of end users.
Through an historical approach, Ross Parry excavates cultural assumptions and values that provide the basis of museum information management and display, and that are still used to this day.